A property scheme which advised investors to seek representation from Slater & Gordon may be linked to the family of an infamous property spruiker… Skadden and Jones & Day top M&A rankings with Bloomberg but Reuters tells a different story… Reed Smith promotes 24 to partner...
Slater & Gordon hires Minter Ellison after property link emerges
A property scheme which advised investors to seek representation from Slater & Gordon may be linked to the family of the infamous property spruiker Henry Kaye. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the law firm has written to clients advising them that they may have been misled by the scheme organisers and may have overpaid. Minter Ellison has been hired by Slaters to handle any claims that investors may try to lay at their door. Slater & Gordon previously led action against Kaye when his property empire collapsed and there is no suggestion that the firm were aware of his involvement in this scheme.
Skadden and Jones & Day top M&A rankings with Bloomberg
Bloomberg’s latest analysis of global M&A reveals Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom as the firm that advised on the most deals in 2014 in terms of value, while Jones & Day topped the chart for volume of deals. Bloomberg’s Global Market M&A Review shows that there were 32,628 deals globally with a total value of US $3.31 trillion. Telecoms/media; healthcare/pharma; and energy were the most prolific sectors for M&A activity. The last quarter of 2014 saw the highest level of deals by volume since 2006 with a combined value of US $881.41 billion.
Reuters tells a different M&A story
Bloomberg isn’t the only firm to release a global M&A league table; Thomson Reuters has, too. In that report Jones & Day and Skadden rank 5th and 6th respectively beaten by; Davis Polk & Wardwell; Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz; Simpson Thacher & Bartlet; and Weil Gotshal & Manges topping the table.
Reed Smith promotes 24 to partner
Two lawyers from Asia-Pac are among the 24 that have been promoted to the partnership of Reed Smith. Min Li, formerly an associate in the litigation practice, is now a partner in the Hong Kong office and John Tan, formerly a global regulatory enforcement counsel, is a new partner in Shanghai. Fourteen of the promotions are in the US with seven in London.
