European stocks recorded a slight rise, Thursday, ahead of the European Central Bank's monetary policy meeting, at a time when investors evaluated a new batch of positive corporate results.
By 08:06 GMT, the European Stoxx 600 index rose by 0.11 percent to reach 644.80 points, according to Reuters.
The European Central Bank is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at 2.50 percent, while attention will be on the comments of its president, Christine Lagarde, on the French bond crisis, as well as speculation regarding her future in office.
Corporate results, which have been the main driver of market sentiment recently, remained the focus of investors' attention.
Shell announced net profits of $10.81 billion in the third quarter, exceeding expectations and recording its highest level since 2022. The company also strengthened its share buyback program, pushing its stock to rise by 2.6 percent.
The energy sector rose by 1 percent, while the FTSE 100 index on the London Stock Exchange rose by 0.3 percent.
Airbus shares also rose by 3.2 percent, after the company maintained its expectations for the full year and its production plans, despite announcing mixed results for the third quarter.
On the other hand, the technology sector declined by 0.7 percent, affected by the weakness of the sector globally, after investors evaluated the results of Alphabet. The company's shares fell by 10.8 percent in trading before the opening of the US market, following the announcement of revenues that fell below expectations, coinciding with an increase in cash spending on financing artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The American law firm Weill Gotshall & Mangs is heading to end its operations, in a development that ends the career of one of the most prominent legal institutions in the United States, nearly a century after its founding, amid the failure of attempts to contain the wave of exits of prominent partners and lawyers, and the faltering of merger talks with another office.
The office's leadership informed the partners on Wednesday of the Administrative Committee's recommendation to proceed with an orderly liquidation of the business, after reviewing the available strategic options. The office said in a statement that it will continue to serve its clients during the coming months, while maintaining the level of professional performance that has distinguished its work since its establishment, and continuing to support its employees and colleagues during the termination phase.
The office hired Alex Partners, a company specializing in consulting and restructuring, to provide advice on liquidating its operations, according to a person familiar with the matter who was quoted by Reuters. The process is scheduled to be carried out outside the bankruptcy proceedings, while the assistant lawyers and employees have been informed that they will continue to receive their salaries for 90 days, along with the payment of bonuses at the end of 2026.
This development represents a sharp decline for a legal institution that was founded in 1931 and has been prominent over the decades in bankruptcy, restructuring, acquisition deals, and major commercial disputes. The office achieved revenues exceeding two billion dollars last year, which placed it in the top quarter of American law firms in terms of revenues.
Exit of partners and failure of the merger
In recent months, Weill Gottshall has faced a series of departures that have affected prominent names in its legal ranks, at a time when major law firms are competing to attract partners with profitable businesses, especially in the areas of private equity, mergers and acquisitions, and litigation.
One of the most notable departures was Michael Aiello, head of the firm's corporate department, who moved to Cravath Swain & More, taking with him five partners. Private equity specialist Christopher Machera also left for Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, and two partners in London who work in mergers and acquisitions moved to Sullivan & Cromwell. Other lawyers also moved to Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett and competing offices.
The firm announced in March that Ramona Nee, a partner specializing in private equity, would succeed Barry Wolf, the long-time executive partner. But Ni recently decided not to take the position, according to a person familiar with the matter.
An effort to merge with Willkie Farr & Gallagher also faltered, according to previous reports, while Will Gottshall has hired Davis Polk & Wardwell to help with restructuring as lawyers continue to leave.
These developments reflect the pressures facing major law firms in light of escalating competition to attract high-revenue partners. The generous compensation packages that firms use to attract talent may increase their financial vulnerability when key partners leave and other legal teams follow.
A legacy of major bankruptcy cases
The office was founded by Frank Weil, Sylvan Gottschall, and Horace Mangs, and gained wide fame in the field of bankruptcy, by providing advice in prominent cases that included “General Motors,” “Enron,” and “Lehman Brothers,” whose bankruptcy represented the largest Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in the United States.
Despite the size of its business, the average profits of each contributing partner in the office amounted to about $5.4 million, according to American Liar magazine, which is about half the average that exceeded $10 million in the offices of Kirkland & Ellis and Wachtel Lipton Rosen & Katz.
The fate of “Weill Gottshall” brings to mind the collapse of the “Dewey & Lubov” office in 2012, after it included more than 1,300 lawyers when it was founded through a merger in 2007. The departure of lawyers at that time, in addition to debts and large financial obligations towards current and retired partners, contributed to its collapse.
In contrast, other major offices have resorted to mergers to enhance their stability after the departure of lawyers and partners. This year, Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft merged with Hogan Lovells, while in 2024, Sherman & Sterling merged with the British office, Allen & Overy, to form A&O Sherman.
The public transportation network in Riyadh is poised to become an influential factor in the accounts of real estate investors, with the Kingdom’s trains recording more than 40.9 million passengers during the third quarter of 2026, of which the “Riyadh Metro” accounted for 30.4 million. This demand re-highlights the attractiveness of commercial locations close to stations, and the opportunities for cafés, restaurants, and retail stores to benefit from passenger traffic, at a time when specialists believe that measuring the actual impact of the metro on rents and occupancy requires comparing the performance of real estate before and after operation, taking into account other factors affecting the market.
In this context, the CEO of Manasat Real Estate Company, Khaled Al-Moubayed, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Riyadh Metro has begun to transform the concept of a good commercial location, as the distinguished location is no longer limited to properties located on the main streets, but rather easy access via public transportation has become an additional factor in its investment attractiveness.
Al-Mubayed added that the average rents for major commercial centers in Riyadh amounted to about 2,650 riyals per square meter annually, with a growth of 1.2 percent, while the occupancy rate stabilized at 91 percent during the first half of 2026, indicating that these indicators cannot be attributed to the metro alone.
He pointed out that one of the practical indicators of the growing importance of commercial activity related to public transportation is the offering of 733 commercial units within the public transportation network, in addition to the opportunities available for cafes and financial services.
The metro enhances the attractiveness of commercial locations
Al-Moubayed expected that commercial activities that rely on daily customer traffic, especially cafes, restaurants, and quick services, would benefit from locations close to the most commonly used stations. He suggested that proximity to stations would receive greater attention from investors and developers when selecting locations and planning mixed-use projects.
He stressed that the value of a commercial site in the future will not only be measured by the number of cars that pass in front of it, but also by the number of people who can reach it easily without the need to use a car.
Measuring real estate impact requires market comparison
For his part, Khaled Al-Jasser, a specialist in real estate affairs and head of the “Akan International” group, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the operation of the Riyadh train represents an important development in the city’s infrastructure, and it is expected that it will gradually be reflected on the map of real estate demand, especially in commercial locations that benefit from easy access and high user traffic.
Al-Jasser explained that the property’s proximity to public transportation stations may enhance its investment attractiveness, but the size of the impact varies depending on the location, the nature of commercial activity, and the level of demand in the region, stressing that the rise in rents or occupancy rates cannot be attributed to the operation of the metro alone without analyzing the rest of the factors affecting the market.
He pointed out that measuring the actual impact requires comparing similar commercial properties near and far from the stations, before and after operation, in terms of average rents, occupancy rates, and volume of demand, which helps determine the impact of improved accessibility on real estate performance.
Ease of access enters into investors' calculations
Al-Jasser added that ease of access and connection to public transportation networks have become factors that deserve increased attention when studying investment opportunities, as the investor looks at the property’s ability to attract tenants and beneficiaries, and the ease of access for customers and employees, in addition to location and space.
He explained that cafes, restaurants, retail stores and daily services may benefit from locations that witness continuous pedestrian traffic near stations, while commercial offices may benefit from improved ease of access for employees and customers, as well as the possibility of enhancing the attractiveness of locations linked to public transportation to develop mixed-use projects that combine commercial, office and service activities.
Al-Jasser stressed that proximity to the station is not the only factor in the success of the investment, as the economic feasibility, rental levels, actual demand, nature of commercial activity, and quality of the location remain essential elements in decision-making, stressing the importance of studying the integration between public transportation and real estate development and evaluating its impact on expected cash flows and investment returns, instead of assuming that the value of all properties near the stations or their rents will rise at the same level.
