News
Freshfields reports strong performance globally as it continues to deliver on strategy for growth
(30 July 2021): Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Freshfields) has delivered its fifth consecutive year of revenue growth for the year ended 30 April 2021, with strong performance across all regions and practice groups.
Financial summary for the year ended 30 April 2021:
- Revenue up 5% to £1.59 billion
- Profit per equity partner up 5% to £1.91 million
Performance highlights from the 2020/21 financial year:
- Delivered outstanding results for our clients, advising on several landmark, cross-border matters, including:
- AstraZeneca PLC’s $39 billion acquisition of Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., the largest acquisition of a U.S. company and the largest healthcare M&A deal globally in 2020;
- London Stock Exchange Group PLC on global coordination, regulatory engagement and substantive strategy for its $27 billion transformational acquisition of Refinitiv;
- Malaysia Airlines on its global restructuring, which included the pioneering use of a U.K. scheme of arrangement for its aircraft leases;
- WEX Inc. on a landmark Material Adverse Effect litigation, the first of its kind to arise from the Covid-19 pandemic, in the context of a share purchase agreement to acquire eNett International Limited and Optal Limited; and
- Cazoo, on the sale of the company to a U.S. SPAC for $7 billion, one of the largest ever SPAC deals.
- Continued our U.S. growth strategy with the launch of a seven-partner office in Silicon Valley, and bolstered our leading technology, life sciences and antitrust practices with additional notable hires in New York, and Washington, D.C. as well as Silicon Valley.
- Over 80,000 hours of pro bono client work globally, including:
- A landmark decision challenging Jamaican anti-LGBT+ laws for Human Dignity Trust;
- The development of a ground-breaking and award-winning app for refugees with the Justice Centre Hong Kong;
- Advising Save the Children International on the establishment of an emergency corona clinic for refugees; and
- Winning a class action lawsuit for Afghan and Iraqi nationals who had applied for special immigrant visas to enter the U.S.
- Achieved our five-year environmental targets set in 2016, and set new targets as part of a new ambitious global environment strategy. This includes a commitment through the RE100 initiative to source 100 per cent renewable electricity for all our offices by 2030. The firm has also signed up to science-based targets, as well as significantly reducing business travel and paper usage.
- Opened our new sustainability-focused London office at 100 Bishopsgate, which received a BREEAM ‘excellent’ rating and won a SKA Gold rating for its sustainable fit-out.
- Set out new five-year global diversity and inclusion commitments and targets for gender, race and ethnicity, and LGBTQ+ representation, reflecting a refreshed focus on action and progress in this area. This was followed by a 50/50 gender split of partner promotions globally, exceeding our new 40% target for female new partners.
Rick van Aerssen, Freshfields Managing Partner, commented: “This strong set of results reflects Freshfields’ continued success in our core markets, as well as our expansion in growth markets such as the U.S. The ability of our global platform to deliver for clients as a destination practice across all the key disciplines is a formula that works, shown by revenue growth across all our regions and practice areas against the backdrop of the pandemic.
“The firm’s success could not have been achieved without the hard work of all our colleagues, who have shown tremendous resilience and dedication to deliver the best possible outcomes for our clients in the face of an incredibly challenging year.”