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The cyber espionage frontier hit a new level this week as reports state that attackers have targeted major international law firms with the intention of obtaining vital M&A information.
Flashpoint, a New York based security firm, published a public warning highlighting the activities of a Russian cyber hacker living in Ukraine scrutinizing the deal information of several big law firms, including Hogan Lovells, Freshfields and Allen & Overy. It could not comment however, on particular details, which have been instead turned over to the appropriate law enforcement bodies.
Another victim of the hack attack, London and New York based law firm Cravath Swaine & Moore, says it was “not aware that any of the information that may have been accessed has been used improperly,” after highlighting that its information had already been breached in 2015. “Client confidentiality is sacrosanct. We will continue to work to ensure our systems are best in class,” it stated.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority says the occurrence goes to prove the need for law firms to evaluate their own security systems in order to keep client information private. “We have raised this numerous times, and we would urge all firms to ensure they have appropriate processes and procedures in place. Any firm which has a data breach that compromises confidential client information has an obligation to let us know,” it says.
Security experts have also pointed out that in the process of M&A deals, law firms are often the “weak link” in terms of privacy.
Wintell & Co specialises in particular in shipping, insurance and corporate law and HFW has worked with the firm for many years. Whilst remaining separate entities, HFW's Shanghai office and Wintell will come together to work on mutually beneficial marketing and business development opportunities, taking advantage of the strong client base of each firm and combining HFW's international footprint with Wintell's local Chinese law expertise to provide clients with enhanced on the ground service.
Henry Fung, Partner and Chief Representative of the firm's Shanghai office said: "As the first law firm specialising in international trade to enter an association in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, this is a significant development for HFW's practice in China. It greatly enhances the scale and reach of the services we can offer to clients and with Wintell's leading reputation in China (and internationally) it opens up a new target audience for the firm and provides an excellent opportunity to grow both businesses."
Mervyn Chen, Senior Partner of Wintell & Co commented: "We are delighted to be entering this association with HFW who we know very well from years of working together. Many of our clients have businesses with a truly international outlook and will therefore benefit from the advice and support which a firm with HFW's international expertise and geographical footprint can provide. Likewise, clients of HFW who are doing business in China will benefit from the local law expertise which Wintell's lawyers can provide. This is a strong combination and we look forward to working together."
The scandal covers the leak of vast amounts of information revealing heavy tax haven abuse, money laundering and sanction avoidance. At the heart of the issue is a Panamanian law firm called Mossack Fonseca.
The files, leaked by an unknown source to The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), have exposed over 214,000 entities, including companies, trusts and foundations. Of these there are 12 current or former heads of state, involved in wealth secrecy and tax evasion, and over 60 associated friends or family members.
Mossack Fonseca, the law firm behind the secrecy and allegedly illegal activity, says it has operated beyond reproach for the last 40 years and has never been charged with criminal wrong-doing. In fact the information leaked, which reaches as much as eleven million documents equating to around 2,600GB of data, dates as far back as 1977.
The spotlight includes:
According to the BBC, President Putin’s spokesperson has attributed ongoing reports to "journalists and members of other organisations actively trying to discredit Putin and this country's leadership." President Gunnlaugsson was also approached in an interview, but stated that business affairs were above board and stopped the conversation.
Offshore tax havens can be used in legal ways, but most of the data leaked points towards illegal structures that hide the true owners of recorded money, where it’s from and facilitate the evasion of tax on national shores.
Investigations are now under way on a global scale, by several jurisdictions such as France, the UK, the Netherlands, Australia and Austria.
Solicitors for the Elderly (SFE) is an independent, national organisation of over 1,500 professionals, such as solicitors, barristers, and chartered legal executives, committed to providing the highest quality legal advice on specialist areas, such as wills, powers of attorney and elder abuse.
The not-for-profit organisation welcomes existing members Holly Chantler and Chris Keenan (pictured) to its board of directors as it looks to raise awareness of the importance of planning ahead for later life and the benefits of seeking good quality legal advice.
Holly is a Partner at Morrisons Solicitors in Redhill. She became an SFE member in 2009 and joined its Surrey board in September 2015, before being appointed as joint regional co-ordinator in February 2016. She is a Panel Deputy for the Court of Protection and was named one of eprivateclient's Top 35 Under 35 practitioners in 2015.
Chris has been a member of SFE for over 3 years whilst practicing as an Associate Solicitor at Humphries Kirk Solicitors’ Wareham office. With seven years of post-qualified experience as a private client solicitor, he has a particular interest in current and retrospective applications for NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding and residential care funding issues.
Holly commented on her new role:
“It is a very exciting time for SFE and I am thrilled to be a part of its future. I am passionate about raising awareness of the issues surrounding older and vulnerable people, as well as helping to increase the profile and influence of SFE and its members, in order to promote expertise and best practice in this complex area of law.”
Chris also commented:
“Our sector is undergoing whole-scale change and I am delighted to be given the opportunity to tackle these challenges head on and work for the ongoing benefit of our members. SFE brings together hard working and diligent lawyers that care about their clients and the work they do, and I am thrilled represent these individuals as a Director of SFE.”
Lakshmi Turner, Chief Executive of SFE, said:
“It is with great pleasure we welcome Chris and Holly to our board of directors. After a rigorous recruitment process they were the standout candidates and I have every confidence in their application and dedication in helping SFE continue to grow as the gold standard for experts practicing in this area of law.”
To find out more about SFE and how to become a member go to: http://www.sfe.legal
The overall competitivity of Irish businesses could be at stake as the UK vote to exit the EU draws closer. By June, when the vote is due, Irish companies doing business in the UK could become 30% less competitive than they were last January.
According to Ibec, Ireland’s largest corporate group, it is likely that a weakening of the sterling against the euro, already in fluctuation since the turn of the year, could make Irish firms around 30% less competitive “through exchange rate movements alone.”
The yet to be decision on a UK exit from the European Union has by now already brought on a weaker British pound, as against it, the euro is now worth around £0.78/0.79 as opposed to £0.69, its value last November. Ibec states that this figure could reach as much as £0.85 before June.
Ibec CEO, Danny McCoy, says: "A UK exit would send Ireland, Britain and Europe into uncharted and treacherous waters. The value of sterling has already fallen significantly; a vote to leave would prompt a further significant depreciation, heaping pressure on businesses trading with the UK. This is in addition to the countless other risks that would arise during and after the period of a negotiated exit. A slowdown in Chinese growth adds to the uncertain international outlook.”
“The UK’s continued membership of the EU is of overwhelming strategic importance to Irish business. As the referendum approaches, it is increasingly important we have a stable domestic political backdrop to ensure Ireland is in a strong position to effectively manage every eventuality,” he concludes.
While the UK is set to vote on a possible farewell from the European Union, a new EU patent system is in its final stages, but the timing of such changes could have a nudge effect on SMEs looking to protect their intellectual property.
The European Patent Office (EPO) has been undergoing a lengthy process to ratify a new unitary patent scheme in Europe, and now faces a potential Brexit, which for UK based SME patent applicants would mean a lengthier process than for SMEs in the rest of Europe.
For the scheme to be approved and put into action however, the three EU member states with the highest number of successful European patent applications must ratify the agreement, and the UK just happens to be one of those three.
The unitary patent scheme, which would be valid in 26 EU countries, would have applicants answer to a centralized enforcing court, the Unified Patent Court (UPC). This was established to cut costs of issuing and enforcing patents across all European nations. Applicants would then file for a single EPO case, and if successful, be granted instant IP protection throughout the Union, with the ease of a single renewal charge.
Therefore, if the UK were to vote yes on a Brexit in June, UK SMEs would have to navigate the more drawn-out procedure of applying for EPO IP protection, and then if granted, asserting the validation of said patent protection at a UK level, through the Intellectual Property Office (IPO). UK based SMEs could still apply for European spread protection via the EPO, but would have to separately validate for the UK.
As to enforcement, the UPC would focus on all unitary patent cases, but also include any classic process patent claims, unless said patent holders were to opt out during the transition process.
On a side note, the difference in costs, if a Brexit were not to occur, could be impacting to UK SMEs, depending on the extent of their business in other European member states. The EPO has said that the average cost reduction would be around 70% via the unitary patent scheme, but in an interview with The Guardian, Andrew Bowler, a partner at London based law firm Bristows and an expert on IP matters, states that this would only apply to larger multinationals, whilst smaller businesses would only benefit in terms of the business they are looking to protect throughout Europe.
“The renewal fee for a unitary patent has been based on the equivalent of having four patents in four European territories: UK, Germany, France and Italy,” says Bowler. “But obviously if it was an SME with just a home market of the UK and a single foreign market of France, it would only need two patents, so it becomes a question of whether it’s cost effective or not to apply for a unitary patent, when it could just apply for those two.”
At this point, the two possible conclusions are that with a Brexit the UK would be excluded from the unitary patent scheme, or on the other hand that the scheme, with the UK being a chief asset in EU economy, would come to a halt.
According to The Guardian, the EPO President, Benoît Battistelli, said in an interview: “The legal conditions are now met for a positive vote for ratification of this treaty. Now it’s a question of timing and awaiting the result of the referendum which has arrived in the process.”
Alarmist headlines and panic warnings continue to dominate global media coverage of the economic slowdown in China. The headlines proclaim that 2015 was the worst for growth in 25 years. Words like “crisis”, “turmoil” and “disaster” have almost become synonymous with the country’s financial health. Newspapers like The Express even say that “economists are terrified about how bad it could get”. Here we benefit from an exclusive article on this from Mike Tuffrey, co-founder of Corporate Citizenship where he advises business on strategy and sustainability. An economics graduate, he qualified as a chartered accountant and worked in the UK Parliament before founding Corporate Citizenship in 1997.
I’m an economist. But I’m not terrified. In fact, I can see a definite silver lining around the grey economic cloud hanging over China currently. With this slowdown comes a timely, significant opportunity for the superpower to set itself on a more sustainable, long-term track. By that I mean one which ultimately improves the quality of life for Chinese people, in contrast to debt-fuelled infrastructure or burgeoning foreign exchange balances.
While the vast majority of commentary has been focused on the negative financial impact of the downturn, driven by short-term thinking and the desire for quick wins, very few column inches have told the other side of the story. That story recognises that breakneck growth rates come with a downside involving – as the description suggests – breaking necks and other painful outcomes. There is an alternative.
Growth in context
This story starts by putting China’s growth in context, which requires coming down to earth from the hot-air hyperbole. Yes, the country’s phenomenal growth of the previous two decades has slowed, but this point was inevitable; the economy, once it had reached such a size and its working age population had peaked, as it did in 2012, growth couldn’t continue at the same pace.
Besides, China is still projected to grow at a rate of 7% (if you believe official Chinese figures, that is), which is a hugely enviable rate by Western standards. To be exact, it’s expected to hit 6.8% in 2015, a drop from 7.4% in 2014 and a slump from the average rates of 10% year on year that it enjoyed mid-boom. Whether you believe the precise figures or not, the overall picture is clear.
This less drastic growth rate gives China a chance to take stock and put in structural reforms, which will ensure a sustainable and stable future. Moreover, it will enable the country to modernise its financial system and move away from its precarious reliance on debt-driven, export-led growth to an economy based on services and consumption, therefore lifting the standard of living and more importantly the quality of life for ordinary Chinese.
The new normal
So, rather than hanker after the unrealistic, unsustainable, quick-money-making rates of the past, we – not just China, but the world - need to embrace what Chinese president Xi Jinping has dubbed “the new normal”. Not only that, if I’d been speech writing for him, as I’ve done for politicians in the past, I would have even gone as far to say that words like “slow”, “sustainable” and “stable” are not bleak and depressing; they are, in fact, the new positive.
The slowdown gives China’s damaged environment and public health trauma, suffered as a direct result of (overly?) rapid industrialisation, a chance to heal and reset. We don’t see the dark-side of soaring growth rates in the celebratory media footage of stockbrokers jumping for joy on the trading floor but it’s real and increasingly evident.
Limits of growth
It exists in the dangerously unhealthy air pollution that is shortening life spans. It exists in the water depletion and pollution, which are contaminating fresh water sources and contributing to shortages, cancers and premature deaths. It exists in the transformation of vast quantities of China’s over-farmed arable land turning into barren desert and leaving millions homeless.
There are other signs, too, that the Chinese are running up against the limits of growth. It’s staggering to think, for example, that while China is home to a fifth of the world’s population, it only houses 7% of global fresh water sources. Beijing is often hailed as a “supercity”, a “mega-metropolis”, the darling of China’s soaring wealth. But it endured such a severe episode of smog in 2013 that residents coined the word “airpocalypse” because it was 40 times over the safety limit set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The big switch
The Chinese government has already started to embrace a big switch to a more viable future, where growth contributes to prosperity but with less damage and more benefit for ordinary citizens.
They have signed up to global reduction targets for carbon emissions, and are starting to close coal power stations which provide the majority of electricity. Solar is expected to be reach cost parity with coal by the end of 2016, driving a big change-over.
Moves are afoot to halt deforestation, increase agricultural output without increasing the amount of land or water used, and tackle overuse of chemical pesticides and fertilisers.
The new five year economic plan, decided at the Communist Party’s fifth plenum meeting last October, confirmed the move to rebalance the economy away from heavy industry towards services. The strong emphasis on innovation, integrating the Internet and even promoting the ‘sharing economy’ surprised observers.
The Chinese way
Unlike Western countries, China’s sustainability crisis is not linked to mass consumption by private citizens, and this makes it easier for a centrally planned economy to make the switch to a more viable path.
Granted, the stockbrokers may no longer be jumping for joy at the change in China’s financial fortunes. The bright-side for many Chinese citizens, however, is that the country can now start to address these crucial, life-threatening issues such as water scarcity, pollution and desertification. Without the relentless pressure of economic growth, China can focus on continuing its industrialisation in a sustainable way, which supports its people and enhances lives by providing them with the basics of food and drinkable water.
Lessons for others
But what about the rest of the world, watching on in trepidation, listening to tales of disaster touted by a headline-hungry media? The answer is not to get sucked into this hype. Rather the big question that Western companies trading with China need to ask themselves is: if even the Chinese are paying attention to a more sustainable growth model, surely we need to, too?
The advice we give our clients is to learn from others: think through what the pathway is for your business if you are to succeed in a world of nine billion people by the mid-century, all of whom need to live well and within the planet’s finite resources. For sure, you will be much more efficient, use fewer resources and less energy, and thereby create more value for your customers. You could do worse than learn from the Chinese transition that’s now taking shape, albeit away from the headlines.
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This month’s General Counsel Interview is with Martin Bowen, GC at Dyson, one of the world’s leading and innovative technology companies. Here, Martin gives us the lowdown on what his role involves, the challenges GCs face in such a fast paced tech company and the legislative developments that have impacted his work.
Q: What is a typical day like for you, as general counsel at Dyson?
One day is rarely like another that’s what makes Dyson a lot of fun (with the odd challenge thrown in here and there!). However, I will usually be speaking to one of my team member’s in the Asia Pacific in the morning. Dyson has lawyers in Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and China. Asia is a real growth region for our business and we aim to focus more resource on assisting it – so we have been actively recruiting for some time. I visit the region at least three times per year. After this, I might catch up with Executive team colleagues or check in with the Information Management or Security teams who also report to me. Lunch is a quick bite from our excellent café before using the early afternoon as time to get work done that needs some quiet thought. By 2.30-3pm our US legal team will be on line and I could be speaking to them or external counsel who maybe assisting us in evaluating investment or acquisition targets in the tech sector. Later in the afternoon, I will deal with administration, billing and team development issues. Late in the day is often a good time to catch up with Sir James. He is very keen on keeping up to date legal issues, having fought numerous legal battles himself early in his life as an inventor. He will often have an interesting angle or view on a problem that can provide a useful perspective – he is also incredibly supportive of what we do. I then dash home to try and catch bath and bed time with my youngest son, Edward who is two. On this, I’m lucky, Dyson is based in the Cotswolds, at Malmesbury and so my commute is a snip at fifteen minutes and through lovely countryside.
Q: Intellectual Property law must occupy a large proportion of your workload, working for a company such as Dyson. What recent legislative developments within this sphere have affected your work the most over the last twelve months?
It does. I have a great IP team based at our HQ. They are responsible for the crucial task of working with our many hundreds of engineers, capturing and protecting our innovations. The team is also responsible for dealing with contentious issues – it’s unfortunate that sometimes others decide to devote their efforts not to innovating themselves but to copying us. We work hard for our innovation and so we also fight hard to protect it. At the moment we are preparing for the introduction of the Unitary Patent and the Unitary Patent Court following probable ratification by the UK later this year or perhaps early next. This will affect the way we work significantly; we will have to adapt a lot of internal IP protection processes to ensure that we are taking the right decisions on inclusion of an innovation in the UP system at the right time.
Q: Do you work independently or as part of a team? How are your responsibilities divided?
I am part of two very important teams: The Worldwide Legal team of (including Security and Information Management) and The Dyson Group Executive Team – we are the 10 individuals who report to Max Conze our Chief Executive and who are responsible for running Dyson’s operations day to day. I spend about 70% of my time on legal matters and the balance on Executive team issues. I am also Group Company Secretary and attend Board meetings.
Q: You began your current role in 2009; during that time, what impact do you feel you have had on Dyson as a business?
I hope my impact has been to demonstrate how lawyers can add not only black letter legal advice to a project but also broader commercial counsel – a real business partnership. We, as lawyers, deal with so many parts of the business and in such various circumstances sometimes we underestimate the value of our unique view. Lawyers can use their problem solving skills across the range of issues in a project but this does mean getting out of your desk and talking to the people who are driving the business critical work, not waiting for them to come to you.
Q: How do you manage the challenge of keeping abreast of legal frameworks from different jurisdictions?
Through my team and some great inputs from external law firms. I also enjoy talking to our Embassies around the world – they can be wonderfully helpful in getting you in touch with the right people.
Q: Part of your role involves risk assessment; can you tell me a little about this? What challenges does it bring you and how do you navigate them?
Risk evaluation is a key skill for any GC. I think it’s always important to have the right framework around it. At Dyson our primary vehicle is a Risk Group that reports to the Board twice per year. It comprises of the CEO, CFO, COO and me – ably supported by the Internal Audit and Legal functions. We meet monthly to evaluate emerging risks across the business and focus on how risks we have already categorised are being managed. A number of our most critical risks have a heavy legal component e.g. product safety, data protection and competition issues. For me the real challenges come in the compliance aspect of this function – making sure that we have trained our people to evaluate these risks, know how to handle various problem scenarios and keep a good record of our actions. In a global company the use of e learning tools is especially useful and cost effective. We can easily tailor content and language to suit target regions and log participation in the training automatically.
Q: Are there any legislative developments you would like to see implemented in the near future?
I’d like to see legislation that prevents direct inward investment in a country being removed. A number of countries, Indonesia for example, make it relatively difficult to invest cost effectively, often meaning that business have to use franchise and other structures to clear barriers to entry.
Q: Where do you see Dyson in five years and how will your work help it get there?
In five years I’d see Dyson as a diversified technology provider focussed on the home and still producing products that solve problems that others have been unable to. The legal function can help drive this by being the guardians of Dyson’s innovation, trusted advisors and active enablers of Dyson’s goals – this means seeing business problems as our own and working within the project teams in the company to find good solutions fast. We have already started that journey – the best from us and our people is definitely yet to come!
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Chinese investors poured a record $40 billion into Europe and North America in 2015, spending $29 billion, or 73% of the total in just four industries across the two regions: real estate and hospitality; automotive; financial and business services; and information technology.
Baker & McKenzie's forthcoming report, "Bird's-Eye View: Chinese Investment into Europe and North America", is unique in revealing for the first time the similarities and differences in trends between the two regions. It also tells the real story of Chinese investment in 2015 by looking only at completed rather than announced investments, and including greenfield investments as well as acquisitions. The full Baker & McKenzie report will be available in May.
"These are turbulent economic times, and yet we see Chinese companies acting with confidence and continuing to make major moves in Europe and North America," said Michael DeFranco, Chair of Baker & McKenzie's Global M&A Practice. "Chinese companies are sophisticated buyers, using varied structures to access new markets or sectors. There is strong growth in small and medium-sized M&A deals, and a willingness to do deals that result in smaller or minority stakes rather than outright acquisitions and greater activity by financial investors, including private equity funds. " He added: "While inevitably not every deal announced so far in 2016 will come to fruition, after such a fast start we could well be seeing another record year."
The first six weeks of 2016 have been the busiest period on record for announced Chinese M&A activity in Europe and North America, with $70 billion of potential deals in the pipeline.
2015 in numbers
Chinese FDI in Europe hit a new all-time record of $23 billion in 2015, about 35% higher than investment in North America. After a brief drop in 2013, investment in Europe doubled to more than $18 billion in 2014. Prior to that it grew from nearly zero before 2008 to an average of $8.6 billion from 2008 to 2012, partially driven by privatization and other opportunities arising from post-crisis restructuring.
2015 was a record year for the US, with investment reaching $15.3 billion in 2015. But FDI in energy declined dramatically in Canada in the past two years, where investment in 2015 was down more than 90% from its 2013 peak. Chinese FDI in North America averaged $11 billion a year from 2008 to 2013, reaching a record combined total of $29 billion in 2013.
Notable 2015 Highlights in Europe
Notable 2015 Highlights in the US and Canada
In 2015, North America saw 72 greenfield deals over $1 million, totalling $2.1 billion and 114 M&A deals with a combined value of $14.7 billion. Europe saw 58 greenfield deals over $ 1 million, with a combined value of $750 million and 104 M&A deals, with a combined value of $22 billion.
For larger deals, Chinese investors continue to prefer to take majority or full ownership. For deals worth over $500 million in 2015, collectively worth $22.9 billion, 90% of deals ended up in controlling stakes of more than 75%. State-owned enterprises account for the majority of these mega deals (60% of total value).
Similarities and differences
Several clear trends emerge that are common to both regions:
"By definition an emerging economy will grow rapidly from a low base and begin to slow as it matures," said Thomas Gilles, head of Baker & McKenzie's EMEA-China initiative. "But Chinese investors' achievements, scale and speed in turning outwards for both growth and global influence as domestic moderation takes place are unprecedented in a single global economic cycle in the modern era. China is now among the world's top three outward investors, which is extraordinary."
However, 2015 showed some differences between Europe and North America:
Changing industry focus
Europe has been a much greater attraction for Chinese investors seeking advanced manufacturing assets while North America has received more than twice as much investment in advanced services compared to Europe.
Activity in the US last year was primarily driven by Real Estate & Hospitality and Financial and Business Services sectors, with two thirds of total investment going into services, up from 14% in 2009.
Investment in advanced service sectors in both regions has grown rapidly in recent years, as Chinese companies target brands, talent, and other assets that increase their competitiveness at home and abroad. In the US software is one key sector, with $2.5 billion of investment from 2008 to 2015. Entertainment also jumped in the past two years in both Europe and North America, reaching a record of $2.9 billion in 2015. Investments in hospitality have grown to more than $6 billion in 2015 as Chinese outbound tourism soars.
Chinese companies have recently also developed an appetite for financial sector assets in both Europe and North America, with $4.6 billion invested in 2015 alone—which is more than total Chinese investment in financial services in the previous 14 years.
A few industries show similar levels of investment across the two regions since 2000. These include the real estate and hospitality sector ($13.1 billion in Europe and $13.2 billion in North America) and the agriculture and food sector ($7.1 billion in Europe and $7.4 billion in North America).
"If you look at the big picture, Europe has led the way in developing advanced manufacturing processes, in part because of labour costs, while North America's industrial decline has been offset by a focus on the service sector and, latterly, consumer technology," said Danian Zhang, Chief Representative, Baker & McKenzie Shanghai. "So it's natural Chinese investors would be drawn to the best of what each region has to offer."
Where next?
Chinese FDI into both Europe and North America has in aggregate been breaking records for the past five years. Some $205 billion has been invested since the turn of the century ($108bn in North America and $97bn in Europe). Almost 80% of that has been invested since 2011 alone.
The strong start to 2016 – nearly $50 billion of pending deals in Europe and more than $20 billion in North America - suggests these trends will continue to evolve in both regions with more sophisticated and diverse deal structures.
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The business law firms Heenan Paris and Thomson Wilks have announced the signing of their strategic and exclusive alliance to strengthen their activities respectively in Anglophone and Francophone Africa and to consolidate their practices.
Heenan Paris has a strong expertise in Africa and particularly in development projects and project financing. Its teams advise the firm's clients at all stages of their projects from conception to realization and, as the case may be, litigation or arbitration. With over ten years of experience in this field, Heenan Paris’ partners are particularly well positioned in Africa’s key economic sectors such as energy, infrastructure, mining and natural resources.
Thomson Wilks is a full service law firm with offices in each of the major commercial centres in South Africa. Its teams provide transactional and litigation services to a broad range of national and international clients in all financial and commercial matters, as well as mining law. Created in 1995, it is now amongst the top tiers law firms of the country.
Jean-François Mercadier insists on the importance of this partnership: “We are confident that this alliance will bring great opportunities for our respective teams and we are excited to combine our expertise with that of Thomson Wilks. This partnership will enhance our services to our clients in their projects in South Africa, one of the most dynamic markets in the continent and more specifically in English-speaking countries of sub-Saharan Africa”.
Thomson Wilks managing partner, Stephen Thomson says that this exclusive strategic alliance has a number of benefits for both firms. “This alliance will offer Thomson Wilks’ clients with expert legal representation in Europe and French-speaking Africa, and will attract international business for our firm. For Heenan, the alliance means that they have secured a reliable, first class legal firm to look after the interests of its clients in Southern Africa”.
Both firms will shortly combine their expertise and work together on upcoming matters.
