Latham & Watkins's Russian and London offices both receive regular mandates for Russian related financings. In Moscow it is the highly reputed Mikhail Turetsky who is the key partner....
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Latham & Watkins's Russian and London offices both receive regular mandates for Russian related financings. In Moscow it is the highly reputed Mikhail Turetsky who is the key partner. The firm's practice is quite versatile and recent deals have seen the firm represent both borrowers and lenders on financings and restructurings.
Deals
In recent cases, Mikhail Turetsky, London partner Vladimir Maly and Moscow associate Yulia Dementieva represented the shareholders of Russian cosmetics company Kalina on a structured margin loan from UBS secured by shares. Another large deal led out of Moscow saw Turetsky and team assist a creditor's committee of Russian banks Uralsib, Bank Zenit, Troika Dialog and others, on the $460 million debt restructuring of Potok8 Group, a Russian real estate company.
The London office also worked on a couple of significant mandates on behalf of Renova and JPMorgan Securities, with Christopher Hall and Witold Balaban.
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Latham & Watkins is another firm that has gone through some changes and its reshuffled Moscow capital markets team is now cruising into its second year of operation. "They were good," says a client, "we were happy with their advice and speed of response"....
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Latham & Watkins is another firm that has gone through some changes and its reshuffled Moscow capital markets team is now cruising into its second year of operation. "They were good," says a client, "we were happy with their advice and speed of response".
Mikhail Turetsky, who joined from Baker & McKenzie in April 2011, supported by senior associate David Stewart head up the practice in Moscow and feature on most deals, while London partners Lene Malthasen and Antti Ihamuotila throw their weight behind the office.
Deals
David Stewart and Vladimir Mikhailovsky advised PrimSyvazBank (PSB) on setting up a $20 billion global debt issuance programme. The programme was established in 2011 and consists of various types of issuances from loan participation notes (LPNs) to funded-linked notes, exchange notes, fixed and floated rate notes and subordinated securities, among others, along with a new physical delivery of underlying assets and an enforcement agent function.
The firm's strength is in M&A driven capital markets support and two such cases exemplify this. In one, Stewart and Antti Ihamuotila advised Citibank as dealer-arranger on two equity tender offers for shares in ADS by OJSC Norilsk. The $4.5 billion deal included various offshore legal considerations, the structuring of a series of derivative products and multi-jurisdictional litigation.
In mid-2012, Stewart, James Baxter and Mikhail Vardanian were also advising GeoTechService on the potential listing of seismic company IGSS on the LSE, following the public merger of IGSS and GeoTech.
A fourth notable deal in 2011 saw Stewart working with London partners Tracy Edmonson and Lene Malthasen to support OJSC MobileTeleSystems (MTS) on English and US law governed solicitations and an attempted tender offer.
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Latham's team has gone through a number of changes, as noted last year, and now seems to be settling into its stride once again. The firm's forté would be on the equity side primarily, as noted by competitors, although the firm also handles debt work for clients such as PSB (PromSvyazBank)....
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Latham's team has gone through a number of changes, as noted last year, and now seems to be settling into its stride once again. The firm's forté would be on the equity side primarily, as noted by competitors, although the firm also handles debt work for clients such as PSB (PromSvyazBank).
Clients recommend senior associate David Stewart, who led the Moscow team on the majority of the firm's big deals. "We have been very satisfied with their work," says a client. The firm also gets strong support from its London partner Lene Malthasen and Antti Ihamuotila.
Deals
In standout deals, the firm was kept busy in 2011 advising PSB (PromSvyazBank) as lead arranger on a multi-issuance programme for loan participation notes, fund-linked notes, exchange notes floating and fixed rate notes, subordinated notes and other debt securities. The deal was interesting for some novel mechanics employed in the transaction, among them a physical delivery of underlying assets.
Citibank engaged the team on two consecutive equity tender offers for shares and ADSs by OJSC Norilsk and the firm also acted for GeoTech Services on its merger with IGSS and planning for the listing of IGSS on the LSE.
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Latham & Watkins has a solid presence on the Russian market. Some competitors comment that the firm suffers from a lack of capacity but on the flip side are impressed at the team's operating level....
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Latham & Watkins has a solid presence on the Russian market. Some competitors comment that the firm suffers from a lack of capacity but on the flip side are impressed at the team's operating level. "Great guys, Christopher Allen punches above his weight and the things he does with the size of his team are remarkable," notes a peer.
The firm has traditionally been strong in telecoms and its good relationship with Sistema keeps the firm on its toes. "They were good, we were happy with the advice and the speed of response from them," says a client.
Deals
In standout deals, Christopher Allen, Mikhail Vardanian and Yulia Dementieva advised long-term client cosmetics company Concern Kalina on the sale of an 82% stake to Unilever for $500 million. The deal was a significant public M&A transaction involving UBS and Goldman Sachs as financial advisors.
Allen also led team acting for CJSC Holding Company Siberian Business Union on its acquisition of OJSC Sibur Fertilizers from Sibur Holdings and Novorossyisk Commercial Sea Port in the proposed $2.1 billion acquisition of 100% of Primorsk Trade Port.
A final deal saw Allen worked with London partners Graeme Sloan and Robbie Mclaren advise GeoTech on its merger with the Russian/Kazakh seismic business of Integra and Schlumberger.
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Latham & Watkins has been seeing more project financings of late and has shifted some of its focus from London to Moscow. The team has been boosted by the arrival of Mikhail Turetsky in April 2011 from Baker & McKenzie while partner Brian Conway has been splitting his time between London and Moscow....
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Latham & Watkins has been seeing more project financings of late and has shifted some of its focus from London to Moscow. The team has been boosted by the arrival of Mikhail Turetsky in April 2011 from Baker & McKenzie while partner Brian Conway has been splitting his time between London and Moscow. Conway was part of a team of nine finance partners who joined from White & Case in 2010.
Deals
In 2012 the team won a confidential but substantial project in the gas sector and it has also been involved in Moscow's Moscow City development for a Russian client base.
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