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Macfarlanes was built around private client and corporate work, but litigation is now one of its largest practices.
Matt McCahearty, the head of litigation, represented the PGA European Tour in securing the dismissal of appeals by 12 pro golfers against sanctions imposed on them for playing on the breakaway LIV Golf tour. A panel from Sports Resolutions, the global dispute service, rejected the players’ claims that the £100,000 fines and two tournament suspensions were unenforceable. Henrik Stenson, who was stripped of Europe’s captaincy for this year’s Ryder Cup and replaced by Luke Donald after joining LIV last summer, resigned his DP World Tour membership after the LIV rebels were hit with retrospective fines of as much as £650,000 and two-month suspensions for playing on the Saudi-backed circuit without official releases.
The firm also advised Investec, a distinctive bank and wealth manager, on an all-share combination of Investec Wealth & Investment and Rathbones Group. The aim of the all-share merger has been to create a London-listed wealth management group with about £100 billion of funds under management. This will enable Investec to offer banking services to clients of the enlarged company and Rathbones to provide wealth management products to customers of the lender.
Macfarlanes announced last month that it would use a generative artificial intelligence tool designed for legal work. It said that the tool would support its staff, all of whom would have access to HarveyAI, in doing their job more efficiently. It became the second law firm to announce a partnership with Harvey, after Allen & Overy revealed in February that it would roll out the technology to hundreds of lawyers. Harvey comes with a disclaimer explaining that its use should be supervised by legal professionals. The disclaimer says that the chatbot can “hallucinate”, which is when a programme produces inaccurate or misleading results.
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Macfarlanes advised Hyve Group, a London-listed events business, on a recommended £320 million takeover bid for it by Providence Equity. The take-private deal marked a blow to the London Stock Exchange. News of the American private equity firm’s move in February prompted a leap in Hyve’s share price of 16.3 per cent, or 14p, to 100p. The company organises fairs and other events. It came amid speculation that the City will be hit by a wave of delistings.
It also advised one of Britain’s longest-established private equity firms as it raised a new £1 billion fund to invest in fast-growing UK businesses. The fund, ECI Partners’s biggest, was oversubscribed at its final close despite the widely reported challenging fundraising environment. It attracted investors from across the globe, including new investments from large North American pension plans and European foundations as well as capital from Asia. Macfarlanes has advised ECI since 2000.
★ Commended for banking & finance; commercial dispute resolution; commercial property; company & commercial; financial crime & fraud & regulatory; inheritance & succession; mergers & acquisitions; tax
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