The Nordic Desk at Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP is a full service legal team dedicated to serving Nordic business

Transcription

1 Nordic Desk

2 The Nordic Desk at Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP is a full service legal team dedicated to serving Nordic business We have a long history of advising Nordic clients on their business affairs outside of their home countries. Over many years we have built up strong relationships with the leading local law firms and other professional advisors. Our Nordic Desk brings together and builds on this history and experience for the benefit of our clients. Our Nordic Desk is a team of lawyers drawn from across the firm. They are specialists in their respective fields, and focus on industry sectors relevant to Nordic business. They regularly advise clients on business into and out of the Nordic region, combining technical excellence with market and cultural knowledge. Below is an introduction to the firm and a flavour of what we do for Nordic business. For further information go to: About us There are many law firms in London, but Field Fisher Waterhouse is a destination adviser for its clients because of: Our Overriding Focus: We are a European law firm committed to the success of our clients and our people. We invest in high standards and creative thinking throughout our business. This, coupled with an open and collaborative style, means we deliver great service, new benefits and commercial solutions to all of our clients. Our International Focus: International work represents 40% of our revenue and is growing fast. In Europe we have offices in Brussels, Hamburg, Paris, London and Manchester, exclusive co-branded relationships with Jiménez de Parga in Spain and La Scala in Italy, and strong relationships with top law firms and other professional advisors in all other jurisdictions. Our Size and Strength-in-depth: With over 130 partners and 300 other lawyers spread across our 5 European offices, FFW has the resource and expertise to meet all of our clients legal requirements. Whether it is the smallest matter or a large multi-million pound project, we provide a cost-effective, commercial service to clients ranging from private individuals to multinational companies and governments. Our Sector and Practice Focus: We understand the business sectors in which our clients operate and this gives us an increased client perspective and, over time, mutual understanding. In our experience, this leads to improved service, bespoke advice and enhanced training and communications. Areas of deepest knowledge include energy, life sciences & healthcare, technology & telecoms, media, real estate, hotels & leisure, retail, finance, transport and sport. Outside Europe, we have many long-established clients in the US, China, Japan and India, and strong links with the major law firms and other professional advisors in most other jurisdictions.

3 FFW is now the firm of choice for the big ticket international clients Chambers UK, 2009 Sector Focus We provide the full range of legal services across a number of industry sectors. As well as expertise in their areas of law, our lawyers understand and have developed a commercial knowledge of our clients businesses. Many of our lawyers have worked in-house. We also place our lawyers on secondments in which they are able to make a fuller contribution to the client and gain valuable insights into the industry. We feel this commercial acumen is essential to the efficiency and speed of any matter we work on. All these factors combined help our clients realise their business goals more efficiently. Here are some of the industry sectors of particular relevance to our Nordic clients: Energy Our cross-departmental and cross-jurisdictional Energy Group is widely regarded as being one of the leading practices in this field. We have been advising on terminals, pipelines, power stations and other energy and industrial infrastructure projects for over 50 years, having been involved in some of the earliest North Sea Terminals. Currently, we are advising on the UK s largest mainland engineering project - the 316km Milford Haven to Tirley natural gas pipeline. We have specialists in the sector from competition, construction, corporate, finance, property litigation; planning and environmental law, regulatory, procurement and commercial contracts, real estate, and tax. We advise on issues including: oil and gas (including pipelines and terminals) power generation renewables nuclear financial products corporate pipelines and wind farms regeneration projects development, construction, acquisition and disposal of refineries, power stations, offshore structures and related storage facilities nuclear plant decommissioning / commissioning, planning and construction brownfield disposals (including decontamination) We advise clients in the renewable energy sector, advising banks and sponsors on wind, solar and bio-mass projects, trading in Renewable Obligation and Climate Change Levy exemption certificates. We advise energy sector clients on fundraisings, IPOs, M&A and related corporate work. As well as advising long-established market leaders, we advise natural resources clients from emerging markets on numerous acquisitions and disposals in Australia, Russia and CIS, and the UK.

4 Communications The current spread of digital networks and devices and the rapid growth of broadband access, is resulting in the convergence of traditional broadcasting with the telecoms and technology industries. The communications industry is evolving, gearing up for changes such as the digital switchover, the potential extension of TV regulation to internet content and the European Commission s re-regulation of international roaming. We are at the forefront of this rapidly changing industry, advising communications organisations on the issues that impact them most. From the resolution of disputes to negotiating the current regulatory framework, our Media and Communications Group offers a full range of legal expertise and industry knowledge. The fully integrated multi-disciplinary practice advises on all areas of law relevant to those in the communications industry, including: regulation and competition administrative & public law communications infrastructure telephony outsourcing employment advertising & marketing banking & finance privacy & information tax technology corporate transactions and commercial agreements intellectual property, including Digital Rights Management, patents and brand protection Information Technology Our information technology clients vary from startups to the largest global players. They all belong to a fast-paced sector, fuelled on innovation and demanding constant evolution in management thinking. Our services are specifically tailored to the technology market and our practitioners are leading thinkers in their field. We regularly second lawyers to clients and recruit from the IT sector, and we pride ourselves on a deep understanding of technology and business issues and the challenges our clients face. We are a multidisciplinary group with lawyers across Europe and are extremely effective at putting together a team with the right people, the right talents and the right knowledge to serve technology company needs internationally. The diverse work we carry out includes: flotations and new share issues private equity and venture capital work acquisitions and disposals joint ventures employment and employee incentives IP exploitation and protection. sourcing including outsourcing and offshoring government and local authority contracting commerce data privacy and IT security commercial arrangements including reseller and distribution contracts and supplier and customer terms regulatory issues

5 Life Sciences and Healthcare Our Life Sciences Group brings together our highly regarded specialists in intellectual property, regulatory, corporate and finance, data privacy and anti-trust. The team has a thorough understanding of the particular needs of its pharmaceutical, biotech and medical devices clients, and includes specialist lawyers based in Brussels, Hamburg and London. The Life Sciences Group works with clients at all stages of innovation, from bench to bedside and helps companies continually to develop and grow their businesses within the strict regulatory requirements that can apply in this sector. During the various stages of growth, our lawyers help life sciences clients with:making advantageous deals with respect to their valuable intellectual property rights, whether through research agreements, licences, collaborations or co-marketing arrangements: devising patent strategies based on defending a client s own patents and/or challenging a competitor s patents and/or developing strategies to avoid infringing third parties patents the interpretation of and compliance with regulations interactions with competent authorities, including challenging their decisions data privacy issues around the handling of sensitive clinical trial data investments made in their companies, whether through funding rounds, flotations or mergers and acquisitions. In these matters our specialist regulatory and intellectual property lawyers work closely with our corporate lawyers who have experience of transactions totalling over $1 billion in this sector alone negotiating agreements for the supply of materials, manufacturing of products and tooling, and the distribution of their products worldwide regulation of chemicals (REACH) and of electrical equipment (WEEE and RoHS) avoiding the infringement of competition law, whether through agreements, concerted practices or mergers and acquisitions

6 Clients turn to this firm when they want immediate attention from partners with expertise in complex, highly structured multi-jurisdictional transactions. Chambers UK, 2009

7 Practice Areas Our lawyers draw from their particular experience and knowledge in order to help clients realise their business objectives in a pragmatic and effective way. As a result of our collaborative approach, we are able to call upon legal specialists from many relevant practice areas to deliver fast, high value and efficient solutions to all clients. Our core areas of expertise include: corporate and commercial, intellectual property and technology, banking and finance, real estate and regulatory. We also have highly-regarded specialist lawyers who advise on areas such as dispute resolution, employment, competition & EU law, pensions and tax. Corporate We act for clients ranging from multinational and FTSE 100 companies to entrepreneurs and fast growing businesses. We advise companies from around the world on mergers and acquisitions and a range of other corporate transactions and our lawyers are acknowledged specialists in a wide range of business sectors. Our approach is proactive and commercial and we seek to understand the background and commercial objectives to be able to best advise on optimum deal structures, through the due diligence and negotiation process, to post completion integration. Our expertise includes: equity markets corporate structuring and restructuring private equity, acting for institutions, investee companies and management teams reorganisations, including schemes of arrangement, reductions of capital, demergers and intra group reorganisations joint ventures, from establishment to termination partnerships, from formation to dissolution public and private company mergers and acquisitions advising on company formations and constitutional documents tax and regulatory issues Our equity markets practice has a strong international focus and we have acted for many overseas companies seeking listings in the United Kingdom. We advise on initial public offerings both on the Official List and the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, secondary listings (including rights issues, open offers and vendor placings) and restructurings (including capital reorganisations and schemes of arrangement). We act for a large number of quoted clients (including domestic and overseas companies) and a wide range of brokers, sponsors and nominated advisers. We were named AIM Lawyer of the Year in 2007 by Growth Company Investor. Our venture capital and private equity practice advises numerous corporates on strategic investments. We are active in all spheres of the private equity market, whether advising the equity investors, management, the target or the debt providers. Our practice spans both domestic and international transactions. advising on corporate governance and directors duties

8 Banking and Finance Providers and users of finance can expect a highquality, well-tailored service from our Finance Group. We are widely recognised as experts in bank lending, derivatives, structured finance, investment funds, asset finance and leasing, property finance, financial services and tax. This breadth and depth of experience, coupled with a commercial and practical approach, means that the team is well equipped to provide the advice clients need to succeed in increasingly innovative and complex financial markets. A large proportion of the finance work we undertake is international. Our clients include banks and blue chip financial institutions from around the world, including high profile Nordic banks. At any one time members of our Group can be working on several large cross-border financings where the only connection with England might be the location of the client or the governing law of the documentation. The Group continually liaise with local lawyers in other jurisdictions to gather advice and opinions and also to manage the cross-border issues which arise. Tax We advise individuals and corporates on tax efficient investment vehicles and structures, tax investigations and all manner of tax issues. Many of our clients have international businesses and therefore require international tax solutions. We have a close working relationship with specialist tax lawyers and advisers throughout the world thus allowing us to provide clients with an efficient and co-ordinated service. We also provide UK and international tax planning advice to individuals, whether for personal or business reasons. This includes estate planning and advice on offshore and onshore trust and corporate structures. We cover the full range of taxes: corporate tax customs duties and VAT employee tax and personal tax intangibles tax international tax property tax and stamp duties securities tax tax investigation & litigation taxation of investment funds transfer pricing and pricing strategies

9 Real Estate We are highly experienced in handling some of the market s largest and most high profile deals and offer comprehensive advice on all aspects of real estate, including the acquisition, disposal and letting of all types of investment and high value residential property. We have vast experience of portfolios of all sizes, including offices, hotels, pubs, shopping centres and many landmark buildings. Real Estate Investment Over the last 10 years we have advised various investment companies, partnerships and pension funds based in the Nordic region on the acquisition and funding of numerous portfolio and single asset purchases as well as Nordic based manufacturing interests, on their office and factory requirements. Property Finance We have several partners acting for Nordic financial institutions as well as UK based banks and have worked on various financing deals involving Nordic companies. We work very closely with the clients and local law firms as well as our colleagues in banking and finance, real estate and tax. We advise Nordic clients on all aspects of real estate financing including: providing introductions to potential lenders negotiating facility letters and terms and conditions settling security documents including charges and deeds of priority general loan restructuring and solvency issues We work closely with our Nordic clients other professional advisors and management teams, providing support and general commercial advice in relation to additional areas such as: finance tax, FICO registrations and capital allowances (in one instance we successfully lobbied HMRC to ensure that SDLT did not penalise partnership structures) tenants insolvency and enforcement insurance and commission arrangements appointments of managing agents construction contracts and warranties

10 Dispute Resolution Our dispute resolution group are experts at resolving problems for our business clients. We give cost-effective and commercial advice to achieve our clients (sometimes competing) objectives. Of particular relevance to our Nordic clients is our expertise in: commercial disputes: mergers and acquisitions, shareholder actions, joint ventures and distribution agreements, directors, payment for goods and services arbitration: under the rules of institutions such as the ICC, LCIA, AAA and CIETAC, conducting and staying proceedings, enforcing and resisting awards UK and international fraud and asset tracing: internal and regulatory investigations, bribery and corruption, misappropriation of corporate assets, financial crime and money laundering construction disputes: construction and engineering projects including industrial and manufacturing plants, power stations, offshore structures, marine installations and pipelines, hotel and restaurant complexes, retail parks, leisure centres, and office blocks corporate risk management: safety policies, dealing with disasters, death and injury, including the UK s Corporate Manslaughter Act corporate recovery & insolvency: asset realisations and enforcement of security rights; trading, preference and disqualification issues; administrators, liquidators and receivers on their appointment, defence to claims and asset recoveries banking & finance disputes: retail banking, handling of investments, recoveries, guarantees, and letters of credit technical disputes: purchase, supply and installation of machinery and technical plant in both High Court and international arbitration proceedings insurance & reinsurance: insurance and reinsurance contracts Intellectual Property As a destination IP practice we have a track record in delivering high-end advice for IP strategies, not just on how to protect and enforce IPRs, but also how to make those assets work harder for the benefit of a business. We have one of the largest dedicated IP groups among law firms in Europe and offer clients a seamless international service. We have specific IP experience in: patents: infringement, litigation, validity counselling and strategic advice copyright both technical (e.g. computer software) and artistic (e.g. music and films) designs both registered and unregistered, UK and Community trade marks prosecution, brand portfolio management, enforcement and litigation domain names registration, monitoring and enforcement under our protecht programme confidential information and trade secrets promotions, marketing, sponsorship, franchising and licensing We assist our clients in protecting their IP by working to maintain and enhance the value of our clients portfolios. In addition to devising and implementing an IP strategy, our Trade Marks and Brand Protection Group provides a filing, prosecution and registration service in every country of the world. We enforce our clients IP by using appropriate dispute resolution methods including mediation and arbitration and undertake litigation, where necessary. We also manage bespoke antipiracy/anti-counterfeiting and domain name management programmes counteract and protecht.

11 Contacts Edward Bannister Partner, Real Estate e. t. +44 (0) John McLaughlin Senior Associate, Corporate e. t. +44 (0) With a calm and composed style, this firm is attentive to its clients needs and committed to completing work smoothly and swiftly Chambers UK, 2009

12 Brussels L Arsenal Boulevard Louis Schmidtlaan Brussels, Belgium t. +32 (0) f. +32 (0) brusselsinfo@ffw.com Hamburg Am Sandtorkai 68, Hamburg, Germany t. +49 (0) f. +49 (0) info@ffw.de London 35 Vine Street London, EC3N 2AA, UK t. +44 (0) f. +44 (0) info@ffw.com Manchester 27th Floor, City Tower Piccadilly Plaza, Manchester M1 4BD t. +44 (0) f. +44 (0) info@ffw.com Paris 21, Boulevard de la Madeleine Paris, France t. +33 (0) f. +33 (0) info@ffw.com Jiménez de Parga, Spain (Barcelona office) t f La Scala, Italy (Milan office) t f