One scoop to start: Walgreens Boots Alliance’s executive chair Stefano Pessina will almost double his stake in the pharmacy group to about 30 per cent as part of its takeover by private equity group Sycamore, according to people familiar with the matter.
Another thing: Britain’s financial watchdog will ban Crispin Odey from the sector and fine the hedge fund founder £1.8mn for a “lack of integrity” in his conduct after he faced allegations of sexual harassment and assault.
And a big potential deal: Google parent Alphabet is in talks to buy cyber security start-up Wiz for about $30bn, setting the stage for the biggest acquisition in the search giant’s history, according to people familiar with the matter.
In today’s newsletter:
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Kirkland and the Big Law boom
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Alibaba’s AI-fuelled turnaround
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The FT examines the US listing pop
Big Law makes it rain, again
Since the golden years of M&A in 2021 and 2022, it’s been a brutal slog for many bankers and private equity executives as higher interest rates have slowed dealmaking and made gargantuan bonuses harder to come by.
But Big Law has remained immune to dealmaking’s depressed new normal as top firms such as Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins see the cash roll in and remain a reliable source of multimillion-dollar payouts to their rainmakers.
Both law firms last year reported record revenues as their fees were padded by a model that remained relatively insulated from the malaise gripping the deal world.
Equity partners at Kirkland, the world’s highest-grossing law firm, took home more than $9mn on average last year in an increase of 16 per cent compared with the year prior, the FT reported.
The payouts came after Kirkland saw its revenue jump by 22 per cent to a record $8.8bn, making it the world’s most lucrative law firm yet again.
Above all, Kirkland’s known for its massive private equity practice. Those clients have suffered the brunt of higher rates as rising borrowing costs have eaten into returns.
But PE’s masters of the universe still need Kirkland to negotiate fraught “liability management exercises” to extend the runway on troubled bets.
The hard charging Chicago-based law firm also made headway in regular-way M&A.
Kirkland advised on more than $431bn of M&A last year globally, making it the top-ranked legal adviser, with a market share of more than 14 per cent, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group.
Kirkland was able to get in on some of the US’s biggest deals. Its attorneys represented Pringles and Pop-Tarts maker Kellanova in its $35.9bn sale to Mars and advised Global Infrastructure Partners in its $12.5bn sale to BlackRock.
Right on its heels was Latham, the second-largest law firm in the world. Last year it hit $7bn in revenues for the first time, with profit per equity partner jumping nearly 30 per cent to $7.1mn.
But last year’s blockbuster paydays relied on an uptick in activity, which has so far in 2025 been practically nonexistent, contrary to hopes that the Trump administration would be friendly to deals.
Instead, Trump’s tariff policies have caused the stock market to plunge and thrown a wrench into transaction activity. Legal giants like Paul Weiss and Perkins Coie have been targeted by the new administration, while Kirkland and Latham were among 20 firms that received letters over their diversity practices.
But the likes of Kirkland and Latham may have built-in hedges. They have pushed heavily into Europe and the Middle East where animal spirits are on the rise.
Alibaba gets back its stride
A little more than two years ago, Jack Ma and Alibaba were at a low ebb. The Chinese tech founder had retreated from public view and relocated to Tokyo after falling foul of Beijing.
Alibaba’s shares had plummeted, and the planned initial public offering of its fintech arm Ant Group had been scrapped.
Yet today, things look starkly different. Ma was selected to sit in the front row among business leaders at a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last month, which many read as a huge sign he has regained favour.
In this FT Big Read, Zijing Wu and Eleanor Olcott dig into what has changed inside Alibaba. One major difference is that the company, once reeling from regulatory pressures and market share losses, is now positioned as a frontrunner in China’s artificial intelligence race.
After a period of political exile, Ma has orchestrated a strategic shift, elevating Joe Tsai and appointing Eddie Wu to lead the company’s AI-focused transformation.
Alibaba’s Qwen, its family of large language models, is now market leader in China. It’s even secured a partnership with Apple.
Investments in AI start-ups and infrastructure have surged, and its cloud business, the largest in China, has regained double-digit growth.
This resurgence follows a turbulent period, which included the cancelled Ant Group IPO, declining profits and a number of unsuccessful restructuring attempts.
Wu’s leadership has centralised decision-making, divested non-core assets and prioritised AI development as the key driver for future growth.
Despite competition from ByteDance and Tencent as well as start-ups led by DeepSeek, Alibaba aims to make big strides towards artificial general intelligence.
Yet the company’s revival hinges on translating AI advancements into economic growth, and geopolitical risks remain which may cut the company off advanced chip supply from the US.
Still, for now, the company feels to some like it’s regained its earlier ways.
“The difference between the Alibaba campus now and six months ago is quite palpable,” says Brian Wong, an entrepreneur and former Alibaba executive. “These days, there is a sense of vibrancy and energy. People have a much clearer direction now.”
US vs Europe: the great public listing debate
The conventional wisdom is that listing on the New York Stock Exchange gives companies a near automatic boost.
But the FT’s Nikou Asgari and Patrick Mathurin found that’s not quite the case: European companies that added a US listing often didn’t see a boost to their valuations.
An analysis of 12 European-listed companies that have added US listings since 2016 — including Ferguson, CRH and Flutter Entertainment — came to a different conclusion. In half the cases, valuations actually fell.
While overall liquidity did improve for most companies, the number of analysts following the stock didn’t increase in a number of the cases.
“The basic thesis that you move to the US and your share price improves is not right,” said Richard Werner, partner at law firm BCLP.
Part of the lure to the US is that the country’s stock market has been — until very recently — on a tear. That’s led European companies and investors to believe that they too would enjoy higher earnings multiples there.
Yet even as the US stock market has slumped recently, companies are signalling they’re looking at potential New York listings.
Last week, UK broker TP ICAP said it planned to list its data business in New York, while mining group Glencore said in February it was reviewing whether other venues — like the US — would be “better suited” for its stock.
Construction group Ashtead plans to make the switch, while advertising group WPP and French asset manager Tikehau have also recently considered the move.
Job moves
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JAB has shaken up its top ranks as the group shifts focus towards its insurance business, with senior partner David Bell leaving the group after more than a decade. The firm also hired Lauren Aguiar as a partner and chief legal officer from Skadden Arps, and promoted Gordon von Bretten and Patricia Capel to senior partners.
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Ropes & Gray opened an office in Paris with partners Fabrice Cohen, Thierry Arachtingi and Emmanuel Mimin.
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Blue Owl has hired Blake Shorthouse as global head of family capital. He’ll be based in London, and previously spent a decade at KKR.
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Morgan Stanley has promoted Andrew Foster to chair of corporate broking. He has been at the bank for more than 14 years.
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Alter Domus has named Mark Wiseman as chair. He was previously at BlackRock.
Smart Reads
Prize-fighters On one side of the ring is Barrick Gold. In the opposite corner, Hannam & Partners. The FT’s Paul Murphy retells the infamous courtroom showdown between dealmakers.
An uncertain future With markets rattled, consumer confidence faltering and animal spirits subdued, the US economy is losing its lustre, writes the FT.
Pugnacious investors Private equity firms are bankrupting America’s hospitals and siphoning off money for themselves, reports Business Insider.
News round-up
EU to probe aluminium imports diverted by Trump’s tariffs (FT)
UBS paid chief Sergio Ermotti $16.8mn last year (FT)
Missile maker MBDA takes more calls from EU militaries seeking non-US weapons (FT)
Pepsi taps booming gut-health market with $2bn Poppi deal (FT)
US companies drop DEI from annual reports as Trump targets corporate values (FT)
Swedish companies join forces to steer children away from gang crime (FT)
Alphabet spins off laser-based internet project from ‘moonshot’ hub (FT)
The New York Sun back in the black as Trump helps boost the title (FT)
Donald Trump’s trade war will damage global growth, OECD warns (FT)
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