Deals And Transactions Legal News Coverage

International Edition

China blocks Coke deal; Skadden and Freshfields advise

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | March 18, 2009

In one of the first major tests of China's recently-adopted antitrust law, the country's government has rejected a $2.4bn (£1.7bn) bid by Coca-Cola to acquire Chinese beverage maker Huiyuan Juice Group. If it had been permitted to proceed, the deal would have been the largest-ever takeover of a Chinese company by a multinational. The closely-watched deal saw Coca-Cola represented by Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, whose team was led by Nicholas Norris in Hong Kong and Gregory Miao in Shanghai. Huiyuan instructed Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.China's Anti-Monopoly Law came into affect in August 2008. Broadly modelled on Western competition laws, the measure also takes into account proposed mergers' impact on "national economic development".

2 minute read

International Edition

A&O and Latham set to advise on €8bn Italian finance deal

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | March 11, 2009

Allen & Overy (A&O) and Latham & Watkins have landed key advisory roles on the €8bn (£7.1bn) financing of Italian power company Enel's acquisition of Acciona's 25% stake in Spanish utility company Endesa. The financing, which is one of the largest in Europe so far this year, sees A&O advising the consortium of arranging banks, with Latham advising Enel. The deal, which saw Enel acquire the stake for around €11bn (£9.8bn) in total, comes after both firms advised on Enel and Acciona's initial €35bn (£31bn) acquisition of Endesa in 2007. Enel will now hold a 92.06% stake in Endesa.

3 minute read

International Edition

Lovells hired on £500m rights issue

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | March 11, 2009

Lovells has won a role advising on the latest real estate rights issue, with the top 10 City law firm instructed by property investment and development company SEGRO. The £500m issue, which is subject to shareholder approval but is priced at a significant discount, comes after the company announced losses of nearly £1bn during the year ending 31 December. Lovells fielded a team for SEGRO from its UK, Europe and US offices with corporate partner Nigel Read leading a team that also included London corporate partner Nicola Evans, US securities partner Katherine Mulhern, real estate partner Katherine Watts and tax partner Kevin Ashmar.

1 minute read

International Edition

Commentary: Controversial deals illustrate that the buck stops over there

By Georgina Stanley | March 11, 2009

With the fallout at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) escalating by the day, it is easy to forget that little more than a year ago the bank's takeover of ABN Amro was hailed as one of the most innovative corporate takeovers yet seen in Europe.Linklaters in particular was seen as a winner after fielding a cross-border team of 400 lawyers to bring the deal to a successful close, despite being limited only to public information due to the bid's unsolicited nature.

3 minute read

Legal Week

Commentary: Controversial deals illustrate that the buck stops over there

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | March 11, 2009

With the fallout at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) escalating by the day, it is easy to forget that little more than a year ago the bank's takeover of ABN Amro was hailed as one of the most innovative corporate takeovers yet seen in Europe.Linklaters in particular was seen as a winner after fielding a cross-border team of 400 lawyers to bring the deal to a successful close, despite being limited only to public information due to the bid's unsolicited nature.

6 minute read

International Edition

Dealmaker: James Palmer

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | March 11, 2009

After a stand-off over the cheese question, Herbert Smith M&A heavyweight James Palmer hits Dealmaker

4 minute read

International Edition

Fried Frank and Wachtell secure $41bn M&A roles

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | March 09, 2009

Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz have secured lead roles on Merck's $41bn (£28.4bn) acquisition of US pharma rival Schering-Plough. The two firms have long been major M&A counsel to the two companies with Fried Frank advising Merck and Schering instructing Wachtell.The deal comes roughly two months after Pfizer's $68bn (£47.2bn) acquisition of Wyeth and is the latest signal that pharmaceutical companies facing patent expirations on key drugs are willing to spend big to acquire rivals with deeper pipelines.In Merck's case, revenues from two major cholesterol treatment drugs (Zetia and Vytorin) fell by more than a third last year (Merck already had split those revenues with Schering), and generic drugs will begin competing with Merck mainstays over the next five years.

2 minute read

International Edition

National trio step into advisory roles on shoe retailer buyout

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | March 04, 2009

Walker Morris, Addleshaw Goddard and Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) have won major roles on shoe retailer Stylo's administration and subsequent buyout.Walker Morris chairman Peter Smart advised the founders of the Stylo group, the Ziff family, on the buyout of 160 stores including brands Barratts and PriceLess.The sale of the business came after the group went into administration last month (18 February) following a failed attempt to restructure Stylo's debt. Stylo's main subsidiaries, Barratts and PriceLess, went into administration at the beginning of the year.

2 minute read

International Edition

Freshfields leads on French banking merger

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | March 04, 2009

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised the French Government on a merger deal that is set to create the second-largest bank in the country, with a combined equity of €40bn (£36bn). Leading French banks Caisse d'Epargne and Banque Populaire finalised the tie-up last week (26 February), with both establishments advised by a raft of French independents.

2 minute read

International Edition

Commentary: Ashurst's US launch - the importance of commitment

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | March 04, 2009

Structured finance has entered weird territory. On one level the market is nowhere and yet it is everywhere. Nowhere, in that the primary market that was driving law firms until the summer of 2007 has all but dried up; yet everywhere, in that clearing up the mess caused by the credit crunch means it's hard to find an area of business in which structured finance skills aren't being called upon.Unwind work for structured investment vehicles (SIVs) and bank failures, advising on products that have suffered credit down-grades and dealing with counter-party risk is now what keeps advisers busy - meaning the practice area in Europe hasn't yet suffered the total wipe-out some were expecting. And, as Clifford Chance's Kevin Ingram points out, accessing government-backed liquidity schemes, which typically require structuring and packaging for the assets which can be used as collateral, is "basically structured finance".Adds Ingram "You can't find a good derivatives lawyer in the City for love nor money."

4 minute read

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