Growing in the bad times

Norton Rose seems to confirm the assumption
that the more a company grows, the greater the amount of money it
can make.

The international London-headquartered law firm
has the largest asset finance capability in the UK, with 40
partners and around 120 associates.

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“Our competitors can cover particular elements of
asset finance, but very few firms can cover all aspects as we do;
from financing to corporate, tax, regulatory, employment, insurance
and litigation,” claims Alistair MacRae, one of Norton Rose’s tax
specialist partners.

Because of this, Norton Rose’s
asset finance team operates primarily in the big-ticket market,
with specialised industry groups focused on the shipping, aviation
and rail sectors.

But this, as MacRae explains, is
done “cross-departmentally”, meaning that, for example, lawyers
with expertise in litigation will have an interest in shipping as
well as aviation.

Rail is one key area of Norton
Rose’s asset finance business. When British Rail was privatised in
the mid-1990s, three new train leasing companies were formed, and
Norton Rose has since been advising two of them, Porterbrook and
HSBC Rail.

It was Norton Rose, for example,
that acted for HSBC Rail in relation to the recent Competition
Commission review. And it was Norton Rose that advised a consortium
led by Deutsche Bank and Lloyds on various aspects of their
acquisition of Porterbrook Leasing from Abbey last year.

Norton Rose is also very active in
the big ticket equipment leasing sector, acting for most of the
main market players including RBS, HBOS, Lloyds TSB, HSBC, and
Alliance & Leicester.

Many of these transactions have a
tax element, an area in which Norton Rose is particularly highly
regarded.

In 2008, it acted for several UK
lessors in relation to a number of transactions in the plant and
machinery sectors in overseas jurisdictions that included France,
Japan, the United States and Singapore.

MacRae says these cross-border
operations are usually managed by Norton Rose’s London office.

“In terms of legislation, the local
laws are not particularly relevant, because the financing
documentation is typically governed by English law,” he adds.

“Any local law issues – such as
ensuring the overseas companies you are dealing with are properly
authorised – can be covered by a local law legal opinion.”

The law firm says it has become
increasingly busy during the credit crunch, particularly in
regulatory, restructuring and insolvency-related issues.

Also, according to MacRae, the
company has been increasingly advising banks about “market
disruption clauses” and what they mean for them.

He explains: “We have seen that
clauses which nobody ever thought they were going to use suddenly
have become extremely relevant. Who would have ever imagined a
situation in which the world’s leading banks refuse to lend each
other money? It is quite an extraordinary circumstance.”

But MacRae does not think the
future will be so gloomy, because of the “strong survival instinct”
that he attributes to the financial sector.

And he is confident Norton Rose
will play a key role, staying “focused on where the business
is”.

Key facts: Norton
Rose: