The departure of Ray Wearmouth from Harneys' corporate department was the most significant lateral movement last year in the BVI. But despite this loss of senior talent, competitors point to the quality of the remaining partners at Harneys....
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The departure of Ray Wearmouth from Harneys' corporate department was the most significant lateral movement last year in the BVI. But despite this loss of senior talent, competitors point to the quality of the remaining partners at Harneys. "Ross Munro is a junior partner but he has a good reputation. Every time I've worked with him I've thought he was very sensible," says a rival partner. "He's a great lawyer, a pragmatic guy," adds another.
Promoted to partnership in 2008, Munro now leads the firm's investment funds group. Colin Riegels' leadership of Harneys' corporate group receives similar praise. "I've worked with and known Colin for a number of years now and rate him very highly," says a peer. As the largest firm in BVI, Harneys' presence on the ground is seen as an important differentiation between the firm and its competitors.
The Russian state bank VEB (Vnesheconombank) retained Harneys as advisor for the creation of a $2 billion credit facility for Deutsche Bank. The new facility subsequently allowed Deutsche Bank to refinance an existing facility with Eco Telecom and finance that company's purchase of a stake in rival VimpelCom. Another Russian deal saw the firm represent Citigroup Venture Capital International in the sale of National Logistic Company. Acquired by rival Itella, the transaction value was estimated at €220 million ($305 million).
One Harneys client observes: "We would describe the quality of the work as efficient, accurate and quite commercial in its approach which is, as you can imagine, welcomed by us and our clients. Turnaround time is also impressive."
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