News
Freshfields delivers robust performance while continuing to invest for growth
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP (Freshfields) has delivered solid revenue growth and reported a net profit of £685 million for the year ending 30 April 2020 while continuing to invest in the growth of the business. Performance was particularly strong across the firm’s antitrust, competition and trade and litigation practices.
Financial summary:
• Revenue up 3% to £1.52 billion
• Net profit stable at £685m, despite investing significantly in the future of the firm
• Profit per equity partner £1.82 million
Firm highlights:
• We acted on a series of landmark deals, including Aon’s merger with Willis Towers Watson; the London Stock Exchange Group’s acquisition of Refinitiv; Paypal’s participation in a fundraising by GoPay, VW’s $2.6bn co-investment with Ford in Argo AI.
• We also acted on many of the biggest and most complex financial sponsor-led transactions, delivering another year of double-digit growth building on our sector insights and geographic coverage, including for the Cinven, KKR and Providence consortium’s takeover of MásMóvil Ibercom; and for Permira and TeamViewer AG on TeamViewer's IPO.
• Our antitrust, litigation, arbitration and investigations teams achieved record revenues, notably defending Volkswagen AG in civil, regulatory and criminal claims brought around the world in response to the emissions case. Other headline wins include securing a victory for Evonik in its merger litigation against the Federal Trade Commission’s attempt to block its acquisition of PeroxyChem; and representing CK Hutchison in its successful appeal against the European Commission’s decision to prohibit Three’s proposed acquisition of O2 in 2016.
• We forged ahead with our US expansion, hiring four leading M&A, governance and litigation lawyers in New York in October 2019. Our push continued with the launch this month of a seven-partner office in Silicon Valley, a further hire for our US securities and shareholder litigation practice in New York, and today’s announcement of a top Department of Justice antitrust trial lead joining our antitrust litigation practice in Washington, DC.
• Technology continues to be a major driver of growth. The two most recent examples are our advice to Google on its $4.5bn investment in Reliance Jio, India’s largest telecoms operator, and our work with Hewlett Packard Enterprise on its acquisition of Silver Peak.
• Our transformational investment in technology enabled the firm to seamlessly transition to remote-working during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Stephan Eilers, Managing Partner, said: “This is a strong set of results, driven by a long-term strategy that has seen us progress despite the challenging economic climate. We have made some significant investments this year that give us an even stronger platform for the future, and I’m excited about what we can achieve. We continue to advise on the most dynamic mandates in the market and are forging ahead with our US expansion plans. I would like to thank our people for their outstanding efforts and above all our clients for trusting us with their business-critical matters right around the world.”
Alan Mason, Global Client Partner, said: “Technology and life science businesses are increasingly shaping the global economy, and this is being accelerated by Covid-19. Our continued US expansion means we are ideally placed to help these companies achieve their ambitions. Top-tier US talent is critical to our ability to handle our clients’ most important domestic and cross-border issues while setting our advice in its global context.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
About Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is a global law firm with a long-standing track record of successfully supporting the world's leading national and multinational corporations, financial institutions and governments on groundbreaking and business-critical mandates. Our more than 2,800 lawyers deliver results from 27 offices worldwide alongside advice from the leading local firms. Our commitment, local and multinational expertise and business know-how mean our clients rely on us when it matters most.
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For more information contact:
Angela.Warburton@freshfields.com / +44 (0)7515 294781
Alexa.Bethell@freshfields.com / +44 (0)7940 166251
