“It is a mutually rewarding opportunity”, said Tamara Box, Managing Partner for Europe and the Middle East. “These teams recognised that our global platform, strong collegiate culture, and high quality client base were a good fit for them, and we at Reed Smith seized the opportunity to expand our capabilities through top quality talent in industry sectors, practices and offices that are strategically important for our business. It’s clearly a win-win, not only for all the lawyers involved but for our clients globally.”
Corporate, M&A, private equity, financial services regulation, litigation, competition and tax are all areas of strategic focus for Reed Smith and the KWM teams joining the firm are renowned market leaders in these areas. Together, the 50 strong group represent many of the same clients and have built their reputation as a cohesive team across disciplines, connecting their skills to provide an integrated service to clients across the UK, Germany and France. Uniquely, this complements Reed Smith’s approach and, as well as sharing experience in areas of practice, the firm acts for many common clients.
Reed Smith has a long history and proven track record of successful integration of lateral hires, mergers and office openings - notably this month the firm celebrates ten years following the Reed Smith Richards Butler merger and in the past three years alone the firm has appointed 150 partners (in particular, within the firm’s five key industry sectors) to substantially add to its global platform.
In London, the firm will be joined by: financial regulatory partners David Calligan, Tim Dolan, Tamasin Little and Adrian Brown; corporate partners Delphine Currie and Mark Sanders; private equity partner Laura Brunnen and senior counsel Martin Bowen; and tax partner Gareth Amdor. As part of the move, the partners will be joined by 10 associates, three trainees, two knowledge management lawyers and two secretaries.
The KWM financial services regulatory team has a market-leading practice, advising banks, funds, real estate, private equity, retail banking and emerging FinTech companies on non-contentious regulatory matters, as well as advising on structured finance matters. The addition of the team will bring Reed Smith’s financial regulatory team to almost 150 lawyers globally.
In Paris, the firm will be joined by competition/antitrust partners Marc Lévy and Natasha Tardif; tax partners Sylvie Vansteenkiste, Fanny Combourieu and Raphaël Béra; and corporate and private equity partners Guilain Hippolyte and Pierre-Louis Périn. Following these Paris-based partners will be tax counsel Gwenaël Kropfinger, 10 associates, one jurist, four trainees and four secretaries.
The market-leading seven-lawyer competition team advise on French and EU antitrust disputes for many international clients, including clients common to Reed Smith. The team is involved in a great number of major on-going competition cases and its clients have said that partners Marc Lévy and Natasha Tardif “are always present when you need them and deliver high quality work” (source: The Legal 500). The Paris tax team includes three partners, one counsel, three associates and one jurist who have strong expertise in private equity, advising on all elements of fund formation including all tax issues related to funds, carried interest and management incentives. The team also advise on corporate/LBO and real estate tax matters as well as on tax audits for both funds and high net worth individuals. They combine non-contentious expertise with a strong litigation capability. The Paris corporate/private equity team includes two partners and two associates. The team’s work covers international M&A, private equity, venture capital, fund formation, governance and structuring for French groups as well as listed companies.
“The prominent reputation of the KWM Paris practice and these talented lawyers in competition, private equity and tax has had us chasing these lawyers for some time; we’re delighted to see our efforts come to fruition in such an exciting way”, said Tamara Box.
In Germany, Reed Smith will be joined by competition/antitrust partner Tilman Siebert (in Munich) and litigation partner Francis Bellen (in Frankfurt). The partners will also be joined by counsel Dr Michaela Westrup (in Munich) and two associates (one in Frankfurt and one in Munich).
One of the biggest gains from the move will be the expansion of the firm’s European corporate practice, where the firm shares many mutual clients with these new partners. The KWM corporate team are known market leaders in corporate, competition/antirust, private equity and tax in their respective jurisdictions. Together, this combination with Reed Smith’s existing team will create a group of almost 80 lawyers with impressive synergy across Reed Smith’s established European platform.
“This group demonstrates the power of working together as a truly joined-up cross-border team and what that offers our clients. This is how we work at Reed Smith and is why the opportunity to combine our practices instantly appealed to us”, said Peter Teare, Reed Smith partner and head of the firm’s Europe and Middle East corporate practice. “The marrying of our existing corporate team with this group of high quality lawyers enables us to offer an even greater European corporate capability to our clients in each of our key European markets.”
Expansion of Reed Smith’s presence in Germany, in line with its industry group focus, remains a key commitment for the business. The firm has been established in Munich for over 10 years and, since the launch of its Frankfurt office in 2015, has grown to almost 50 lawyers across both offices.
The arrival of partner Francis Bellen and his team will significantly expand the firm’s current litigation capability in Germany. Further, partner Tilman Siebert and his team will introduce a much-desired competition capability to the firm’s growing German corporate practice (now 14 lawyers strong). The two teams will work closely together on major cartel damages cases and other contentious competition matters, representing global corporates, financial institutions and private equity houses.
“Germany is the largest economy in Europe and, as such, an important market for many of our clients and we continue to seek opportunities to build on the successful opening of our Frankfurt office”, said Rolf Hünermann, office managing partner of Reed Smith’s Frankfurt office. Dr Stefan Kugler, Munich office managing partner, adds: “The expansion of our existing litigation capability and the launch of a competition and antitrust practice have long been ambitions for our German business. Francis’ and Tilman’s client base are simply a perfect fit for us and have helped us accomplish these goals.”
ENDS
Partners and Counsel in London
Gareth Amdor (partner) was the head of King & Wood Mallesons’ Tax practice in London and the co-head of the EUME Tax practice. He advises on domestic and cross-border M&A for public and private companies, private equity houses and management teams across a number of sectors. He also advises on all aspects of corporate and indirect tax, including corporate finance transactions, corporate restructurings, venture capital transactions, real estate transactions, hedge fund tax issues and tax disputes.
Martin Bowen (senior counsel) advises on private M&A, buyouts and other types of private equity transactions including venture and development capital and secondary portfolio deals. He works with international and UK corporates, private equity and venture capital investors and management teams. His experience covers most business sectors including financial services, healthcare, media and telecoms, life sciences and renewables and cleantech.
Adrian Brown (partner) specialises in the financial regulation of funds, structured real estate and AIFMD. He advises alternative investment fund managers (including private equity, infrastructure, real estate and debt funds), placement agents, corporate finance advisers and wealth managers on all areas of financial regulation.
Laura Brunnen (partner) specialises in private equity and cross-border M&A transactions. She has represented a large number of U.S. and European private equity sponsors and corporates on a broad range of transactions, including buyouts, joint ventures and portfolio company matters, covering a wide range of sectors.
David Calligan (partner) was head of the King & Wood Mallesons financial services regulatory team. His practice focuses on representing banks, broker-dealers and investment management firms. He advises on a wide range of regulation and compliance matters including regulatory aspects of mergers and acquisitions in the financial services sector. He acts for broker-dealers, hedge fund managers, corporate finance firms and several electronic trading platforms.
Delphine Currie (partner) was head of the London Equity Capital Markets practice at King & Wood Mallesons. She deals with all aspects of corporate finance work, including mergers and acquisitions, takeovers, joint ventures, IPOs on the Official List and AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and both public and private equity fundraisings. Delphine has specialist knowledge of the equity capital markets in the UK and represents a number of companies on both the Official List and AIM.
Tim Dolan (partner) advises on UK and European regulation and helps clients to deal with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. His practice involves advising on European directives and regulations including MiFID, the Payment Services Directive, the Market Abuse Directive, REMIT, the Capital Requirements Directive and the second Electronic Money Directive. In addition, Tim has experience with enforcement investigations and proceedings, and has successfully appeared before the Regulatory Decisions Committee and the Upper Tribunal.
Tamasin Little (partner) specialises in financial markets. She advises hedge, private equity and other fund managers, brokers, banks, investment exchanges, insurance companies and other investment firms in the financial institutions and private equity sectors. She provides guidance on a wide range of regulatory and related matters including: buyouts and structuring of financial services groups, structuring and marketing funds, derivatives and other investment products, authorisation and ongoing compliance requirements, cross-border business, market abuse, anti-money laundering, regulatory capital requirements, agreements with customers, clearers, custodians and other service providers, and outsourcing agreements.
Mark Sanders (partner) has extensive experience of UK and international M&A, private equity, joint ventures and other financing transactions and advisory work. His practice includes advising private equity and venture capital funds, their portfolio companies and their management teams on the full spectrum of private investment transactions and exits including buyouts, venture and growth capital, buy-and-build and other expansion strategies and all forms of exit transaction including auction and off-market sale transactions and IPOs. Mark’s practice has been principally in the technology and media sectors. He also focuses on international private M&A, joint ventures and other transactions for corporate clients in the EU, United States and Asia-Pacific.
Partners and counsel in Germany
Francis Bellen (partner) headed the Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice in Germany at King & Wood Mallesons. His practice focuses on litigation, arbitration and alternative dispute resolution, advising on disputes in particular in commercial matters, M&A and corporate law, cartel damages as well as banking and finance. He has represented clients in courts (German state courts and the Court of Justice of the European Union) and in arbitration proceedings. His clients comprise national and international companies from a variety of industries, including banks and private equity houses.
Tilman Siebert (partner) specialises in German and European competition law. He has advised on merger control proceedings and cartel investigations before the German Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) and the European Commission, coordination of international multi-jurisdictional filings, and competition litigation before German and European courts.
Tilman advises clients in a number of industry sectors, including the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), aerospace, private equity, technology and pharmaceuticals sectors. He also advises generally on competition law, including giving advice on compliance issues, joint ventures, distribution and licensing agreements, and research and development cooperation agreements.
Dr Michaela Westrup (counsel) advises on German and European antitrust and competition law. Her experience includes: merger control cases and cartel investigations (before the German Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) and the European Commission), antitrust litigation and general competition law advice, including advice on compliance, joint ventures, distribution and licensing agreements, and research and development cooperation.
Partners and counsel in Paris
Raphaël Béra (partner) focuses on tax matters, including has extensive experience in tax litigation and tax audits. In particular, he advises on investment fund structures, both French and foreign (FPCIs, limited partnerships, SICARs, etc.) for various assets (private equity, real estate funds, infrastructure funds, debt funds). He is also involved in the tax structuring of numerous acquisitions of companies, LBOs, real estate investments, restructurings and refinancings for investment funds and industrial groups (for sponsors or lenders).
Fanny Combourieu (partner) has extensive experience in taxation, including tax audits and litigation. In particular, she focuses on private equity transactions, acquisitions and disposals of companies, restructurings, real estate investments and real estate funds structuring.
Guilain Hippolyte (partner) specialises in M&A, leveraged buyout and private equity transactions. He advises sovereign-wealth funds, private equity funds, industrial clients and managers in private and public M&A, restructuring and other corporate matters.
Gwenaël Kropfinger (counsel) specialises in the tax structuring of company acquisitions, leveraged buyouts (LBOs), real estate investments, restructurings and refinancings for investment funds and corporate groups. He has particular expertise in investment fund structuring, both French and foreign (FPCI, partnerships, SICAR, FIS) for various assets (private equity, real estate and infrastructure funds).
Marc Lévy (partner) advises on litigation matters. He represents domestic and international groups before the EU and French competition authorities and courts with respect to investigations, cartels, abuse of dominance and European regulatory issues. Marc also advises clients on unfair practices, consumer protection and contractual disputes. He is particularly active in the on-line, retail and pharmaceutical industries, both in contentious and non-contentious matters.
Pierre-Louis Périn (partner) focuses on Venture Capital and advises on investments in private equity funds and on the structuring of private equity management companies. He also has expertise in corporate structures and governance, incentives and shareholders disputes, as well as in M&A (domestic and international) and joint ventures.
Natasha Tardif (partner) is a litigator and specialises in EU & Competition matters. She is regularly involved in the representation of international corporate clients before EU and French courts and authorities in relation to: dawn raids and investigations, cartels and abuse of dominance matters as well as for merger notifications. She works across a broad range of industries including retail, betting and gaming, pharmaceuticals, industrial M&A and e-commerce.
Sylvie Vansteenkiste (partner) was the head of King & Wood Mallesons’ Tax practice in Paris and the co-head of its EUME Tax practice. She has extensive experience of tax audits and tax litigation. Sylvie has practised tax law, especially in the area of complex tax structuring of investment funds, both French and foreign (FPCI, FCPs, partnerships, SICAR, FIS) for 20 years and advises private funds on the tax structuring of their acquisitions and how to implement incentive plans for their management teams.
About Reed Smith
Reed Smith is a global law firm with more than 1,700 lawyers in 26 offices across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States.
The firm’s five main industry sectors are financial services, energy and natural resources, entertainment and media, shipping and life sciences.
For further information, please visit www.reedsmith.com or contact Jeyda Star (senior PR and communications manager) on +44 (0)20 3116 2571.
