Morrison & Foerster’s (MoFo) London office has posted an increase in gross revenue for 2015 from £17.3m ($28.2m) to £18.2m ($27.9m).
London office joint managing partner Alistair Maughan said the City arm had secured significant new client instructions in 2015, including from Just Eat and Formula E.
“We saw a significant upturn in work from a wide range of the firm’s global clients,” added Maughan.
MoFo’s London office advised on several high-profile matters last year, with highlights including counselling the liquidators in the $9.2bn liquidation of Saad Investments against Saudi Arabian bank Samba Financial Group; and advising Telecity Group, the carrier-neutral datacentre and colocation centre provider, and its pan-European subsidiary network in connection with all aspects of their £600m term and revolving credit facilities.
It also advised the Home Office, Department for Communities and Local Government and Department of Health on issues associated with their multibillion-pound contracts with Airwave Services for the provision of emergency mobile radio coverage across the UK.
MoFo continued its expansion of key practices in London and Europe more widely last year, with London corporate hires including former Latham & Watkins private equity partner Graeme Sloan and Vlad Maly from the same firm.
In December last year the firm hired Schulte Roth & Zabel partners Peter Declercq and Sonya Van de Graaff, as the firm continued to bulk up its key practice areas in London.
MoFo has also continued to expand its presence in Europe following its German launch in 2013 after taking over Hogan Lovells’ Berlin office. The firm grew its Berlin office last year with two De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek hires, notably the Dutch firm’s global data privacy chair Lokke Moerel and senior associate Alex van der Wolk, who joined as a partner.
In early 2016, the firm has continued its investment in Europe, with the promotion to partnership of technology transactions lawyer Kristina Ehle and finance lawyer Scott Ashton in Berlin and London respectively. Ashton was MoFo’s first London promotion since 2008.
In contrast the firm’s London office also saw the high-profile departure of a team of partners from its corporate and technology practices to new market entrant and US rival Cooley.
MoFo’s global financial results saw total revenue rise by 1.1 per cent to $979.3m and the firm achieve its highest ever revenue per lawyer ($1.041m, a 6.1 per cent increase from 2014) and average profit per equity partner ($1.55m, up 10 per cent).