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Travers Smith LLP has acted as lead counsel advising Sixth Street Partners ("Sixth Street"), a leading global investment firm, and Patron Capital ("Patron"), the pan-European institutional investor focused on property investments, on the acquisition of the major UK house builder CALA Group ("Cala") from Legal & General Group plc by Ferguson Bidco Limited, an entity owned by funds managed by Sixth Street and Patron. 

Employers can expect significant reforms to UK employment law under plans announced by the new Labour government.

If open source software did not exist, firms would need to spend 3.5 times more on software, according to a 2024 Harvard Business School paper . In fact, Synopsys' 2024 Open Source Security and Risk Analysis (OSSRA) report states that 96% of codebases contain open source software. So, what is open source software?

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Travers Smith has advised Brooks Macdonald Group plc on the sale of its wholly owned subsidiary, Brooks Macdonald Asset Management (International) Limited and its subsidiaries (BMI), to Canaccord Genuity Wealth (International) Holdings Limited for a total consideration of up to £50.85m. 

Travers Smith LLP is delighted to announce that it has received a three-star rating in the Food Made Good Standard by The Sustainable Restaurant Association, the highest level that can be achieved. Travers Smith is the first law firm to be awarded three stars for their commitment to sustainable operations by their in-house kitchen team.

Travers Smith has advised Indicor Equity, LLC, (Indicor) a leading diversified industrial solutions company specialising in mission-critical technologies for industrial manufacturers on its subsidiary Indicor International Holdings, Inc.'s proposed acquisition of Laurel U.S. Holding Company LLC, which owns Ovarro, a global leader in advanced technology solutions for critical infrastructure, specialising in water management and process control systems.

Travers Smith LLP has been recommended for ISO 14001 certification for its environmental management system, following an independent audit by the British Standards Institute.

Key employment and business immigration developments for employers.

Smart contracts have been somewhat eclipsed by the recent focus on artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI. But as we explain below, smart contracts have their uses – and it's possible that in future, generative AI could complement smart contracts to further automate the contracting process.

As technology evolves, and with burgeoning markets in artificial intelligence, software companies are not only in the position of needing to comply with GDPR themselves but are also pivotal in the design and operation of products or services that allow their customers to achieve GDPR compliance – understanding and smoothing the compliance path for customers can set a software company apart from the competition, fortifying its position within the marketplace.  This article suggests key GDPR compliance strategies.

Many businesses in the scope of the UK's Energy Saving Opportunities Scheme ("ESOS") will, having submitted their ESOS notification to the Environment Agency, now have put this reporting obligation to the back of their mind until phase 4 in around three years' time. However phase 3 of ESOS brought some important changes, one of which will keep ESOS on the agenda on an at-least-annual basis for the foreseeable future.

Travers Smith LLP has announced the appointment of Jeremy Elmore as Head of Funds, with effect from 1 September 2024.  

A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry. 

The Court of Appeal has given its ruling in the Virgin Media case (see our alert).  This concerned the validity of a rule amendment affecting benefits in a defined benefit contracted-out scheme which was made without obtaining the actuary's written confirmation that contracting-out requirements would still be met, as required by section 37 of the Pension Schemes Act 1993.  Such confirmations were required for amendments made between 6 April 1997 and 5 April 2016.  The Court of Appeal confirmed that confirmation was required for changes to future service benefits (as well as changes to past service benefits).

The Institutional Limited Partners Association ("ILPA") has relaunched its cross-industry Quarterly Reporting Standards Initiative ("QRSI") which aims to deliver the next evolution of ILPA quarterly reporting. The QRSI temporarily paused the comment period on its draft updated ILPA Reporting Template and a new draft Performance Template, which were released for comment in June this year, following the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruling to vacate the US SEC Private Fund Adviser rules ("PFAR") as the ruling shifted the rationale for the changes to the quarterly reporting standards from compliance with the SEC requirements and opened the door for an "adoption focused approach" built on industry practices with more flexibility and scope to take into account IFRS and other international standards.

Travers Smith LLP has advised longstanding client Inflexion on its investment in Cutwel, the leading UK specialist cutting tool distributor, alongside the management team led by Adam Gillard. 

Travers Smith LLP has advised The Nutriment Company, a leading provider of premium natural pet food, on the acquisition of Pet Treats Wholesale Limited.

Travers Smith has advised Stifel on the cash confirmation of the recommended takeover bid of i3 Energy plc by Gran Tierra Energy Inc., an independent international energy company focused on oil and natural gas exploration and production listed on the NYSE American, the TSX and the London Stock Exchange.