Linklaters

1. Linklaters Represents BP In $7B Oil Deal With Devon

Thursday, Mar 11, 2010

Devon Energy Corp. has agreed to sell its assets in Brazil, the Gulf of Mexico and Azerbaijan to BP PLC for $7 billion and to buy into a joint venture to develop oil sands in Canada with the British oil giant for $500 million, the companies announced Thursday.

2. Linklaters, Fried Frank Advise On Sanofi, Merck Deal

Tuesday, Mar 09, 2010

Sanofi-Aventis SA and Merck & Co. Inc. have announced that they will combine their animal health businesses, each valued at around $8 billion, with Sanofi-Aventis exercising a call-option agreement the companies signed when Merck shed its stake in a subsidiary to allay antitrust concerns over its merger with Schering-Plough Corp.

3. BAE Sentenced To $400M Corruption Fine

Monday, Mar 01, 2010

The U.S. Department of Justice said Monday that U.K.-based BAE Systems PLC, the largest military contractor in Europe, had been sentenced to a $400 million fine to settle bribery and fraud cases in the U.S. and the U.K., marking one of the largest criminal fines ever levied in the U.S. against a company for business-related violations.

4. Dish Network Rails Against DBSD Ch. 11 Financing

Wednesday, Feb 24, 2010

DBSD North America Inc.’s bid to hasten the closing of the $54 million credit facility central to its massive debt restructuring has come under fire from secured lender Dish Network Corp., which contends that DBSD is using the facility to thwart Dish’s challenge to the Chapter 11 plan's confirmation.

5. Securities Class Action Against Fortis Booted

Monday, Feb 22, 2010

A federal judge has thrown out a securities class action against Fortis that accused the international banking and insurance company of misleading investors about its exposure to subprime mortgage-backed securities and its precarious financial state in the lead-up to its planned acquisition of the Dutch commercial banking entity ABN Amro Holding NV.

6. JPMorgan To Buy RBS Sempra Units For $1.7B

Tuesday, Feb 16, 2010

JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced Tuesday a $1.7 billion deal to acquire the European and Asian operations of RBS Sempra Commodities, a joint venture between the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and Sempra Energy, nearly doubling the size of JPMorgan's global commodities business.

7. Barclays To Buy Citi's Italian Credit Cards Business

Thursday, Feb 11, 2010

In a move to expand its Italian credit cards business, Barclays PLC will acquire as a going concern Citibank International Bank PLC's approximately 197,000 credit card accounts in Italy, which are worth about €234 million ($319.42 million).

8. DBSD Accuses Dish Of Bad Faith In Bankruptcy Appeal

Tuesday, Jan 26, 2010

DBSD North America Inc. has urged a district judge to reject an attempt by Dish Network Corp., one of its secured lenders, to overturn orders confirming DBSD's Chapter 11 reorganization plan and setting aside Dish's vote against the plan.

9. Law Firms Open Their Wallets For Haiti

Friday, Jan 15, 2010

As the world scrambles to come to Haiti's aid in the wake of Tuesday's devastating earthquake, law firms are stepping up in both traditional and novel ways. Over 80 firms responded to a Law360 query into what they are doing financially and otherwise to respond to the Haitian crisis.

10. Law360 Bankruptcy Editorial Advisory Board

Wednesday, Jan 13, 2010

Law360 is pleased to announce the formation of its 2010 bankruptcy editorial advisory board.

11. Lehman Europe, Japan Units Exchange $2B In Assets

Friday, Dec 18, 2009

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s European and Japanese units have swapped $2 billion in assets, allowing $1 billion to be dispersed under the European division's claims resolution agreement.

12. Credit Suisse Not Liable For Co.'s Failure: 3rd Circ.

Thursday, Dec 17, 2009

A federal appeals court has affirmed a partial summary judgment for Credit Suisse AG in a case accusing the banking giant of breaching its fiduciary duty by offering financing transactions to Oakwood Homes Corp., which filed for bankruptcy in 2002.

13. DBSD Gets Access To $25M Post-Petition Financing

Thursday, Dec 17, 2009

A bankruptcy court judge has approved $25 million in post-petition financing on a first-lien, secured super-priority basis for bankrupt satellite communications company DBSD North America Inc.

14. Court Lays Out Protections For Lehman Client Assets

Wednesday, Dec 16, 2009

Clients with roughly $1.1 billion in claims against Lehman Brothers International (Europe) whose assets were not segregated may be out of luck, as a U.K. court has ruled that the troubled financial institution does not have to add money to a $1 billion segregated client fund to cover those claims.

15. Agria Investors Fight To Resurrect IPO Action

Tuesday, Dec 15, 2009

Following the dismissal of their case in late November, Agria Corp. investors are trying to revive a putative class action alleging that the Chinese agricultural company issued an inaccurate and misleading prospectus and registration statement for its $282 million initial public offering.

16. Law360 Ranks Firms With Most Female Partners

Friday, Dec 11, 2009

McDonough Holland & Allen PC, Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP and Hanson Bridgett LLP came out on top in Law360's ranking of firms with the highest concentration of female partners.

17. Dish Wants No Post-Petition Financing For DBSD

Friday, Dec 11, 2009

Dish Network Corp. is fighting bankrupt satellite communications company DBSD North America Inc.'s bid for post-petition financing on a first-lien, secured super-priority basis, saying interest savings from such an arrangement are outweighed by the administrative complications and duplicative costs incurred in connection with such a facility.

18. Law360 Ranks Largest Securities Practices

Friday, Dec 04, 2009

Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, Wilson Sonsini PC and Bingham McCutchen LLP topped the Law360 Securities 100 this year, boasting the largest securities practices in the United States, measured by the number of practicing lawyers.

19. Bird & Bird Snatches Linklaters Competition Pro

Friday, Dec 04, 2009

Bird & Bird LLP has continued to stock its Brussels office with competition attorneys, luring a partner from Linklaters LLP who had been with that firm for almost two decades.

20. Agria, Underwriters Dismissed From IPO Class Action

Thursday, Dec 03, 2009

China-based agricultural company Agria Corp. and underwriters including HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. and Piper Jaffray & Co. have been let off the hook in a putative securities class action alleging that the prospectus and registration statement for Agria's $282 million initial public offering was inaccurate and misleading.