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Travers Smith has advised long-standing client Inflexion on its recommended £342m takeover of DWF.

Data is often described as AI's "lifeblood" but there's widespread concern about personal data being unlawfully exploited or processed using AI tools. While the future approach to regulation of AI is still being heavily debated, existing data protection legislation, such as the GDPR and its UK equivalent, is likely to play an influential role – not least because regulators already have powers which they can use to oversee the new technology.

Travers Smith advises Quilam Capital on combined £90 million debt upsizing and new facility made available to Perch Group

 Travers Smith LLP has advised Clipway on its establishment as a new global GP and strategic investment from Carmignac and General Atlantic. Clipway is a new global private equity secondaries firm that leverages proprietary technology to optimise investment strategy. The Clipway team, headquartered in London with an office in New York, is led by veteran secondaries investors and managing partners Vincent Gombault and Ingmar Vallano. 

On 2 October 2023, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a trends, risks and vulnerabilities (TRV) risk analysis report on ESG names and claims in the EU fund industry (the report). While undoubtedly of interest, it should be noted that this is not the reply to ESMA's 2022 fund names consultation – we are still waiting for that (see below for details).

The UK's merger control regime is one of very few voluntary and non-suspensory regimes in the world. This means that, despite jurisdictional thresholds being met, parties to transactions do not need to notify their transactions to the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in advance and may complete without clearance.

On 28 September 2023, the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) published their second annual report (Report) on the extent of voluntary disclosures of principal adverse impacts (PAIs) under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). Based on feedback from national competent authorities (NCAs), the ESAs made some preliminary recommendations to the European Commission on best practices, on entity-level statements and, in the context of the European Commission's comprehensive assessment of SFDR,  asked the Commission to consider wider points that would require changes to SFDR itself. This is separate from the Commission's Targeted Consultation and Public Consultation on SFDR – see our briefing.

Travers Smith advises Numis on the cash confirmation of Digcom's takeover bid for Smoove plc

BlueCrest – all about salaried members – our briefing is here.

Travers Smith advises Quilam Capital on combined £90 million debt upsizing and new facility made available to Perch Group

As Autumn kicks in, we look at 6 real estate sub-sectors and consider recent trends in law and practice.

Travers Smith LLP has advised Investec Direct Lending on facilities made available to August Equity owned StarTraq Limited (StarTraq) to fund its bolt-on acquisition of Farthest Gate Limited (Farthest Gate).

In our new Talking. Secondaries. series, we will seek to demystify the secondaries and synthetic secondaries markets and provide insights into the variety of tools available to GPs when looking to provide liquidity to their limited partners and their portfolios.

The UK Government is consulting on further changes to consumer protection law, including measures to tackle hidden fees, drip pricing and fake reviews, which have particular relevance for online businesses. As we explain below, the consultation also covers online platforms, the ability for consumers to claim damages for unfair practices and measures which are also relevant to bricks and mortar retailers, including rules on unit pricing and price promotions.

A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry. 

Welcome to the first edition of the Travers Smith Outsourcing Spotlight. This issue highlights a number of hot topics, including the impact of AI on outsourcing, changes to the UK's regimes for data protection and cybersecurity and proposed reforms to UK employment law, including TUPE.

Travers Smith has advised Macquarie Capital Principal Finance on the majority acquisition of Zenzero, a next generation provider of IT Managed Services to over a thousand SMEs across the UK.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued CP23/20: Diversity and inclusion in the financial sector which sets out its long-awaited proposals to introduce a new regulatory framework on Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) in the financial sector.

Dispute Resolution Partner Joe Moore and Dispute Resolution Associate Emma Gittings have contributed to ThoughtLeaders4 Competition Law & Litigation Magazine. Their article, 'Less haste more speed?' was first published in Issue 2 of the magazine and can be viewed below.