Capital markets – debt
Maples and Calder
Since Maples and Calder entered the Irish market five years ago the Cayman based firm has been asserting itself forcefully and gaining market share. Competitors don't consider the firm as visible on the equity side, but there is a consensus that it belongs in the second tier for debt and with the deals to prove it the firm is promoted this year....
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Since Maples and Calder entered the Irish market five years ago the Cayman based firm has been asserting itself forcefully and gaining market share. Competitors don't consider the firm as visible on the equity side, but there is a consensus that it belongs in the second tier for debt and with the deals to prove it the firm is promoted this year. "You certainly come across them. They'd have a bigger footprint than the other three [in that tier]," says a peer.
Practice head Nollaig Murphy, poached from A&L Goodbody when the firm opened in Dublin, is recommended by peers and has been active on all the firm's major deals in the last 12 months.
Murphy and David Maughan provided legal, listing and administration services to Intermediate Capital Group on a rare public CLO which closed in excess of €1.4 billion in August 2010. Murphy has also led a team advising Source UK Services, a provider of ETFs, on setting up its Irish precious and multi-metal platform, which closed in 2011, and its base metal platform, which is ongoing.
On behalf of Aladdin Capital Management, Murphy and partner Barry McGrath teamed up to assist in establishing two section 110 vehicles to issue pass through profit participating notes to an Irish QIF (qualified investment fund) for acquiring secondary equity and debt market instruments.
On another notable deal, Murphy and partner Liam Carney, who joined the firm from Arthur Cox in 2010, advised Morgan Stanley on the establishment of a series of section 110 special purpose vehicles (SPV) for investing in actively managed portfolios of debt and equity securities.
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Leading lawyers
Nollaig Murphy
Other notable - Maples and Calder
Maples and Calder continues to expand and in May 2010 the firm welcomed a new addition to its banking practice – former Arthur Cox finance partner Liam Carney. As well as from acting on a substantial confidential matter, Carney also advised RBS Citizens as the joint arranger for the syndicate providing a $150 million facility and $30 million sub facility to Penn Engineering in April 2011....
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Maples and Calder continues to expand and in May 2010 the firm welcomed a new addition to its banking practice – former Arthur Cox finance partner Liam Carney. As well as from acting on a substantial confidential matter, Carney also advised RBS Citizens as the joint arranger for the syndicate providing a $150 million facility and $30 million sub facility to Penn Engineering in April 2011.
The firm has also been active in the aviation a finance sector. One notable deal sees David Maughan assisting Investec in the establishment of Irish aircraft leasing platform.
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Maples and Calder
Aggressive is the adjective habitually used to describe Maples and Calder, though fortunately in reference to the firm's approach to accumulating mandates and hiring, rather than its lawyers. This tactic has served its investment funds practice well and Maples has poached several prominent clients – notably Sanlam Asset Management, PineBridge Investments and Artisan Partners – and partners from its rivals since its inception....
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Aggressive is the adjective habitually used to describe Maples and Calder, though fortunately in reference to the firm's approach to accumulating mandates and hiring, rather than its lawyers. This tactic has served its investment funds practice well and Maples has poached several prominent clients – notably Sanlam Asset Management, PineBridge Investments and Artisan Partners – and partners from its rivals since its inception. "There has been some movement of market share from A&L Goodbody to Maples maybe not new products but one or two clients with a number of funds," remarks one partner. The practice has expanded with the hire of two former Dillon Eustace funds partners: Peter Stapleton and Stephen Carty, who was most recently head of funds at Eversheds O’Donnell Sweeney, joined in April 2010 and March 2011 respectively.
Despite Maples launching five years ago, competitors still treat the firm like a young pretender: "They are a new entrant to the market. They are a very aggressive firm. They aren't simply a law firm they offer a different suite of services. We don't regard them as a huge threat," says a lawyer referring to what was the firm's unique selling point, that they offer the full range of fund services, until fellow offshore firm Walkers launched in Dublin.
Lawyers also like to downplay Maple's impact and suggest the mandates the firm has won from rivals has been as a result of pricing.
However this is an opinion and whatever the reasons, when looking at the objective figures, competitors admit the firm is gaining market share: "It's about five years now and I think they've done fine. When they first came in people would have predicted their demise within the first couple of years and it clearly hasn't happened," says one peer. "When we check the incorporations and SUVs each month, Maples gets their fair share and you can't deny that they're successful."
No one refutes that the practice offers standards befitting the second tier but, despite commentators recognising head of practice Barry McGrath as a reputable figure in the industry, the consensus is that the practice does not yet have the strength in depth. However if it continues to progress so positively it will invariably continue it's upwards trajectory.
Practice head McGrath has closed two notable QIFs (qualified investment funds) in the last 12 months. Acting for new client Sanlam Asset Management he advised on the moving first suite of BVI offshore funds onshore under the new re-domiciliation legislation in January 2011 in addition to advising Lighthouse Investment Partners on establishing a multi-manager unit trust QIF in December 2010.
Relative new boy to the firm, Stapleton assisted in creating a suite of Managed Account QIFs for French asset management firm, Amundi Group. The initial wave closed in September 2010 with further ongoing waves in October. Stapleton also acted for Boussard & Gavaudan Asset Management in domiciling it's previously Cayman-based Hedge Fund into an on-shore jurisdiction.
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Leading lawyers
Barry McGrath
Other notable - Maples and Calder
Maples and Calder’s corporate group is headed by Edward Miller who has been active across all the firm’s notable transactions. With Nollaig Murphy, Miller led a team acting for Avolon Aerospace, an aircraft leasing platform, on its $1....
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Maples and Calder’s corporate group is headed by Edward Miller who has been active across all the firm’s notable transactions. With Nollaig Murphy, Miller led a team acting for Avolon Aerospace, an aircraft leasing platform, on its $1.4 billion capital raising. The deal included a $750 million investment from private equity sponsors Cinven, CVC and Oak Hill Capital.
Miller was also at the helm in a deal advising Cerasus II, an acquisition vehicle of Spectrum Equity Investors, on its take private of the Nasdaq-listed Trintech Group. The $129.4 million deal, which closed in December 2010, was only one of two such transactions involving Irish listed companies in 2010.
A further matter saw the practice head team up with partners Colm Rafferty and Murphy to act for Better Capital on the buy-out of the senior secured debt of the Calyx Group and the acquisition of Calyx Group’s software business from its administrators in September 2010.
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Maples and Calder
Commentators Maples and Calder note that the firm has been absent from the market since Mark Traynor moved to A&L Goodbody several years ago.
The firm is, however, in the process of rebuilding, illustrated by the hire of Paul Dobbyn from the Irish bar who came in as head of department....
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Commentators Maples and Calder note that the firm has been absent from the market since Mark Traynor moved to A&L Goodbody several years ago.
The firm is, however, in the process of rebuilding, illustrated by the hire of Paul Dobbyn from the Irish bar who came in as head of department. Competitors are not moved by the appointment and claim that the firm is yet to secure any substantial roles since his arrival.
"I think Maples was there because they had Mark Traynor but he joined A&L Goodbody. They didn't replace him for a while and now they have recruited a guy from the bar, Paul Dobbyn, but we've yet to see him in practice," says one peer. As well as Dobbyn's addition, the firm also poached a number of associates from top tier firms including Robin McDonnell from Eugene F Collins, who is singled out as a good prospect for the future by one partner.
Although the firm has not been overly active in the last 12 months, in March 2010 it acted as counsel to EMPG and its subsidiaries on their $7.6 billion restructuring. A multi-disciplinary team led by Edward Miller and spanning offices in Dublin, London and the Cayman Islands acted for the client.
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