Dentons advised private equity investor Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co (KKR) on the acquisition of the French start-up Captain Train by its British competitor Trainline. The latter was bought by KKR in 2015.

The transaction, worth up to €200 million, is one of the biggest start-up acquisitions in France in the past few years.

Captain Train, founded in 2009, is a French online travel agency which provides a booking platform for purchasing train tickets in Europe. The company sells about 5,000 train tickets each day and has 1.5 million users.

Law firm Shoosmiths has advised NatWest Scotland on their investment to support a large residential housing project in Portobello, Edinburgh, led by developers, Kerwick Ltd.

The existing office block at 275 Portobello High Street is under full construction to accommodate 22 apartments and four penthouses. This high spec development is expected to appeal to second home investors, those looking to downsize, professional couples and landlords given its prominent position in the coastal town of Portobello.

King & Wood Mallesons advised a syndicate of Chinese lenders to provide funding to support Yancoal Australia Ltd’s operations and investment in the Australian resources sector.

Yancoal will raise US$950 million in new debt funding through an issue of nine-year secured debt bonds to a consortium of lenders including Industrial Bank Co. Ltd, BOCI Financial Products Limited and United NSW Energy Limited.

KWM has advised Travelex on the sale of its Currency Select business to Global Blue via a competitive sale process.

Slaughter and May is advising Arrow Global Group PLC (Arrow), one of Europe’s leading purchasers and managers of debt, on the acquisition of InVesting B.V. from HAL Investments B.V. for a total consideration of approximately EUR 100 million.

Solstad Rederi AS did in February enter into a term loan and guarantee facility of MNOK 1,215 and MUSD 30 with a group of Norwegian and Nordic banks and financial institutions with DNB Bank ASA acting as agent. The facility is secured inter alia with mortgages over six of Solstad Rederi AS' vessels.

Closing has been completed and the facility has by that replaced and refinanced five separate loan- and guarantee facilities and made addition loan available to Solstad Rederi AS.

Arntzen de Besche acted for the agent and the finance parties.

Slaughter and May is advising Allianz on the agreed sale of its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, AGF Insurance Limited (AGF), to Catalina Holdings UK Limited. AGF is a UK-regulated insurance company which, prior to entering run-off in 1999, wrote predominantly direct employers’ and public liability insurance in the UK. The transaction, which is expected to complete in Q3 2016, is subject to the prior approval of the Prudential Regulation Authority.

Contacts

Davis Polk advised the sole bookrunner in connection with the Regulation S only offering by China Oceanwide International Financial Management Co., Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co., Ltd. ("China Oceanwide"), of its HK$500 million 8.50% bonds due 2019.

China Oceanwide is engaged in finance, real estate, electric power and energy, culture and media and capital investment businesses.

30 March, 2016, King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) advised China Zheshang Bank Co Ltd (Zheshang Bank) on its successful listing on the main board of Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Zheshang Bank issued approximately 3.3 billion H shares, pricing its shares at HK$3.96 per share, and the Bank will raise approximately HK$11.591billion (before exercising the over-allotment option). The deal is the first public offering over HK$ 10 billion this year in Hong Kong.

Ashurst advised Bank of Cyprus in relation to the financial restructuring of the c. €400m indebtedness of Leptos Group, one of Cyprus' biggest real estate and building developers.

The key elements of the agreement included the restructuring of the terms of the group's loans, including through a debt hive-up, and a comprehensive restructuring of the collateral package, accompanied by a corporate reorganisation.