Osborne Clarke recently launched a program, named Osborne Clarke Ventures, that informs and prepares tech start-ups for their Series A round (the first important round of venture capital financing) and will offer the start-ups virtual general counsel to ensure that the firms are constantly up-to-date on the latest developments in the process.
Eversheds Sutherland is launching a new entity called Konexo to act as a global alternative legal service provider. Konexo will serve clients in Europe and Asia, offering them financial, consulting, remediation and traditional contract legal services. It will also incorporate ES Agile, Eversheds’ flexible lawyering entity.
The Competition and Markets Authority (UK’s competition regulator) has halted attempts by Amazon and Deliveroo to integrate on the grounds that the pair had “ceased to be distinct” following Amazon’s $575 million funding round, which was used to invest in Deliveroo.
Monzo (the UK-based trending ‘challenger’ bank) has set up business in the United States. The digital bank has received fresh funds to double its valuation to exceed £2bn, in just 8 months.
Ocado has purchased a 58% stake in Jones Food Company, Europe’s largest operating vertical farm. It has also entered into a three-way joint venture called ‘Infinite Acres’ which aims to develop and sell vertical farming systems to other businesses.
On May 13, Clyde & Co.’s insurance partner, Garrett Moore, announced the company’s intention to open a Dublin office.
The Chinese government has allowed the Chinese law firm Zhao Sheng (who in April 2018 formed a Shanghai free trade zone joint operation with Linklaters) to open a second office in Beijing.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is considering a potential £300 million acquisition of Addison Lee.
Fieldfisher has merged with Irish law firm McDowell Purcell in a Brexit-related move.
Uber will acquire its Middle Eastern rival ‘Careem’ for £2.4bn. This is the largest technology transaction ever in the region, eclipsing Amazon’s acquisition of Souq (a Middle Eastern e-commerce company) in 2017 for £440m.