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

"William Fry is very strong on the equity side and that's where their core would be," says one lawyer. Still considered one of the leading five firms in Ireland in terms of equity work, William Fry, like others, has not been active on this of the market but it retains a first tier ranking after amply supplementing its portfolio with debt work.

"They don't do the traditional ABS work like other firms, but where they are market leaders is in securities work," explains one competitor. On this side of the market partners Orla Brennan, Shane Kelleher and David Fitzgibbon completed a deal for a €250 million five year trade receivables securitisation programme in November 2010 for corrugated packaging manufacturers Smurifit Kappa Group.

For companies seeking financing, the debt markets are still the most viable option in Ireland and William Fry has been mandated to advise on a number of bond and note issues. Partners Elaine Hanly, David Fitzgibbon and Barry Conway advised packing business Ardagh Glass on the issue of €1.6 billion in notes due 2017 to fund the €1.7 billion acquisition of Impress Cooperatieve and refinance it's Anglo Irish facilities. This deal closed in September 2010 and an additional tap of €200m senior notes due 2017 was completed in February 2011.

British events and publishing group, United Business Media retained the firm on the issue of a $350 million Eurobond of 5.75% notes due in 2020. Partners Stephen Keogh and Martin Phelan finalised the deal in November 2010.

In May 2010, partners Myra Garrett, David Fitzgibbon and Ken Casey acted for SkillSoft on a $365 million debt syndication and $240m bond offering related to its acquisition by a consortium of international private equity firms Berkshire Partners, Advent International and Bain Capital Partners, by means of a court-approved scheme of arrangement.

Not as diverse as those ranked above it, but more experienced with broader capabilities than those below it, William Fry is placed accurately according to the market.

Peers say the practice has undergone a reshuffle lately: "I think Fry's have now brought their banking group back in to their corporate group essentially. It was never really a stand-alone banking department it was made up of a funds department and insurance group and it was mainly for corporates who are borrowing rather than for banks who are lending," explains one competitor.

Clients emphasise the influence of practice head Elaine Hanley and see her as the most prominent figure. "Elaine Hanley is very good. She has an excellent depth of legal knowledge and the level of service we get is absolutely top draw," says one. Clients also remarked that the associates at the firm were of a high standard. One says: "They are very focussed, very careful and they move quite quickly." Despite clients noting that the firm are one of the most expensive in Ireland they consider it value for money.

Hanley led a team advising packing company Ardagh Glass on securing the financing for the €1.7 billion the acquisition of Impress Cooperative and refinancing some of its existing debt via the issue of €1.68 billion notes in September 2010. In other notable work Hamley advised Barclays, BarCap and JPMorgan as joint lead arrangers for the €5 billion refinancing of senior and second lien loans for the Ineos group, the world's third largest chemical company, which closed in May 2010.

The firm is part of Nama's (National Asset Management Agency) legal panel and have been active for the agency on the largest single enforcement of loans ever executed at one time.

William Fry maintains its position after completing several notable mandates and receiving unanimously positive feedback from clients. Although questions were raised about staff turnover and the affect of external pressures on the firm by competitors, clients still regard the firm as a good place to go.

The firm is viewed as a specialist in the ETF (exchange-traded fund) field by commentators: "They are a very, very good firm. I think they pretty much act for all the ETFs domiciled out of Ireland so they are kind of experts in that area and that's why we use them exclusively," remarks one client. On that side, Tara O'Reilly led the team advising iShares on the establishment of its first physically backed Exchange Traded Commodities (ETCs) programme, providing investors exposure to four precious metals; gold, silver, platinum and palladium. O'Reilly receives positive reviews from both clients and peers: "Tyra O'Reilly is certainly well respected and good by reputation," says one lawyer.

Partner Cormac Commins has also been active. He advised Institutional Cash Series (ICS), a money market fund with assets under management (AUM) of $35 billion on the transition to a new administrator and custodian, which set the foundations for the merger of ICS with BlackRock Cash Selection Funds to create a combined cash fund with over $70 billion in AUM. Commins also acted for Artisan Partners, US based Investment Manager with $50 billion of assets under its guidance, on the establishment of a Ucits (undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities) platform with a series of international and emerging market equity funds within it.

Peers suggest the firm has lost ground on its nearest rivals in the last 12 months as the practice traditionally represents corporates and not the banks; the ones currently offering the mandates. "In the context of the crisis we're in now they're are not starkly as involved in this sector and they don't have the tight relationships so I'd say they are suffering as a large amount of deal activity is focussed there and there's not a lot outside of that," says one M&A lawyer.

These are certainly challenging times for M&A lawyers in Ireland but the practice has continued to act on significant transactions and secures it ranking. The reduction in the firm's presence on the market is in line with the country in general rather than a reflection on its service but it will be interesting to see how the team fares going forward.

The practice is still praised by peers: "They get on some material deals and they do have some very good lawyers in there," explains one.

A standout deal for the firm and the largest corporate public sector acquisition in 2010 was ESB's, the Irish Government-owned electricity board, €1.2 billion acquisition of Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE), the transmission and distribution business of the Viridian Group. Partners Bryan Bourke, Fergus Devine and Cormac Little finalised the deal for ESB in December 2010.

In another deal valued in excess of €1 billion, partners Barry Conway and David Fitzgibbon advised Ardagh Glass on the €1.7 billion acquisition of Impress Cooperatieve in September 2010.

Involved in a number of firsts recently, the firm advised on earliest public takeover of 2011 in Ireland. Garrett led the team advising the Norkom Group on its €180m acquisition by BAE Systems in February 2011. Elsewhere, partners Bourke and Fitzgibbon were active for Northern Foods on its €484 million cross-border merger with Greencore Foods which was structured as a cross-border merger and without precedent in Ireland.

Unlike its competitors, William Fry's recent activity has predominantly involved commercial and real estate ventures.

The most substantial deal the firm was handling was the Dublin Central Development, which will incorporate the flagship department store John Lewis, new public squares, streets, 100 retail units, and a new visitor attraction. It will be the largest mixed-use commercial development of its type ever undertaken in Ireland.

Elsewhere, department head Liam McCabe and Jarleth Heneghan were advising Chartered Land on securing financing of up to €1 billion, while Heneghan was also advising Chartered Land on its plans for the redevelopment of the ILAC Centre Shopping Centre.

Another significant deal saw McCabe and Orla Brennan assist Harry Crosbie on The Point Village Development in Dublin Docklands. When completed, the 12 acre site will encompass retail and office units, a hotel and open air concert stage and the 'Dublin Wheel' attraction.

Partners Heneghan and Brennan also continued to counsel developer Ramford on its Grand Canal Square plans for the Dublin Docklands, which has an anticipated capital construction cost of approximately €250 million.

Unquestionably among the leaders in the field in the eyes of competitors, William Fry continued to advise on complex high-value insolvency cases in Ireland for state entities, banks and corporations over the last 12 months.

The practice ticks all right boxes for clients who say it offers timely, accurate and innovative advice. "We worked with them for quite some time on a fairly complex translation and we found them to be very good, responsive and turned things around quickly and very good technically," says one.

The firm has three strong insolvency partners in practice head, Michael Quinn and Fergus Doorly and Barry Cahir. Quinn is the clear clients favourite, who is considered astute and worldly, and respected by peers. But Barry Cahir is regarded as the partner to have on a deal if it is remotely contentious. "Michael Quinn is very experienced and a very intelligent guy so if you have anything complicated or international he's very good. He's highly regarded in Europe so he knows a lot of overseas lawyers. A lot of insolvency in town now is down and dirty stuff and I think Michael's a bit above that but Barry Cahir gets stuck in he'll get in to a good fight for you. If you've got a bit of a row then Barry's your man," observes one client.

The pair are currently active for Nama (National Asset Management Agency) on an enforcement against properties linked to Paddy Kelly, a high-profile property developer whose loans were transferred to the agency. Kelly is believed to have debts of over €2 billion in hotel chains, bars, apartments, a golf complex and a ski resort.

A deal in which most of the top tier have a role is the Quinn Group. Fry's practice head is acting for creditor, Anglo Irish Bank, in its enforcement and Kieran Wallace of KPMG, as the appointed share receiver. A five-year debt-restructuring plan has been agreed in principle by the Group's lenders and the Quinn Group.

The team is also acting for the McInerney Group on the filing of a petition for examinership of five companies in the McInerney Group and their restructuring.

In a major piece of restructuring, Quinn and Doorly are also advising Ernst & Young, the Joint Administrators of the EMEA companies of Nortel Network. The deal involves refinancing more than $2 billion and involves 19 European jurisdictions being restructured through one filing in the High Court in the UK. Ireland is the only European jurisdiction to have a local joint administrator appointed. Restructurings are also taking place in the US and Canada simultaneously.