Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton

Founded in 1946, Cleary Gottlieb launched with offices in New York and Washington, D.C., positioning itself to serve the financial institutions and government connections of the time. Its expansion into London came in 1971, about 20 years after the opening of the first international office in Paris. This is a slightly different playbook from that of M&A-focused American firms, which would typically open first in London as a gateway to European dealmaking. That said, Cleary Gottlieb was among the first five American firms to open in London. Today, 50 years later, it is a go-to for global corporations, financial institutions, and sovereign states for competition, debt capital markets, finance and litigation, together with 12 other Legal 500-recommended practice areas. Demonstrating its continued commitment to the London market, the firm has grown its partner headcount in the City by over 60% since 2020, increasing from 19 to 31. Cleary Gottlieb’s competition practice is renowned in the City, featuring a formidable bench of three partners and senior counsels in the Legal 500 Hall of Fame, one Leading Partner (as also recognised by Legal 500), and an ex-Director of Mergers at the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Cleary Gottlieb’s London practice advises clients on the full gamut of competition matters, including high-stakes investigations, competition litigation and merger clearances before the CMA and the European Commission. The team’s expertise is especially valued by major tech companies, as demonstrated by its role as global antitrust counsel to Broadcom, a global designer of semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions, in its $69 billion acquisition of VMware., a provider of multi-cloud services. The transaction occurred at a time when technology markets were intensely scrutinised by competition regulators and politicians around the world. For example, just a month before completion, Chinese regulators were threatening to block the deal, following stricter US restrictions on China’s access to advanced semiconductor technology. Over an 18-month review involving 12 competition authorities across the globe including the UK’s CMA, Cleary Gottlieb put forward arguments on behalf of its client to address regulatory concerns about the anticompetitive effects of the transaction and negotiated innovative remedies particularly with the authorities in the EU, Korea and China, while avoiding the need for divestitures. The team’s excellent technical knowledge and adept deal management have earned them the title of the Competition/Regulatory Team of the Year by the British Legal Awards 2024. Cleary Gottlieb also boasts a Band-2 debt capital markets practice in London and is known to have "foreign governments on speed dial", due to its extensive profile of sovereign debt restructurings and financings. Cleary Gottlieb represented Greece in the largest-ever sovereign debt restructuring and bond exchange back in 2012, while also assisting the sovereign in its momentous regainment of investment grade status in 2024. Over to emerging markets, for which Cleary Gottlieb also receives a Band-2 ranking, the firm recently represented the Government of Barbados in completing a groundbreaking debt-for-climate conversion transaction. This innovative deal enabled Barbados to achieve approximately $125 million in fiscal savings, which will be used to fund water reclamation and wastewater infrastructure projects in the country. Cleary Gottlieb London’s debt capital markets practice also extends to representing underwriters and issuers of bonds, counting among its clients a mix of European and Wall Street banks, including Barclays, BNP Paribas, HSBC, Santander, American Express, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs. While more renowned in the London market for debt capital market and competition expertise, Cleary Gottlieb holds its own against American peers in handling high-profile strategic M&A mandates. The firm regularly advises long-standing client Sixth Street on its M&A and investment activities in London. Notable transactions of 2024 include the $7.1 billion take-private acquisition of ESR Group Ltd, carried out as part of a consortium with Starwood Capital Group, SSW Partners, QIA, and Warburg Pincus, and a €445 million joint venture with Achmea, a Dutch pension and life insurance provider. In 2024, Cleary Gottlieb broke new ground by advising on the first de-SPAC acquisition completed under the UK’s 2021 SPAC rules. As a result of the de-SPAC, Cleary Gottlieb’s client ACG Metals Limited could roll up copper mines in Turkey into its London-listed special purpose acquisition company to inject capital into the mines operation and scale production, in anticipation of surging demand from the renewables, electric vehicle and artificial intelligence industries.