IFLR 1000
The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms

Accura has certainly seen the positive effects of its raid on Rønne and Lundgren in the past year. The new team, headed by Kim Toftgaard and new arrival Thomas Skjellerup, is already gaining traction and combined with their strong bank connections sees the firm promoted to tier two. "Accura do a high volume of work," says one partner.

Skjellerup himself is extremely highly regarded and is described by one competitor as "very, very good". At least one of the heads of department, and sometimes both, led on all the firm's notable deals this year which has led some to question the team's bench strength: "Accura for me are just a two partner practice," says one competitor.

Nevertheless, the firm acted on some key mandates in the last 12 months, with the majority of them split between restructuring and new financing, mirroring the market as a whole. One such deal was notable for its size, as they advised a lender syndicate on the financial restructuring of ferry company Scandlines. Worth €1.5 billion, the deal closed in November 2011 and required negotiations with both the German and Danish owners of the company.

Another key mandate saw the team advise property company Tower Group on its restructuring. This involved over €700 million worth of property, shares and senior and junior debt, and was finally completed in March 2011.

On the capital markets side, the firm was active on the Pandora IPO in September 2010, the largest offering in Europe over the past couple of years. A team led by Poul Jagd Mogensen advised the founders and management on aspects of the €1.5 billion deal.

Accura also boasts an impressive list of international clients, including corporations like General Electric and Nike, banks such as Barclays and Citigroup, and private equity names like Blackstone and Nordic Capital.

Accura is very much a firm on the up, and extremely close to pushing through to the top tier. "Accura are businesslike and have a tough approach. They are gaining a greater share in the market too," comments one competitor.

The team is large and still growing after the hire of a substantial portion of Rønne & Lundgren's M&A department last year, a haul that included partners Henrik Juul Hansen, Morten Jensen, Poul Jagd Mogensen and Jesper Schultz Larsen.

However, there is an impression across the market that, despite their high level of visibility, the firm doesn't always act on a regular basis on the big-ticket deals. "We have had some dealings with Accura, though I would say that they are a little more mid-market," says a partner, while another concurs: "Accura are very active, and service a lot of mid-market clients."

Despite this perception, Accura have still done some interesting work in this area. In one notable deal it advised a consortium, comprised of Kirkbi, the Lundbeck Foundation and PFA Pension with respect to the acquisition of the global safety services company Falck. This transaction completed in April 2011 for a confidential sum.

The team also worked on an interesting deal for the state, with Kare Stolt advising Finansiel Stabilitet (a company set up by the Danish government to help sort out distressed banks) on the sale on EBH Finansservice.

Accura has a solid practice in this area, and is one of the select few that has been the recipient of the vast majority of the restructuring work given out by the Danish state.

Leading lawyer Jesper Trommer Volf, considered one of the best in the market by peers, was part of a team instructed by Jyske Bank on a massive bankruptcy case involving over 25 companies in the Kesoni Group. Worth €40 million, the process was still awaiting completion at the time of writing.

The same team advised the bank on a real estate bankruptcy case when the Mariendal Group went insolvent. The Group, valued at approximately €40 million, comprises over 30 construction and real estate companies.