With ‘excellent, in-depth knowledge’, the practice at Baker McKenzie has recently seen substantial change: Emily Carlisle and Jo Hewitt now jointly lead the London-based practice, which also benefitted from the recruitment of Rakesh Rathod from Allen & Overy LLP in 2022. Clients praise Carlisle for her ‘great personable skills and ability to understand and advise on complex legal matters in a clear and concise manner’, while Hewitt excels in post-acquisition integrations and subsidiary governance. Former London group head Kirsty Wilson is still active in the space and leads the firm’s global reorganisations practice; she is also a go-to name for post-acquisition integrations. The group also leverages the global corporate maintenance team in Belfast, led by of counsel Laura Fisher in London.

At Deloitte Legal, the ‘very accessible, available and knowledgeable’ practice ‘provides coherent and aligned solutions’ to its client roster of high-profile corporates. The dedicated team is led by Rachel Hossack, who specialises in intra-group reorganisations and business transformations. Other key individuals include director Nirosha Perera, who regularly acts for large privately owned or listed global groups and US inbound clients; associate director Jesika Patel and managing associate Peter Grigor, who has recently been active in legal entity rationalisations, operating model transformations and intra-group debt simplification work.

Ernst & Young LLP’s specialist international business reorganisations team structures its advice across four categories encompassing legal entity rationalisations, core structuring projects, governance and transformation matters, and deal structuring mandates. This approach allows the practice to act for a growing client base of FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 corporates across the full spectrum of global matters; the firm also fields a dedicated team focusing on Japanese clients as part of its Japanese business services unit. Craig Stevenson heads up the department and has notable experience acting in Asian markets; associate partner James Menzies is the key name for compliance and governance matters, and Terence Devane was recently promoted to the partnership.

PwC LLP’s practice sits within the firm’s global department, which excels in high-profile carve outs, separations, spin projects and post-deal integration work; the group recently acted for Colfax on the separation of its medical technology business and fabrication technology business into two public companies. The team also has distinct knowledge in specialist areas including providing an IP and operating model offering, which is led by Latika Sharma, and standalone financial services and energy teams led by Kevin King and Keith Bottomley respectively. Georgie Blyth and Cynthia Chan jointly lead the wider business reorganisations practice, which also fields Tom Lewis, who is a key contact for pharmaceuticals, life sciences and Japanese clients; Laura Freestone, who focuses on entity simplification projects; and newly promoted director Harry Wilkins, who specialises in structuring projects.

Leveraging the firm’s global network and full-service capacity, DLA Piper’s international corporate reorganisations team excels in complex multi-jurisdictional reorganisations, follow-on projects including post-sale integrations, and carve-out transactions. Ben Forgiel-Jenkins heads up the department, which also benefits from the expertise of corporate partner Jon Hayes and tax specialist Matthew Davies. Counsel Stan Stewart is active in multi-country restructurings, legal director Paul Routledge is a key name in the firm’s Leeds office, and senior associate Clare McLaren focuses on the financial services sector.

The international reorganisations practice at Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP remains a growth area for the firm, exemplified by the recruitment of Eda Demirel into the London team in late 2021. Demirel, who now leads the practice, adds notable US expertise to the practice, which leverages the firm’s wider global network on cross-border mandates. Other key individuals include Amanda Partland, who is based in Leeds; principal associate Helen Mackey, who handles the tax structuring elements of cross-border matters; and senior associate Amy Locke.

KPMG Law in the United Kingdom recently recruited Richard Needham from Baker McKenzie to jointly lead the firm’s international business reorganisations practice with Peter Workman in Birmingham following the retirement of Richard Lewis. The practice also saw numerous promotions including the promotion of Ben Brafman and Birmingham-based Tom Swain to director and Manchester-based Paul Kelly and Tanvir Dhanoa getting elevated to the partnership. The group is active in high-value and complex cross-border reorganisation projects and benefits from the firm’s wider professional services expertise and bespoke and tailored technology products.

Under the leadership of the ‘incredibly knowledgeable’ Gillian Holgate, Allen & Overy LLP’s ‘second-to-none’ global reorganisations group is ‘efficient and resourceful’ and a key name in the market for cross-border M&A mandates. Former practice co-head Rakesh Rathod departed to Baker McKenzie in early 2022.

RSM UK Legal LLP’s dedicated business reorganisations legal team leverages the firm’s wider global audit, tax and consulting network to handle large-scale international corporate reorganisations for substantial multinational private corporates. In a recent highlight, the team acted for Civica Group on its group simplification and the rationalisation of over £1bn of debt. Newly promoted partner Tristan Mutimer heads up the practice, which also includes the ‘top-notch’ Gilbert Collison. Carolyn Brown leads the wider legal services offering.