Deal watch: Latham, Baker McKenzie and HSF return to dealmaking as Pinsents keeps it local

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Deal watch: Latham, Baker McKenzie and HSF return to dealmaking as Pinsents keeps it local

After a turbulent period outside the deal rooms for some of the world’s largest corporate firms, Latham & Watkins and Baker McKenzie have won key corporate mandates while Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) landed a main market IPO on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

Latham has taken  on a significant advisory role for Telenor as it agreed to sell its assets in Central and Eastern Europe to PPF Group for €2.8bn. The deal includes Telenor’s wholly-owned mobile operations in Hungary, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Serbia, and the technology service provider Telenor Common Operation. Latham fielded a team led by London partner Robbie McLaren. The key mandate will be a welcome relief for Latham, in a week where the firm was faced with fallout from Bill Voge’s shock resignation while Kirkland & Ellis passed it to became world’s highest-grossing law firm. Continue reading “Deal watch: Latham, Baker McKenzie and HSF return to dealmaking as Pinsents keeps it local”

Deal watch: Global 100 elite line-up on $6bn GKN-Dana transatlantic union

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A group of elite firms both sides of the Atlantic, including Macfarlanes and Slaughter and May, face off as British engineering giant GKN has agreed to a $6.1bn merger of its automotive business with US-based car parts supplier Dana.

In a deal that will create one of the world’s largest auto parts providers, Macfarlanes’ corporate partners Graham Gibb and Richard Burrows acted for Dana as it announced today (9 March) that its shareholders will get a 53% stake in GKN. Continue reading “Deal watch: Global 100 elite line-up on $6bn GKN-Dana transatlantic union”

Deal Watch: Kirkland and Eversheds lead as Toys R Us and Maplin collapse following bleak Xmas for retailers

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Deal Watch: Kirkland and Eversheds lead as Toys R Us and Maplin collapse following bleak Xmas for retailers

Insolvency professionals have long been predicting a wave of trouble would hit the beleaguered UK high street and it has come to pass with Kirkland & Ellis and Eversheds Sutherland securing lead roles on the collapses this week of Toys R Us and Maplin.

Toys R Us announced today (28 February) that its domestic business was going into administration following a failed attempts to secure a new buyer for the UK’s largest toy retailer after sluggish trading hit the industry over the 2017 festive season. Continue reading “Deal Watch: Kirkland and Eversheds lead as Toys R Us and Maplin collapse following bleak Xmas for retailers”

Freshfields and Davis Polk win roles as Comcast eyes Sky with ‘superior’ £22bn bid

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Freshfields and Davis Polk win roles as Comcast eyes Sky with ‘superior’ £22bn bid

Broadcasting giant Comcast has instructed Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Davis Polk & Wardwell as it looks to trounce an existing offer for Sky from Rupert Murdoch-owned 21st Century Fox.

Philadelphia-headquartered Comcast said in a statement today (27 February) that its ‘superior cash proposal of £12.50 per share represents a 16% increase in value over the existing 21st Century Fox offer for Sky’. Continue reading “Freshfields and Davis Polk win roles as Comcast eyes Sky with ‘superior’ £22bn bid”

Deal Watch: Simpson, CC and NRF line up as business data firms generates big ticket double

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Deal Watch: Simpson, CC and NRF line up as business data firms generates big ticket double

As January draws to a close the deal market continues its robust run, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett leading the advisers on Blackstone’s headline-grabbing Thomson Reuters carve-out while City leaders deploy for Informa’s £3.9bn takeover of UBM.

Simpson, Dechert and Norton Rose Fulbright (NFR) won the lead mandates on a Blackstone-led bid to acquire the data analytics business of Thomson Reuters in a deal valued at $20bn. The bid, confirmed on Tuesday (30 January), is one of the largest ever private equity-backed acquisitions and Blackstone’s largest outside the real estate sector. Continue reading “Deal Watch: Simpson, CC and NRF line up as business data firms generates big ticket double”

A flying start – Eversheds Sutherland nears first anniversary with trio of corporate deals

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A flying start – Eversheds Sutherland nears first anniversary with trio of corporate deals

As the transatlantic Eversheds Sutherland tie-up approaches a year since going live, the firm has enjoyed a robust start to 2018 with some meaty corporate instructions and has incorporated its Dutch arm into its international LLP.

Leading off the end-of-year deal book was Shell’s December move into the UK residential energy market with its agreement to buy energy and broadband provider First Utility, which serves about 800,000 homes in the UK. Continue reading “A flying start – Eversheds Sutherland nears first anniversary with trio of corporate deals”

Retail property crush as international firms battle to land roles on £18.5bn Westfield bid

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In what has been a busy week for landmark retail property deals, a host of firms from across the globe, including Clifford Chance (CC), Shearman & Sterling and Debevoise & Plimpton are advising as French property company Unibail-Rodamco bids £18.5bn for Westfield Corporation.

Westfield owns 35 shopping centres across the UK and the US, including centres in Stratford, White City and Croydon. Unibail-Rodamco, meanwhile, also owns a number of retail outlets internationally, with the merger expected to create global retail property group worth $72bn. Continue reading “Retail property crush as international firms battle to land roles on £18.5bn Westfield bid”

Dealwatch: 2017 closes out with slew of energy, tech and transport deals

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Dealwatch: 2017 closes out with slew of energy, tech and transport deals
    • Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughter and May advised UK’s ‘big six’ energy providers Npower and SSE on the merger between their domestic retail operations. Freshfields corporate partners Simon Marchant, Julian Pritchard and Andrew Craig advised SSE, along with competition partners Deirdre Trapp and James Aitken. Slaughters corporate partners Richard Smith and Tim Boxell led the team advising Npower parent company Innogy, alongside competition partner Lisa Wright, financing partner Ed Fife, IP/IT partner Rob Sumroy, tax partner Gareth Miles, and pensions and employment partners Charles Cameron, Padraig Cronin and Daniel Schaffer. Best-friend firm Hengeler Mueller also advised Innogy, led by corporate partners Andreas Austmann and Thomas Meurer.

Continue reading “Dealwatch: 2017 closes out with slew of energy, tech and transport deals”

Addleshaws and Ashurst picked as favourites as GVC pitches in for Ladbrokes takeover

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Addleshaws and Ashurst picked as favourites as GVC pitches in for Ladbrokes takeover

Addleshaw Goddard and Ashurst are acting as gaming and betting company GVC Holdings launches a proposed £3.9bn takeover of rival Ladbrokes Coral.

The proposed deal, announced today (7 December), would create a global online gambling group that the boards of the two companies claim would have strong growth prospects and an enhanced position in some of the world’s largest regulated online gaming markets, including the UK, Italy and Australia. Continue reading “Addleshaws and Ashurst picked as favourites as GVC pitches in for Ladbrokes takeover”

Deal watch: HSF, Travers and Linklaters front of the queue on Intu acquisition as WFW picks up $2.3bn Asia energy project

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Deal watch: HSF, Travers and Linklaters front of the queue on Intu acquisition as WFW picks up $2.3bn Asia energy project

Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF), Travers Smith and Linklaters are all acting as retail property powerhouse Hammerson acquired its rival Intu for £3.4bn, meanwhile Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe have advised on a $2.3bn coal-fired power project in Vietnam.

Hammerson’s £3.4bn buyout of Intu will create a £21bn pan-European shopping mall giant and bring London’s Brent Cross, the Birmingham Bullring and Manchester’s Trafford Centre under single ownership. Continue reading “Deal watch: HSF, Travers and Linklaters front of the queue on Intu acquisition as WFW picks up $2.3bn Asia energy project”