Travers Smith LLP ‘stands head and shoulders above its peers’, primarily combining ’their legal expertise with outstanding commercial understanding and industry insight’, according to one client. The firm is best known for its buy-side practice, and it acts for insurance companies, asset managers, funds, fintechs, pension schemes and blue-chip corporates on derivatives matters, though it is increasingly acting for banks. ‘Very attentive and thoughtful’ practice head Jonathan Gilmour handles both derivatives and structured products, and he frequently assists sophisticated financial institutions, investment and asset managers, PE houses, challenger banks, and occupational pension schemes with complex matters. He recently worked with emerging talent Nicholas Baines on secured fuel and unsecured foreign exchange hedging arrangements for infrastructure manager Ancala Partners LLP. Peter Hughes assisted Bentley Motors with its £880m buy-in of the Rolls-Royce & Bentley pension fund, which required new arrangements concerning the scheme’s existing longevity swap. Sana Dossa is also highly regarded.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
'Jonathan Gilmour is very responsive and makes himself readily available, offering commercial solutions in a calm and reassuring manner. The associate support, particularly Nicholas Baines, is strong and of a high quality.'
'The Travers team stands head and shoulders above its peers through its ability to combine their legal expertise with outstanding commercial understanding and industry insight. Top quality advice and very impressive delivery times.'
‘Jonathan Gilmour is very attentive and thoughtful - he thinks of everything.’
'Friendly and professional. Competitive prices. Aware of market sensitive issues.'
'Detailed knowledge about the sector and industry, team has a very good balance of making sure that as the client we understand the impact of certain amendments to legal documentation. Communication is great and pricing is very fair for the service that we receive.'
'Very proactive in updating on progress of workstreams. Communication is excellent throughout and they are very transparent with regulator updates on pricing of tasks. Knowledgeable about subject matter and the practices within the rest of the industry. Individuals that we work with are primarily Nicholas Baines and Jonathan Gilmour.'
Key clients
- Ancala Partners LLP
- Ares Management Limited
- Atlas SP Partners LP
- BAE Systems Pension Fund Trustees Limited
- BC Partners LLP
- Bentley Motors Limited
- Cinven
- Copper Markets
- GTC Infrastructure Limited / BUUK Infrastructure Group
- Riyad Bank
Work highlights
Advised long-standing client and leading infrastructure manager, Ancala Partners LLP on various secured fuel and unsecured foreign exchange hedging arrangements in respect of its portfolio companies.
Advised BAE Pension Schemes in respect of the ongoing management and structuring of its £23bn investment portfolio, including its existing bilateral, derivatives, repo, securities lending and structured finance trading relationships as well as new GSAM agency agreements as and when they get approved for use by the scheme.
Advised Atlas's private funds business and legacy business on various matters relating to its derivatives trading activities, including; executing transactions in the US on a substituted compliance basis, interest rate hedging for an exposure in excess of $3.6bn and EMIR compliance (including determining the extent of the EMIR group).
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Practice head
Jonathan Gilmour
Other key lawyers
Nicholas Baines; Sana Dossa; Peter Hughes; Elinor Samuel