LegalWeek: "UK quartet line up on Hammerson’s £518m City commercial property sale"

Link to LegalWeek

"Herbert Smith, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Clifford Chance (CC) and Nabarro have all taken roles on Hammerson’s £518m sale of its London commercial property portfolio to Canadian investor Brookfield.

"... Hammerson said it would use the proceeds from the sell-off to invest in retail developments and acquisitions, as well as a number of extension and refurbishment projects in its UK retail parks, adding that it had identified projects worth £320m."

(No connection)

• Herbert Smith
• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
• Clifford Chance
• Nabarro

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

(No, it's nothing; big society and all that.)

"Hoax Emails"

"We have been made aware of unsolicited emails that have been sent to members of the general public from individuals claiming to be from Nabarro LLP. The emails, which come from private email accounts, say that the recipient is a beneficiary of some money under a will, or that the recipient's assistance is needed to obtain some funds. They may ask for confidential information, such as dates of birth or bank details. These emails do not come from Nabarro LLP, and should be deleted.

"We have also seen evidence that Nabarro LLP's logo has been used on legal documents and correspondence, regarding matters in which this firm has no involvement.

"If you have any doubts about the authenticity of emails, or any other document, which purport to be from Nabarro, please send them to info@nabarro.com so that they can be verified."

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Nabarro Nathanson (as then named) has been criticised for the level of fees which it allegedly received, in connection with the insolvency of Mirror Group Newspapers.

 

"The court case of Mirror Group Newspapers plc v Maxwell and Others [1998] BCC 324 provided new insights into insolvency fees. The case centred on the fees charged by the receivers appointed to pursue just some of the Maxwell assets. The court noted that the insolvency practitioners charged fees of £1.63 million for realising assets of £1.67 million, leaving only £44,000 for the victims of Maxwell frauds.

Net assets realised (estimated): £1,672,500 (100.00%)
Costs:

Fees charged by Nabarro Nathanson: £705,823
Fees charged by Buchler Phillips: £744,289
Other disbursements: £179,000
Total: £1,628,572 (97.40%)

Available to stakeholders: £43,928 (2.60%)

"The scale of the fees prompted the following comments from Mr. Justice Ferris:

"... the amounts [i.e. the receiver’s fees] involved are very substantial indeed, both in absolute terms and in relation to the value of the assets got in as part of the estate. ... I cannot escape saying that I find them profoundly shocking.

If the amounts claimed are allowed in full, this receivership will have produced substantial rewards for the receivers and their lawyers, and nothing at all for creditors of the estate. I find it shameful."