Slaughter and May

CORPORATE AND M&A

Our corporate and M&A practice is at the heart of our firm. We service a range of UK, regional and international clients in every sector, advising on a broad spectrum of corporate matters and leading on some of the most significant public and private transactions in the market.

Many of our M&A deals have a global dimension and we work closely with our clients to guide them through complex transactions in jurisdictions across the globe.

In addition to our transactional work we provide general corporate and governance advice on the key issues facing modern corporates.

We:

• are the principal legal adviser for more companies fully listed on the London Stock Exchange than any of our competitors
• are the trusted corporate legal advisers to some of the major PRC private and SOE corporates and to many of Asia’s and Hong Kong’s blue chip listed clients who are at the forefront of commercial and financial developments in the market
• advise buyers, sellers and financial advisers on both public and private mergers and acquisitions, and private equity buyers on private equity financed deals
• deliver the full range of services which apply to an M&A transaction working in multi-disciplinary teams with lawyers from our specialist groups
• have unrivalled credentials and are tier 1 in the latest editions of Chambers, Legal 500, IFLR1000 and Who’s Who Legal for M&A in the UK, China, Asia, and Europe and in the top tiers of the league table legal rankings published by Bloomberg, Mergermarket and Thomson Reuters.

DISPUTES

Our clients are global leaders in their fields. When their commercial and reputational interests are at stake, they turn to us. The practical experience, technical strength and strategic insight of our lawyers is unmatched. They help us deliver successful outcomes in some of the most complex and sensitive disputes and investigations in the market.

• We are a leading disputes practice, representing corporates, financial institutions and governments in complex commercial litigation in the Courts and Tribunals. We are recognised in particular for our expertise in major class actions and group litigation, banking disputes and competition damages actions.
• Our international arbitration practice advises on complex, high-value and strategically significant disputes, particularly those arising in a post-M&A context, for clients from every business sector, notably energy and infrastructure, financial services and healthcare.
• We are one of the world’s leading cross-border investigations practices. Over the past three decades, we have played significant roles in many of the most important regulatory and criminal investigations representing companies and individuals in financial regulatory and corporate crime investigations, prosecutions, enforcement actions and related civil litigation.
• The disputes and investigations we work on are global. We work with leading firms from around the world as an integrated team, giving our clients a first class service without borders.

INSURANCE

Our insurance group is market-leading. We advise a large number of the major players in the UK insurance sector and have handled many of the major insurance sector transactions in recent years. The breadth of our practice encompasses the full range of work from multi-national to domestic, covering diverse aspects including mergers and acquisitions, financings, restructuring, risk transfer, investigations and regulatory advice.

We work closely with our asset management, pensions, disputes and tax colleagues to provide an integrated service across the entire waterfront of the sector.

We are ranked top law firm in the field of insurance (jointly) in London and the UK by both Chambers and the Legal 500.

We offer a truly comprehensive service to our insurance sector clients and advise on all types of transactions in the sector. 

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

We seek to manage and mitigate risk and to maximise the return from intellectual property (IP) assets for the benefit of our clients. We advise on all aspects of the creation, exploitation and enforcement of IP rights.

Our clients operate in a wide range of industry sectors including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and healthcare, financial institutions, technology, telecoms, media, sport, consumer goods and retail.

We advise on:

• Disputes covering the full spectrum of intellectual property rights – ranging from complex patent actions to all forms of dispute relating to trade marks, passing off, copyright, database rights, design rights and breach of confidence claims. Our experience encompasses multi-jurisdictional and domestic disputes at every level including proceedings in the High Court, Court of Appeal and the registries including the European Patent Office and the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM). We regularly advise on cross-border litigation strategy. We also advise on competition litigation, working with lawyers from our Competition group (Competition Litigation) and we have played an innovative role in developing competition law defences to patent infringement actions in the UK Courts.
• IP related agreements - includes trademark licensing, distribution agreements, sponsorship agreements and franchising deals. Our specialist Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Healthcare team deals with licensing, collaboration and research and development agreements. We also provide strategic advice in managing and commercialising patent and trade mark portfolios.
• Transactional work - includes advising on M&A, disposals and joint ventures where technology or brands are integral to the transaction, structure or value. This may involve establishing sophisticated licensing structures, conducting complex due diligence exercises on very substantial portfolios of patents, trademarks and copyright works and advising on the creation and enforcement of security interests over IP assets.

REAL ESTATE

Real estate forms a key part of the global investment market and is fundamental to the day-to-day operation of most businesses.  We have considerable experience advising corporate occupiers, investors, developers, governments, funders and others on their real estate interests, requirements and strategies.  We identify, assess and mitigate key risks to ensure the successful delivery of our clients’ objectives.

We deal with all aspects of real estate, encompassing development, investment, leasing, planning, environment, construction and the property aspects of corporate and financing transactions.  Our key strength lies in our ability to deal with complex issues pragmatically and to help clients extract full value from their transactions.  Our team has considerable experience across the full range of sectors.

• Advice on all forms of direct and indirect investment in real estate, with an understanding of the overriding commercial requirements.
• Well known for advising on headquarters developments and relocations.
• Experience in developing innovative structures including all types of property joint ventures.
• Advice on all aspects of development projects, from planning to post-completion operational issues.
• Fully integrated support on the real estate aspects of corporate and financing transactions.
• The resources and experience to project manage cross-border transactions involving substantial portfolios and multiple parties, acting together with leading local real estate counsel.