EPAM has taken the top spot in Russia’s Mergers & Acquisitions Magazine survey of the top legal firms speacialising in defending Russian companies against hostile takeovers.
Mergers & Acquisitions magazine have rated a number of Russian legal firms based on a total asset value of the companies they defended in the last three years. EPAM have taken first place in the rating, leading by a large margin.
In 2004 – 2006 EPAM lawyers have successfully defended the interests of Russian organizations, whose combined valuation is worth over USD 4.6 billion. This figure is almost twice the size of the combined valuations of the companies defended by the other poll participants.
Dimitry Afanasiev, member of the Partners' Committee of EPAM, said:“When defending raids, legal firms are responsible not only for defending the assets of the Russian companies from hostile takeovers, which can often take place through illegal means, amongst which forgery and theft are the most innocent, but they are fighting for a civilized marketplace and Russia’s new business, a business with a solid reputation and humane approach”.
About the rating:
Mergers & Acquisitions magazine, the creators of the list, have stated that there are currently 109 corporate litigation cases in progress in Russia, which have been made public at the beginning of July, 2004 and are still ongoing.. The total cost of the assets involved is about USD 6.84 bn ( it only includes public conflicts where the costs evaluation of the enterprises involved exceeds USD 5m and where the subject of litigation is the company’s assets and operating control).
Between 10 May – 10 June 2007, two new public corporate conflicts have risen, worth USD 60 m. The agriculture and food sectors remain the leaders in conflict disputes . They are followed by machine building, fuel-energy industry and services. The fuel-energy industry continues to lead in the volumes of assets under dispute, whose value is already over USD 2 b.
The magazine states that the legal defense is an area where the reputation of the firm plays a key role. The image of the legal firm representing the company in the hostile takeover means almost everything. The sole brand of the company may put off the raiders at the initial stage of planning the takeover. As it has often happened, in some cases the raiders have given up their intentions upon learning of the legal defense team involved in the project, and instead have opted for a friendly settlement.
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EPAM is the leading national law firm in Russia with offices in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The firm has an associated office in the U.K., EPAM LLP, to ensure a seamless service to clients both inside and outside Russia. Since inception in 1993 EPAM has excelled in a wide range of practice areas including corporate and M&A, litigation and arbitration, regulatory issues, intellectual property, tax and finance and now advises major Russian and international clients as well as the Russian Government. The firm also regularly serves as Russian counsel to leading international law firms.
Mergers & Acquisitions is a monthly analytical magazine covering mergers & acquisitions, movement of capital, active business acquisition, hostile takeovers and bankruptcy; The magazine offers reviews on numerous aspects of the corporate finance and investments in Russia and abroad It has been published since January 2003.