What are the most important transactions and litigation that you have been involved in during the last year? 

ENRC, part of the Kazakh-based mining giant Eurasian Resources Group, aggressively sued the FT and one of its investigative reporters for alleged libel over the publication of two articles, a podcast, and some tweets which raised important questions about the suspicious deaths of two potential witnesses in a long-running criminal investigation by the serious fraud office. Our response was successfully led by Nigel Hanson, working with RPC and counsel Richard Spearman QC and Alexandra Marzec, resulting in the lawsuit eventually being discontinued. The claim was seen as an egregious example of a strategic lawsuit against public participation, where journalists and publishers reporting on matters of public interest about the rich and powerful are hit by very costly writs in the English courts, and such claims can trigger an expensive feud, threatening to our freedom of expression.

Additionally, we advised the company as it made its return to the index business a decade after divesting its 50 per cent stake in what became FTSE Russell. We were heavily involved in the negotiation of our agreement to collaborate with Wilshire, an investment advisory group, on FT-branded indices with a particular focus on ESG investment products.

We supported the rapid international growth of our new FT Strategies business, which takes learnings from the development of our thriving digital model and uses our leading-edge capabilities to provide consultancy services to other publishers, enabling them to deliver a sustainable growth strategy in the digital economy.

Lastly, we saw the end of an era as the FT closed its own print site in London. We worked closely with management on the complex legal arrangements for the decommissioning of the site, including the surrender of the lease, and the negotiation of a new agreement with a third-party print site for the future printing of the newspaper in London.

Did the pandemic lead to a lasting increase in the interaction your legal team has with the strategic plans of the company?

Definitely. A good example of this is our work with FT live, the FT’s global conferences and events division. Prior to the pandemic, our work with the FT Live team was standard, contractual review. However, when FT live pivoted from providing physical to digital events in response to the pandemic, our team worked closely with FT live leadership on the rapid procurement of a suite of digital events systems, critical to delivering successful online conferences. We became trusted partners of the FT live business and are now a valued part of its senior leadership team, as it continues to deliver highly successful physical events such as the FT weekend festival and digital events such as the global boardroom.

Dan Guildford