Linklaters was last night named Corporate Team of the Year for advising RBS on its EUR71.1bn acquisition of ABN AMRO and Structured Finance/Debt Capital Markets Team of the Year for advising on the RBS Tier 1 financing at the Legal Business Awards.
The pioneering deal - which involved more than 400 lawyers in 24 offices - was the largest takeover in financial services history. It was also the largest ever tier 1 capital financing package. In addition, Linklaters advised Fortis, a member of the consortium, on its related EUR13.4bn rights issue to help fund the bid - the second largest ever rights issue in Europe.
Legal Business said: "The epic EUR71.1bn battle for ABN AMRO will surely feature large in any corporate lawyer's memories of 2007. Linklaters provided Dutch, US and UK legal advice to The Royal Bank of Scotland, the lead bank for the winning consortium, drawing on the resources of 400 lawyers in over 20 jurisdictions," and:
"Linklaters launched the biggest ever tier 1 capital financing package during the height of the credit crunch, advising The Royal Bank of Scotland on its complex and high-profile EUR6.1bn financing for the consortium takeover of ABN AMRO, which involved five tranches in four currencies."
The Linklaters team advising the RBS consortium was led by Robert Elliott (global head of banking, London), Matthew Middleditch (corporate partner, London), Anne Drummond (corporate partner, London), Tom Shropshire (US corporate partner, London), Peter Goes (corporate partner, Amsterdam), and Larry Vranka (US corporate partner, New York).
The Linklaters team advising RBS on its capital markets financing package was led by Stephen Edlmann (capital markets partner, London) and Richard O’Callaghan (capital markets managing associate, London).
The firm was shortlisted for six awards in total, the others being:
- Banking and Restructuring Team of the Year - Cov-lite financings for JPMorgan
- Project Finance Team of the Year - Project Solaris
- TMT Team of the Year - a range of diverse deals
- Tax Team of the Year - tax advice to RBS as part of its bid for ABN AMRO
The awards, held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, were hosted by The Rt Hon William Hague and attended by more than 1,000 people.
For further information please contact:
Sarah Peters on +44 20 7456 2153 / sarah.peters@linklaters.com or Rupert Winlaw on +44 20 7456 3219 / rupert.winlaw@linklaters.com
