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International Edition

Linklaters leads for Rio Tinto on asset disposal deal double

Linklaters has taken the lead role for regular client Rio Tinto on the latest of a string of asset disposals aimed at cutting the mining company's debt burden. Rio has sold Alcan Composites, part of Alcan's Engineered Products group, to Swiss company Schweiter Technologies for $349m (£218m). In a separate deal, Rio has sold a 56% stake in its Alcan Cable business to Platinum Equity for an undisclosed sum, putting the company on track to meet its stated target of paying off $15bn (£9.3bn) of debt in two years.
2 minute read

International Edition

EDF concludes legal restructuring after British Energy buyout

EDF Energy has finalised the restructuring of its UK legal function in the wake of last year's £12.5bn takeover of British Energy. General counsel and company secretary Jean MacDonald has overseen the overhaul, which has seen the combined legal teams split across five different functions: corporate; energy sourcing and customer supply; networks; governance and secretariat; and nuclear.
2 minute read

International Edition

Freshfields eclipses rivals in German M&A rankings

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has dominated the German M&A market over the past three years, according to data from Mergermarket. Figures show the magic circle firm advised on nearly 40% more German M&A deals over the past three years than its nearest rival, with roles on 278 deals since 14 September 2006. This compares with second-placed Clifford Chance (CC) on 199 deals and third-placed CMS on 178 transactions.
2 minute read

International Edition

CC and Weil Gotshal land roles on $2.6bn Orangina Schweppes bid

Clifford Chance (CC) and Weil Gotshal & Manges have taken lead roles on Japanese drinks company Suntory's offer to buy Orangina Schweppes Group from two high-profile private equity funds, Lion Capital Holdings and the Blackstone Group. Weil Gotshal is advising Blackstone and Lion Capital, which purchased Orangina from Cadbury in 2006 for $2.1bn (£1.3bn). London office managing partner Mike Francies is leading the firm's team on the deal.
2 minute read

International Edition

High-profile A&O M&A partner to join Linklaters spin-off Openhoff

Allen & Overy (A&O) is set to lose one of its most high-profile German partners. Duesseldorf M&A partner Hans-Rolf Koerfer, who joined A&O in January last year from US firm Shearman & Sterling, is set to join Linklaters spin-off Oppenhoff & Partner in Cologne.
2 minute read

International Edition

Nabarro and Lovells head up Land Securities' £210m Bullring stake sale

Nabarro and Lovells have taken lead roles on Land Securities' £210m sell-off of its stake in the Birmingham Bullring to an Australian Government investment fund. The purchase means that The Future Fund - an independently managed sovereign wealth fund - now holds a third of the Bullring alongside Henderson Global Investors and Hammerson.
2 minute read

International Edition

SJ Berwin and Simpson Thacher lead on British Land's Broadgate sell-off

SJ Berwin and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett have picked up lead roles as British Land prepares to sell half of London's Broadgate Circle to US private equity house Blackstone Group. City firm SJ Berwin is representing longstanding client British Land on the deal, which will see the two companies form a 50:50 joint venture, through which two Blackstone real estate funds will buy the stake in Broadgate, which is valued at £2.13bn.
2 minute read

International Edition

Bakers, Lovells and White & Case advise on GM's Opel stake sale

Baker & McKenzie, White & Case and Lovells are among the firms advising on a deal that will see a Canadian-Russian consortium acquire a 55% stake in GM's Opel auto unit, writes The American Lawyer. The deal, agreed after three months of negotiations, has been lauded by the German government, which is gearing up for elections at the end of this month and is keen to avoid mass layoffs at Opel, which has received billions in government aid in recent months.
3 minute read

International Edition

Partner trio resign from Halliwells Manchester office

Three partners have quit Halliwells' Manchester office, it has emerged. Corporate partners James Sheridan and Frank Shephard and intellectual property partner Craig Chaplin have all resigned from the firm's partnership. A Halliwells spokesman confirmed the resignations.
1 minute read

International Edition

Chadbourne partner rejoins Dechert after just four months away

Konstantin Konstantinov, a corporate and finance partner who joined Dechert earlier this year as part of the firm's Moscow launch, has rejoined his former firm Chadbourne & Parke after just four months. Dechert originally announced on 8 May that five partners, including Konstantinov, would be joining from its US rival, only to see two of them - finance partner Jennifer Handz and Russian litigator Mikhail Rozenberg - decide to remain at Chadbourne.
2 minute read

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