The Banking group advises on the debt finance aspects of business acquisitions, large-scale project and asset investments, and general corporate financings or restructurings. Typically, the group will draft, review and negotiate loan documentation for transactions and advise clients on legal issues regarding proposed finance structures. It advises predominantly on cross-border transactions and therefore works very closely with Baker & McKenzie lawyers in other jurisdictions.
Our Corporate department is organised into four distinct groups:
- Corporate East
Corporate East focuses on public company work, including takeovers, international securities offerings, stock exchange listings, public company aspects of the Companies Act, the Financial Services & Markets Act, insider dealing and market abuse problems, as well as general mergers and acquisitions work.
- Corporate West
Corporate West focuses on substantial mergers and acquisitions transactions, both domestic and cross-border. The group has a particular focus on large multi-national companies. The group also advises on joint ventures, general corporate matters and company restructurings and reorganisations, both solvent and insolvent. Within Corporate West are a number of sub-groups, including the pharmaceutical industry practice group.
- Corporate South
Corporate South focuses on private equity, acting for private equity funds, management teams and companies transacting with private equity funds, including leveraged buy-outs, development and growth capital investments, bolt-on acquisitions, debt/equity restructurings and exits. The group also carries out domestic and international mergers and acquisitions and includes a focus on the telecoms industry sector.
- Corporate North
Corporate North is focused on major transactions in the energy, chemicals, mining and infrastructure sectors. The department's involvement with the industry sectors spans both mergers and acquisitions and project development work, with particular geographic interests in the Middle East and the CIS.
The Corporate Tax department provides tax advisory and transactional services to UK and multi-national corporate clients. A significant proportion of the practice involves advising multi-national firms on their UK and international tax issues, with a particular focus on corporation tax, VAT and stamp duty issues. It also provides support to the Corporate, Banking and Finance, Property and Private Banking departments, advising on the tax aspects of their transactions.
The Dispute Resolution department is involved in all aspects of commercial dispute resolution, involving negotiation, alternative dispute resolution, litigation and international arbitration. The department has specialist sub-groups dealing with public law, fraud and business crime, trust disputes, banking and finance disputes and international arbitration. Lawyers in the department also act for clients in disputes involving projects and construction, product liability, international trade, competition, IT and telecoms, and insurance and reinsurance matters.
The Employment department advises employers on the full range of employment issues, including the terms and conditions of employment, policies, collective rights, termination of employment, and the wide variety of claims which can be brought by employees.
The Employee Benefits group advises employers on all aspects of employee share plans and executive remuneration. It works closely with colleagues in the US, Europe and globally.
The EU, Competition and Trade Unit advises on the application of EC/UK competition and trade law. It works closely with other Baker & McKenzie offices worldwide. The department advises on a range of issues, including cartels and restrictive practices, abuse of dominance, merger control work, competition litigation, trade and customs.
The Intellectual Property department advises on all aspects of IP rights. There is also a specialist group within the department, the Trade Marks Unit (TMU), which is responsible for registration and portfolio management. The department is highly regarded for its advice on trade mark matters, including registration and infringement issues, commercial licensing, anti-counterfeiting and enforcement. Digital media is also becoming more of a focal point.
Our IT/Commercial department is unique in the City in that it provides dedicated non-contentious commercial advice on a broad range of commercial activities and relationships. These range from agency and distribution agreements and issues relating to privacy and data protection on the commercial side, to outsourcing, software agreements and telecommunications issues on the IT side. The department also works on e-commerce and new media issues, such as content procurement and content distribution and licensing. The department includes specialist expertise in practice areas such as consumer protection; advertising and marketing; sponsorship; and technology transfer.
The Pensions department advises employers, trustees and scheme administrators in relation to pension schemes, including litigation. It also supports the Corporate and Banking departments on the pensions aspects of transactions. Much of the work tends to be very legally technical, often involving complex issues around primary and secondary legislation and trusts law.
The firm has a dedicated Private Banking team, which provides tax, trust and estate planning advice to high net worth individuals from around the world.
The Real Estate department acts primarily for corporate tenants in the negotiation, completion and registration of leases. There is a significant amount of property finance work acting for large institutional investors and related spin-off work. The work is predominantly transactional, but also involves some advisory matters, largely in respect of lease interpretation.
The Structured Capital Markets team specialises in a broad range of structured financings, encompassing securitisations, derivatives and debt capital markets. Members of the team can expect to be involved in the whole spectrum of work provided by the department, and will experience a range of transaction types. A large number of the transactions involve an overseas element.
