Lovells’ coping strategy for dealing with the loss of high-profile partners is well honed. Sure enough, the firm wasted little time in stressing the amicable nature of Hugh Nineham’s impending departure for McDermott Will & Emery.
While the corporate finance head is the first high-profile partner to quit the firm for some time, Lovells is nevertheless well versed in the art of putting a positive spin on the departure of senior lawyers.
Is the firm’s ‘business as usual’ message accurate, or has corporate chair Andrew Skipper’s battle to rebuild the firm’s corporate practice just got considerably tougher?
In a sense, Nineham’s departure would be a blow whether now — to a rival firm — or next year to retirement, as had been anticipated by those inside Lovells.
After all, together with John Davidson (now at SABMiller) and Marco Compagnoni (now at Weil Gotshal & Manges), Nineham is one of the biggest names associated with Lovells’ corporate practice, with a reputation for punching above his weight. Many partners at rival City practices struggle to name suitable candidates within the firm to replace this trio of heavyweights.
True, the remaining partners in the London corporate group are not mentioned in the same breath as those at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters, but the team has landed a string of high-profile mandates over recent months. And, as Skipper points out, Nineham has acted on very few of these.
The firm’s tally during the past year includes roles advising Smurfit Kappa on its Ä5.5bn (£4.1bn) initial public offering, Schering Plough on its Ä11bn (£8.2bn) acquisition of the medicines business of Dutch chemicals group Akzo Nobel and Umbro on its takeover by Nike. More recently, it has won mandates to advise Equitable on its expected sale and demutualisation,
H Bauer on its £1.14bn acquisition of Emap’s consumer magazine and commercial radio division and Babcock & Brown on its acquisition of a stake in Forth Ports.
On these deals it was the likes of Nigel Read, Charles Rix, Richard Lewis, Steven Bryan and Richard Brown who took the lead, not Nineham.
As Nineham himself says: “In some ways [my move] will be a breath of fresh air for them. Whenever a senior figure moves out it leaves space for others to fill and I have no doubt they will do that.”
Nevertheless, rivals and ex-partners alike suggest Skipper does not have an easy ride ahead of him. Lovells is setting up new client teams for ITV and Barclays, Nineham’s key clients. What’s more, Nineham is expected to stick around until the handover is agreed. But Freshfields has already been gaining ground with ITV and, with Nineham out of the way, the magic circle firm has a clear shot at taking over. And while Lovells continues to build the reputation of its younger corporate partners, it may well feel the absence of its elder statesmen on pitches.
“For pitches, Hugh’s the kind of guy you want to turn up,” says one former partner. “Lovells lawyers are as good as lawyers at other firms; the issue is really one of profile and that profile comes from doing the jobs and having the right clients.”
For one partner at a magic circle firm it may well boil down to leadership. “Nineham perhaps wasn’t the force he once was but it can’t be good to lose a [big] name,” the partner observes. “The firm needs to work out succession and make sure its clients are happy. It may just need some strong leadership.”
The weight on Skipper’s shoulders has just got a little heavier.
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