(March 26, 2009, Weil Gotshal News)
NEW YORK (March 26, 2009) – International law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges received four awards from the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) last night at the organization’s annual awards dinner held at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. Weil Gotshal’s four IFLR awards was the most by any single law firm this year and the most ever achieved by Weil Gotshal in any single year. Along with the four top honors, the firm was
short-listed for eight awards in total, again topping all other law firms. In addition to the four IFLR America awards, the IFLR Asia Awards recently recognized our firm for the Asia Restructuring Deal of the Year for the Firm's work on the Nomura/Lehman Brothers restructuring.
Weil Gotshal’s 2009 IFLR awards include:
Exclusive Americas Law Firm of the Year, for the full complement of the firm’s work in North and South America during 2008. This included headline-grabbing bankruptcy filings, such as those of Lehman Brothers (the largest bankruptcy in US history) and Washington Mutual, as well as unprecedented restructurings, such as the firm’s multi-practice approach to AIG’s global divestiture and restructuring program. In 2008, the firm also handled high-profile transactions for General Electric, NBC Universal, and NYMEX, among others, and high-stakes litigations for Exxon Mobil, eBay, Inc., and UnitedHealth Group, to name a few.
M&A Deal of the Year, for the firm’s handling of Lehman Brothers Holdings’ divestiture of its US investment banking business for $1.75 billion to Barclays, saving thousands of jobs in the process. The sale was conceived and consummated against the backdrop of Lehman’s nearly $700 billion bankruptcy filing, which had occurred with little forewarning. A sale of this magnitude usually takes months – the Weil Gotshal team completed this one in about a week and under great pressure, as the underlying business assets lost value by the hour. At the time, the sale represented the largest business asset ever sold out of Chapter 11 proceedings. This transaction was followed swiftly by the securing of bids for Lehman’s investment management business, principally the prized Neuberger Berman unit, which was ultimately purchased by Neuberger’s management team. The Weil Gotshal team on the transactions included partners
Thomas Roberts,
Michael Lubowitz,
Stephen Dannhauser,
Harvey Miller, and
Lori Fife.
Exclusive M&A Team of the Year, for the firm’s work on the aforementioned Lehman Brothers transaction. The award-winning team is the same as listed above.
Private Equity Deal of the Year, for the firm’s work on Advent International’s acquisition of Dominican airports manager Aeropuertos Dominicanos Siglo. The deal was announced in September 2008 and shepherded to completion during an incredibly difficult stretch for the global economy amid deteriorating financial markets. It marked one of the largest Central American infrastructure financings in years and the first-ever leveraged buyout in the Dominican Republic. The Weil Gotshal team on the transaction included partners
Kevin Sullivan,
David Bower,
Kelly Dybala, and
Helyn Goldstein.
“This achievement – four IFLR awards and eight short-listings in one year – is an amazing commentary on the quality and breadth of talent at Weil Gotshal,” said firm chairman Stephen Dannhauser, “I congratulate my colleagues for their performance this past year during what can only be called a very tumultuous period in the marketplace. I believe this recognition tonight is a product of the balanced platform we have maintained, as well as a reflection of our crisis-management capabilities firm-wide.”
In addition to bringing home four awards from IFLR, the firm was short-listed in the Restructuring Deal of the Year, Equity Deal of the Year, Restructuring Team of the Year, and Equity Team of the Year categories.