Offices: London, United Kingdom

Geographical Areas of Activity

Nordic

For more than 30 years, our London lawyers have been at the forefront of the London legal scene when it comes to advising clients from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland, or clients from outside the Nordic region wanting to undertake business there. Our team includes lawyers qualified in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, who speak all of those languages and have a cultural understanding second to none in respect of the Nordic countries.

Over the last decade, the team has grown rapidly. Today, it consists of lawyers and tax advisors who primarily focus on cross-border legal work, within our corporate and commercial, bank and finance, employment, litigation, private client, property and tax departments. In addition, we regularly advise on restructuring issues and generation planning in relation to family owned businesses. Our clients include individuals starting business; SME companies entering the UK, European or U.S. markets with London as the platform for launch; companies in need of trade, project, acquisition and working capital financing; and companies maturing to listing on the UK stock exchanges. We also advise companies of many sizes in M&A transactions with Nordic companies as well as banks, corporate finance houses, and other providers and suppliers in Nordic transactions.

Russia & Eurasia

We have senior London professionals who have been active for a generation or more in multinational firms – engaged in legal services in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Georgia, Latvia, Estonia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz Republic, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. Several of our senior solicitors and lawyers have lived and worked in Russia and Central Asia in global firms and practice groups. We have developed contacts and associations throughout the region in the legal, accountancy, banking, finance and business communities, as well as in governmental and regulatory agencies. We have served clients throughout the volatile transition of the legal systems throughout the former Soviet Union and its successor countries.

All this has put us in a position to navigate Western clients through the intricacies of these emerging legal systems; and Russian and CIS clients through the peculiarities of the ever dynamic Western markets. Our experience in this region includes mergers and acquisitions; private and public equity and debt finance; upstream natural resource extraction and development; fund development, management and regulation; project finance; restructurings; privatisations; tax; commercial regulatory and legislative matters; international litigation and arbitration; and intellectual property. Of note is our extensive experience in the energy, oil, gas, mining, technology, communications, construction and real estate sectors.

Eastern Europe

We have substantial experience advising generally on all matters in Eastern Europe, with excellent contacts within top local law firms, and detailed insider knowledge of cultural nuances required in association with our local counsel. Through the office’s membership of OASIS (a lawyer organisation specialising in Eastern European contacts), and now in association with McGuireWoods Consulting’s office in Romania, the London office can undertake transactions and assist in project managing matters in Eastern Europe, and in particular, the following countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia. During the last five years, transactions have included joint ventures for Western companies in Eastern Europe involved in industries including tobacco, mining, cleantech energy and property development; a number of Eastern European projects have been admitted to trading on AIM in London; assisting a Croatian bank on English law security documents including registrations in Cyprus and the BVI; and involvement in a number of EBRD-led infrastructure projects.

China

The London office offers comprehensive advice on China related matters – inward and outward bound. Unlike other firms that are prohibited from practising Chinese law, we offer advice and produce opinion letters in accordance with Chinese law. We have more than 300 Chinese qualified lawyers throughout our associated offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chengdu and Shijiazhuang. With these resources and our own experience in Western regions, we offer unrivalled experience to clients wishing to do business in China, as well as to Chinese companies doing cross-border business. Areas of experience include real property, M&A, private equity and corporate investment, intellectual property (filings and enforcement of rights), tax, finance, the establishment of wholly foreign-owned entities, the creation of joint ventures, and the conduct of litigation and arbitration.

Africa & the Middle East

We have represented clients before the courts and the financial authorities in Qatar and the UAE; and have worked extensively in the oil and gas, power generation, manufacturing, and financial sectors throughout the region. We have also advised a leading high-end retail brand on franchise and distribution agreements in Kuwait, UAE and Saudi Arabia. In Africa, our experience is primarily in the financial and natural resources sectors in Sub-Saharan and Southern Africa. In Northern Africa, our work has focused primarily on the financial, real estate and resort development sectors. We have also worked closely with several African governments, advising on anticorruption related matters.

Israel

Our knowledge of the Israeli market and close collaboration with local law firms means we handle inward and outward transactions between the United States, UK and Israel, as well as deal with Russian and Nordic interests in Israel, with a specific focus on the Israeli energy, cleantech, life sciences and technology industries. We also work closely with the Israeli private equity, venture capital and fund industries. In particular, we advise on premium and standard listings on the London Stock Exchange and admissions to trading on AIM, as well as flotations on the U.S. NASDAQ. In addition, we advise on conventional areas, particularly the taxation aspects of doing business in Israel.

Spain, Portugal & South America

We collaborate closely with prestigious law firms in Spain, Portugal and Latin America in providing multijurisdictional integrated advice for corporate and commercial, commercial litigation, real estate and private clients for these areas. With particular experience in the sectors of retail, hotels, energy, family business, as well as financial and governmental institutions, our experience includes the issue of Eurobonds, property development and carbon credits derived from rain forests; securitisation of financial services; tax advice for expatriates; mining and oil exploration; admissions to trading on AIM; assisting in investment for expatriates in property holdings and representing financial institutions in their roles as arrangers and administrative agents in credit facilities.

Indian Sub-Continent & South Asia

We advise and assist Indian and multinational corporations with the seamless provision of services needed to meet the legal requirements of businesses, financial institutions and private clients. We focus on inward investment from this region into the UK, Europe and the United States. We have acted as lawyers on various types of inward and outward transactions, in a variety of areas including M&A, securities-related transactions and IPOs, joint ventures, financing, corporate structuring, intellectual property and litigation. Our strengths in certain key sectors such as outsourcing, healthcare, information technology and corporate, banking and financial services, private equity and energy, enable us to cater to multinational corporations seeking entry into Western markets.