Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised ING Bank N.V. (“ING”) as global co-ordinator and a mandated lead arranger on the US$221m KSURE-backed secured debt financing to Oslo-listed BW LPG, in relation to the funding of four VLGC new build vessels.

The consortium of banks led by ING included KFW IPEX-Bank, OCBC and Standard Chartered Bank.  The VLGCs are four in a series of twelve VLGC new build vessels in the order book of BW LPG. The delivery of the first VLGC is scheduled for 9 May 2016.

Irwin Mitchell's Banking Team Advises On Multi-Million Pound Deal

Urban regeneration specialist, MJ Gleeson plc, has agreed a funding package of up to £40m with Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking to accelerate its growth plans.

International legal practice, Osborne Clarke has advised Savedo GmbH on the closing of a financing round. Savedo is the first international online marketplace for savings in other EU countries. Founded in 2014, the Berlin-based FinTech company has already raised USD 10 million for sustainable growth.

Savedo has raised USD 5.6 million from XAnge, FinLeap, Kreos Capital, Point Nine Capital, German Startups Group and WeltN24 (via a media-for-equity-deal). The fresh capital will mainly be used for product expansion and consistent internationalisation.

Baker & McKenzie advised GFKL Financial Services GmbH, part of GFKL Lowell Group, a European leader in credit receivables management, on its acquisition of IS Group Management GmbH (trading as IS Inkasso Service). IS Inkasso Service is the Austrian market leader in third party collections (3PC) with a strong Swiss business presence. Sellers are the majority shareholder HANNOVER Finanz and the management to date, which will be remaining in place. Closing of the transaction is expected at the end of May, subject to anti-trust approvals.

The Firm recently represented Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch as initial purchaser in an offering of €450 million of 5.75% senior notes due 2021 issued by Cirsa Funding Luxembourg S.A. and guaranteed by Cirsa Gaming Corporation, S.A. (“Cirsa”) and certain of its subsidiaries.

Cirsa is one of the leading gaming companies in Spain, Italy and Latin America and is engaged in the operation of slot machines, casinos and bingo halls and the manufacture of slot machines.

Shearman & Sterling advised HSBC as mandated lead arranger, agent and security agent in connection with the financing of TPG Growth's acquisition of Frank Recruitment Group, a global recruitment firm, from Livingbridge. 

Frank Recruitment Group is a leading niche recruitment firm for IT professionals who specialise in enterprise software. 

Davis Polk advised the joint bookrunners and representatives of the underwriters for JD.com’s debut SEC-registered debt offering, consisting of $500 million of its 3.125% notes due 2021 and $500 million of its 3.875% notes due 2026.

JD.com is the largest online direct sales company in China. JD.com’s ADSs currently trade on the NASDAQ Global Select Market.

Baker & McKenzie and Riolo Calderaro Crisostomo have respectively assisted UniCredit SpA (as originator) and UniCredit Bank AG (as arranger) in relation to the securitization of receivables arising from personal loans for a value of approximately EUR 4 billion. The securitization was financed through the issuance of asset-backed securities listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and structured as a guarantee, in order to comply with the monetary policy operations of UniCredit at the European Central Bank.”

The Chinese online sales services provider Alibaba has acquired shares in the online marketplace Lazada, which has investors from several continents. Alibaba is also investing USD 500m as a capital increase. The total investment is more than USD 1b and is, according to Thomson Reuters, the largest acquisition Jack Ma's company has made up to this point.

Travers Smith LLP has advised Muzinich & Co. Limited (“Muzinich”) in relation to the provision of a debt package totalling £18million to Phaidon International (“Phaidon”), a specialist recruiter operating in the US, Europe and Asia.  The purpose of the financing is to support further international expansion of Phaidon and to allow management to realise some of their investment via a dividend.