The predictable response of one magic circle partner to Simmons & Simmons’ lead role on Telefonica’s £17.7bn bid for O2 was that the firm only received the nod because every major firm was conflicted.
There is an element of truth here. Linklaters is too tied-in with Vodafone to act, Slaughter and May had already advised KPN on a similar bid, while Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which had previously done some work with Telefonica, was advising the target. Clifford Chance (CC), which has advised Telefonica on its UK acquisition strategy in the past, was perhaps unlucky and certainly disappointed to only land a secondary role.
