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”

Deal watch: Linklaters and White & Case in landmark Africa project as Slaughters and Macfarlanes lead on Cineworld takeover

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UK-based deal specialists were busy this week advising on cross-border transactions spanning three continents.

Linklaters and White & Case have deployed their global teams to act on a $2.73bn refinancing for an infrastructure project across two countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Continue reading “Deal watch: Linklaters and White & Case in landmark Africa project as Slaughters and Macfarlanes lead on Cineworld takeover”

Ashurst and Hogan Lovells win roles on Palmer & Harvey administration as takeover plan goes up in smoke

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City firms have landed lead mandates on the administration of beleaguered British tobacco wholesaler Palmer & Harvey (P&H) following the collapse of a rescue takeover by The Carlyle Group.

Ashurst and Hogan Lovells are advising administrator PwC, which was brought in when a sale process that would see US buyout giant Carlyle acquire the ailing business fell over. Continue reading “Ashurst and Hogan Lovells win roles on Palmer & Harvey administration as takeover plan goes up in smoke”

Deal watch: London PE teams lead on Pure Gym buyout as Freshfields doubles-up for CVC

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Established private equity players Latham & Watkins, Ropes & Gray and Travers Smith have won roles on Pure Gym’s sale from CCMP Capital to Leonard Green, while Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Morgan Lewis also picked up significant mandates this week.

The Pure Gym deal, announced today (3 November), is valued at £600m according to media reports, and follows Leonard Green’s £2.4bn acquisition of CPA Global earlier this year. Continue reading “Deal watch: London PE teams lead on Pure Gym buyout as Freshfields doubles-up for CVC”

Autumn dealwatch: Euro mega deals keep Magic Circle busy

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Autumn dealwatch: Euro mega deals keep Magic Circle busy

Freshfields and K&E act on Monarch administration

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s restructuring chief Ken Baird and finance partner Catherine Balmond led the team advising KPMG as Monarch Airlines filed for administration. Kirkland & Ellis and Reed Smith advised the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), while Stephenson Harwood acted for the Pension Protection Fund. Continue reading “Autumn dealwatch: Euro mega deals keep Magic Circle busy”