Schjødt has had a very strong year and the perception in the market is that it has grown in stature. One competitor says the firm "has done well in recent years, increased market share and seems to be on a roll"....
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Schjødt has had a very strong year and the perception in the market is that it has grown in stature. One competitor says the firm "has done well in recent years, increased market share and seems to be on a roll". The firm has grown in headcount, hiring Hugo Matre from the University of Bergen in January 2011 and in August 2010 Bjarne Rogdaberg from the legal department of the stock exchange. Both join as partners.
A recent client for securities related work found the firm "very good and very responsive". The client adds that the team "gives useful and sensible answers, is creative and very available for calls".
Viggo Bang-Hansen is the "rising star" of the firm, say competitors. He led deals for managers Arctic Securities, DnB NOR Markets and Pareto Securities on the €458 million IPO of Aker Drilling and, alongside Nils Ludvig Dahl, for managers RS Platou Markets on the €1.4 billion listing of Seawell on the Oslo Stock Exchange.
Thomas Aanmoen, Bang-Hansen and Anne Gro Sundby led the team to assist the issuer the Renewable Energy Corporation on its €509 million right issue and Aanmoen acted as sole lead advising Cyprus based SeaBird Exploration on a €18 million convertible bond issuance in early 2011.
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Long serving partner Wilhelm Damm and Jo Stokke had active years in both straight bank lending and on the project finance side supported by a team of senior lawyers and associates most often including Camilla Skøie Mørkve, Eyvind Larsen and Hans-Christian Donjem. Jarl Dybvik, Anne Gro Sundby and Geir Frøholm also led teams on ship, energy and construction financings....
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Long serving partner Wilhelm Damm and Jo Stokke had active years in both straight bank lending and on the project finance side supported by a team of senior lawyers and associates most often including Camilla Skøie Mørkve, Eyvind Larsen and Hans-Christian Donjem. Jarl Dybvik, Anne Gro Sundby and Geir Frøholm also led teams on ship, energy and construction financings.
On the banking side, Damm advised syndicates led by Nordea Bank Norge on senior loans and credit facilities of $532 million as part of a rig and corporate refinancing to Songa Offshore. He also advised on a financing of €52 million to North Sea Giant for one of the world's largest supply vessels.
While Damm advised Nordea Bank in various other capacities in relation to financings for the Eitzen Group, Stokke was kept busy on a series of mandates by insurance company If Skadeforsikring.
On the project finance side, Stokke acted on substantial financings for the development of office and residential areas. Dybvik helped a Norwegian lender refinance two Norwegian ship owning companies for €83 million and Sundby, Sindre Søndenå Andersen and Donjem worked together with Watson Farley & Williams (for the UK law matters) to assist Jæren Energipark on a €89 million financing for the construction of wind farm near Stavanger.
In a final notable deal, Frøholm advised Statkraft alongside Hogan Lovells on the construction of a €635 million Norwegian financed power plant in Turkey.
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"Strong in oil and gas," says a client, adding: "very good, responsive, good at putting in right expertise for the legal issues, always call back." Another client says the firm is "not just good at the law but they talk confidently and are quite creative"....
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"Strong in oil and gas," says a client, adding: "very good, responsive, good at putting in right expertise for the legal issues, always call back." Another client says the firm is "not just good at the law but they talk confidently and are quite creative". The firm scores highly in M&A volume, with Mergermarket rating it top in both 2010 and 2009 and top in 2010 for the number of private equity deals. Peers say the firm "has done very well in recent years, increased market share and seems to be on a good roll".
"Especially strong in Stavanger, with venture capital and offshore oil and gas," says a competitor. The firm added four new M&A partners in 2010 and early 2011, namely Jon Kristian Sjåtil from Thommessen, Egil Willumsen from Kluge, Hugo Matre from the University of Bergen and Bjarne Rogdaberg from the Oslo Stock Exchange.
Jakob Villum and Erling Ueland are both "fairly prominent in private equity", while Stavanger-based Jan Magne Juuhl-Langseth is recommended for oil & gas. Einar Caspersen is well known throughout the market as one of the leading M&A individuals.
Caspersen and Sjåtil recently acted for HG Capital and Visma on the €1.4 billion sale of Visma to KKR in late 2010 while Ueland and Viggo Bang-Hansen advised Prosafe Production on the merger between BW Offshore (Hong Kong) and Prosafe Production (Cyprus) to create the second largest FPSO lease operator in the world.
Villum was engaged by Ship Equip International and Ferd on the cross-border sale of Ship Equip International to Inmarsat in 2011 and Erling Christiansen acted for New York based equity investor Lindsay Goldberg on its joint venture with Aker Biomarine and sale of Trygg Pharma and Epax.
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