The judges agreed that Freshfields’ work advising Nomura on the acquisition of Lehman Brother’s European, Middle East and Asian arms was the standout deal of 2009. If ever a deal was designed to test the mettle of an international law firm, this was surely it. In all, 17 of Freshfields’ offices worked on the deal while the firm also co-ordinated the instruction of external counsel in another 13 jurisdictions. This all took place at the height of the credit crunch-induced financial market turmoil. The need to act quickly and decisively was an essential feature of this deal.
Nomura signed a business sale agreement with Lehman’s UK administrators to acquire its European and Middle Eastern businesses on 23 September 2008. The following day, Freshfields was instructed to implement the acquisition of the businesses under the business sale agreement and to co-ordinate the next phases of the transaction. Complex in itself, the economic and political backdrop against which the deal was being put together created several additional issues.
