A&O gets set for life after Titchmarsh

It could be said the decision of Allen & Overy’s (A&O's) global head of project finance, Graham Vinter, to leave for BG Group is akin to Alan Titchmarsh’s shock announcement that he was to leave Gardener’s World.

Such is the association between Vinter and project finance in the UK that the news its biggest name is to leave private practice is unsurprisingly the most popular story on legalweek.com today.

Vinter had been at A&O for 27 years and built up arguably the finest projects team in the City, which now comprises 18 London partners and 40 associates, with a further 44 partners and 63 associates worldwide. He has also well known in the field as an author, having written the bona fide industry bible Project Finance: A Legal Guide.

So why leave? From the outside he could be viewed as the kind of name that would attempt to become managing partner, a contest won by David Morley, although it seems unlikely he was interested in the post.

Last year A&O cut the equity points of the majority of its projects partners, citing the impact of sterling’s strength in a practice area dominated by dollar-billing. However, Vinter was one of the few partners not to see his equity downgraded.

Instead, it is said that the 51-year-old Vinter felt it was time for a change of scenery from private practice, though he was not set on going in-house. A&O knew this and many had expected him to take up a commercial role in two years’ time, but the BG opportunity came up before then.

As it is, A&O partners will probably be rubbing their hands at the prospect of more work from the natural gas giant BG. But even if Vinter had joined a rival, A&O’s position in the sector has become difficult to knock.

For Vinter, the appeal of BG is understandable. Not only is the company currently rated as a key player in the liquefied natural gas market, but it also has form for allowing lawyers to climb up the ranks. Most notably, BG recruited Shearman & Sterling projects partner William Friedrich in 1995, who went on to become BG’s deputy chief executive.

It is also worth noting that Vinter - who will sit on BG’s executive committee and will oversee a 100-strong team - becomes the first genuine top-ranking partner in private practice in Europe to go in-house. Ironically, though BG is a big A&O client, is not one of Vinter’s many key client connections.

Vinter himself can take much of the credit for building up a team that is now recognised as top of its game – most recently in Infrastructure Journal’s league tables, where the magic circle giant led its rivals by both volume and value of deals for the first half of 2007.

In addition, he is succeeded as global projects head by Anne Baldock who, as well as being his wife, happens to be a highly-rated name in projects.

His loss is exactly that. But the house that Vinter built is unlikely to collapse in a hurry.

caroline.grimshaw@legalweek.com