Legal co-investor

The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, one of Canada's largest pension funds, has hired veteran Bay Street lawyer Jacques Demers to lead its new strategic investments unit which will launch in January. Demers is the co-founder of law firm Meighan Demers, and since the firm's merger with Ogilvy Renault in 2001 has served as managing partner of the resulting operation's Toronto office.$0$0Demers was reportedly one of five candidates under consideration to become the first president and CEO of OMERS Strategic Investments. He has over 30 years of experience in corporate finance, with a focus on mergers and acquisitions in areas like infrastructure and natural resource-related projects. About 30 percent of his work at Ogilvy involved international projects and financings.$0$0As part of OMERS senior executive team, Demers will help review and approve all investments. OMERS provides retirement benefits to 380,000 members on behalf of more than 900 employers, with more C$52 billion ($42 billion; €31 billion) in net assets invested.$0$0According to a spokesman, the strategic investments unit will pursue “really large investments” across asset classes in companies that may fall outside the mandates of OMERS' other investment groups, including OMERS Private Equity and infrastructure investment division Borealis Infrastructure. OMERS President and chief executive officer Michael Nobrega said in a statement that the new unit will help extend the global reach of such groups as well as real estate company Oxford Properties.$0$0“[Demers] will create a portfolio of what we call global access companies that through their work around the world are aware of attractive investments, such as airports, real estate developments, energy projects and other hard assets before they become generally known to institutional investors,” Nobrega said.$0$0OMERS Private Equity has around $3.6 billion in assets under management, while Borealis and Oxford manage $25 billion and $16 billion, respectively. The focus on such assets comes as the fund saw 22.9 percent rate of return on its real estate investments in 2007, followed by private equity with 18.6 percent and infrastructure with 12.4 percent.$0$0OMERS has already had some experience participating in large transactions, including its 2006 acquisition of a 33 percent stake in Associated British Ports Holdings as part of a $3.6 billion buyout. It also participated in the $1.2 billion acquisition of the Express Pipeline System and $1.4 billion acquisition of MDS Diagnostics.$0$0The fund's new plans will help diversify OMERS' investments away from the unstable stock market, as well as make it a major target for cash-strapped companies as the number of avenues for securing large investments continues to shrink.$0$0Gibson Dunn adds new partners$0International law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher recently elected 13 new partners, including attorneys in global finance and mergers and acquisitions. Among the appointments are Aaron Adams and Darius Mehraban in the global finance practice of the New York office, where Adams will focus on acquisition finance and Mehraban will work on loan and other debt financing transaction. Lisa Alfaro will focus on mergers and acquisitions and project finance in the New York office, with an emphasis on cross-border M&A and foreign private investment transactions. Gibson Dunn recently advised Investcorp and Barclays Private Equity on the $800 million acquisition of N&W Global Vending, one of the largest leveraged buyouts seen in 2008. It also took a lead role on two recent management buyouts of consulting company Kroll's UK corporate advisory and restructuring practice. The firm has approximately 950 lawyers and 15 offices in locations such as New York, Paris, Munich, Brussels, Dubai and Singapore.$0$0Morrison & Foerster adds to Hong Kong office$0International law firm Morrison & Foerster is continuing to expand its real state practice in Asia with the recent addition of Mark Brooks as a partner in the firm's Hong Kong office. Brooks, who joins the firm from Paul Hastings, will focus on real estate and private equity transactions in markets including China, India, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau and the Philippines. He also specialises in the acquisition and development of infrastructure like apartments, office towers, economic zones and residential projects. Morrison & Foerster has more than 1,000 lawyers in 17 global offices, with Julian Millstein also recently joining the New York office as senior counselor in the Global Sourcing and Technology Transactions groups, while Trevor James was named managing partner in the London office. The firm recently advised Mentor Corporation on its $1.12 billion acquisition by Johnson and Johnson as well as On Demand Group, a subsidiary of SeaChange International, on its purchase of Mobix Interactive.$0$0Oostvogels Pfister Feyten adds investment funds partners$0Luxembourg law firm Oostvogels Pfister Feyten has reinforced its London arm with the appointment of a resident investment funds partner. Harold Parize joins the team from the Luxembourg office and will now be responsible for developing the UK funds practice going forward. Parize will also play a role in the overall management and direction of the London office. Parize joined the firm in January 2008 and has since been assisting clients with specific projects such as structuring cross border transactions through Luxembourg and the creation of widely used investment vehicles such as SICARs and SIFs, among other activities. He will now provide these legal services directly from the London office and will be supported by the firm's larger investment funds team which continues to reside in Luxembourg. Before, he was the head of legal and compliance at HSBC Securities Services Luxembourg. “The further expansion of the London office is in line with our ongoing mission to closely serve the UK financial communities and to ensure access to Luxembourg law is an easy process,” said Stef Oostvogels, managing partner. “Harold's move also follows other key enhancements including the introduction of Luxembourg tax capabilities in London with the recent appointment of Chokri Bouzidi.”$0$0Dreier founder charged over scam$0The SEC has charged Marc Dreier, the founder of New York Law firm Dreier, of allegedly defrauding investment firms of $113 million after selling fake promissory notes. A hedge fund controlled by Fortress Investment Group was among the potential buyers targeted by Dreier. Dreier had been in talks with a division of Fortress about a $50 million investment in an unnamed company. He reportedly held a meeting with Fortress executive Howard Steinberg at the headquarters of Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, passing himself off as Teachers' counsel Michael Padfield. Dreier was arrested the same afternoon and later released on bail on separate charges. The SEC said the bogus notes were backed up with “phony financial statements and audit opinion letters”, while Dreier allegedly had people pose as representatives of legitimate companies involved in the transactions.$0$0Paul Hastings boosts European finance practice$0Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker has added three new partners to its European finance practice: Alberto Del Din, Lorenza Talpo and Alessandro Stoppa. Del Din and Stoppa will be based in Paul Hastings' Milan office, and will devote part of their time to the development of the firm's London practice. Talpo will be based in Paul Hastings' London office. Del Din and his team specialise in banking and finance, with particular emphasis on restructurings, structured finance, real estate finance, acquisition finance and project finance.$0$0Magisters and BelJurBureau merge$0The CIS-based law firm Magisters has merged with Belarus law firm BelJurBureau. This deal is the first cross-border merger of law firms for Belarus. The newly combined firm will be made up of over 230 employees, including 130 lawyers, and will operate under the Magisters brand. All internal merger procedures are to be completed by the end of January 2009. The deal follows Magisters' two previous mergers in 2006 with Ukrainian law firm Pravis: Reznikov, Vlasenko and Partners and Russian law firm Legas Legal Solutions. The firms' complimentary services allowed Magisters to strengthen its client service offering in Kyiv and advise on larger projects in the region. “The merger will strengthen enormously our position as a leading law firm in post-Soviet countries and responds to a growing demand by Magisters' clients for CIS-wide presence,” said Oleg Riabokon, managing partner of Magisters. BelJurBureau Partners Anna Rusetskaya and Denis Turovets will lead as the Belarus-based partners of Magisters, bringing the firm's total number of partners to 13.