Reed Smith has advised pensions actuarial, consulting and administration business Xafinity plc (“Xafinity”) on its successful £190.3 million IPO on the premium listing segment of the main market of the London Stock Exchange and related institutional placing of new and existing shares which raised proceeds of £176.6 million. Admission of Xafinity’s ordinary shares to trading on the London Stock Exchange took place at 8.00 a.m. this morning.

Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised Banca IMI and Morgan Stanley, as joint bookrunners, on Banca Popolare di Vicenza's €1.25 billion, 0.5 percent notes issuance due 2020.

This transaction represents the first State-guaranteed bond issued by an Italian bank.

The White & Case team which advised on the transaction was led by partners Michael Immordino (London & Milan) and Ferigo Foscari and local partner Paul Alexander, together with associates Louise Ruggiero, Angelo Messore, Davide Diverio and lawyer Alessandro Piga (all Milan).

Baker McKenzie has assisted a group of International Banks including Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and BNP Paribas as joint global coordinators to VietJet Aviation Joint Stock Company (VietJet Air) in its initial public offering of shares.  On 28 February, Vietnam’s first privately owned new-age airline listed 300 million shares at 90,000 VND (US $3.95) per share on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE).

On February 19, 2017, UBS AG signed an agreement with Northern Trust Cooperation for the sale of the UBS fund services business in Luxemburg and Switzerland. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2017, subject to applicable regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Hengeler Mueller has advised Citibank Global Markets Limited and Royal Bank of Scotland plc (trading as NatWest Markets) in their capacity as solicitation agents or dealer managers on the largest corporate liability management transaction in Europe outside the finance sector to date. Following the IPO of the subsidiary innogy SE, 18 issued or guaranteed bonds of RWE AG in a total nominal amount of approximately EUR 11 bn were intended to be transferred to innogy SE as issuer or guarantor, respectively. This required an affirmative resolution of the bondholders of 16 of the bonds.

The London, New York and Moscow offices of Hogan Lovells have advised Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) in a $250 million revolving ABL facility to U.S. subsidiaries of NLMK, a global steel producer. BAML was appointed as the sole coordinator, bookrunner, documentation agent, facility agent and security agent. JPMorgan Chase Bank and Citibank acted as mandated lead arrangers.

Royal Bank of Scotland has concluded agreements to sell at least USD600 million worth of shipping loans from its portfolio as part of efforts to exit the sector.

Japanese financial services firm ORIX Corporation has agreed to acquire approximately USD300 million worth of shipping loans from RBS. Germany's Berenberg Bank will assist ORIX with agency bank functions for the elevated loan portfolio and tin parallel Berenberg has agreed to acquire a similar value of loans from RBS.

Noerr has advised ODDO SEYDLER BANK AG on a capital increase with subscription rights at Deutsche Konsum REIT-AG. The Noerr team led by the Frankfurt-based capital market specialists Dr Laurenz Wieneke and Dr Stephan Schulz also took a leading advisory role in drafting the prospectus for the client. As a result of the transaction, Deutsche Konsum REIT-AG will be listed in the prime standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Jones Day represented Banco de Sabadell, S.A. and Caixabank, S.A. in the refinancing of ten wind parks located in Spain, sponsored by Eolia Renovables.

For additional information about this matter, please contact: Fernando Lillo
Client(s): Banco de Sabadell, S.A. and Caixabank, S.A.
Practice(s): Projects & Infrastructure
Office(s): Madrid

King & Wood Mallesons has advised Stanbic Bank Uganda Limited and SBG Securities Limited in connection with the private placement by Umeme Holdings Limited of its 14.3 % stake in the Ugandan power company Umeme Limited. Umeme Holdings Limited is a subsidiary of the leading private equity fund, Actis Infrastructure 2 LP (”Actis”).