Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Eurobank Ergasias SA (Eurobank) as dealer and arranger on the update of one of its covered bond programmes and the increase in the nominal amount of covered bonds that may be issued under the programme from €3 billion to €5 billion. The assets under this covered bond programme are Eurobank’s Euro and Swiss Franc denominated residential mortgage loan assets.
International law firm Withers has advised State Bank of India in a £300 million loan facility for the acquisition of The Old War Office, 57 Whitehall, London.
The landmark property, located in the heart of Westminster, was acquired by The Hinduja Group in partnership with Spanish development company Obrascon Huarte Lain Desarrollos. The site will be converted into a luxury hotel.
Shearman & Sterling advised the underwriters (led by HSBC Securities (USA) Inc.) in connection with HSBC Holdings plc’s offering of US$7 billion of its fixed and floating rate senior unsecured notes.
This is believed to be the largest ever "Yankee" senior debt offering by a bank parent holding company, HSBC’s largest ever dollar issuance, and the largest debt offering by a bank in the last two years.
Mayer Brown JSM advised Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia LLC on its landmark deal, which won “High Yield Deal of the Year” at the IFLR Asia Awards 2016 in Hong Kong last week. The firm acted as U.S. and English legal counsel, and advised on structuring and issuance aspects of its US$500 million 9.375% senior notes due 2020, which notes were guaranteed by the Ministry of Finance of Mongolia. This latest award follows the deal’s win in the same category at FinanceAsia’s Achievement Awards 2015.
King & Wood Mallesons has advised Macquarie on the sale of its life insurance business to Zurich Australia.
Zurich Australia is owned by Switzerland-based Zurich Insurance Group, one of the world’s largest insurers.
KWM advised Macquarie on all aspects of the deal including M&A, Insurance law and the court approved scheme process to be undertaken for the implementation of the transaction.
Simmons & Simmons has advised Investec, J.P. Morgan Cazenove, as Joint Sponsors and Joint Bookrunners, and Barclays as Co-Bookrunner in connection with Chemring Group PLC’s £80.8 million rights issue.
Norton Rose Fulbright has advised the lead arrangers, facility agent and security agent in relation to the EUR 60m and PLN 200m revolving credit facilities granted to Pfleiderer Grajewo S.A. for the refinancing and amendment of the terms of its existing debt and other subsidiaries of the company.
Pfleiderer Group is a leading producer of wood-based materials used in the furniture, interior decoration and construction industries in Poland and Germany.
Shearman & Sterling advised Morgan Stanley as sole bookrunner in connection with the sale by Geveran Trading Company Ltd of 37.8 million shares in Marine Harvest ASA conducted by way of an accelerated bookbuild offering.
Following the offering, Geveran Trading has retained 79.6 million shares in Marine Harvest, which represents approximately 17.7% of the share capital. The sale proceeds from the placement amounted to 4.42 billion Norwegian Krona (approximately $510 million).
Shearman & Sterling is advising leading Japanese regional banks Fukuoka Financial Group, Inc. (FFG) and The Eighteenth Bank, Ltd. (Eighteenth Bank) on a business integration involving filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Upon completion, Eighteenth Bank will become a wholly owned subsidiary of FFG, making it the largest regional bank in Japan in terms of total assets.
The definitive agreement is expected to be executed in August 2016, and the share exchange is expected to be effective on April 1, 2017.
UBS, and a Georg Fischer group pension fund as UBS' customer, asked Pestalozzi to advice on a transfer of the pension fund's complete direct real estate investments portfolio. The transfer was made in exchange for shares in a regulated UBS real estate fund. The deal was particularly challenging from a tax perspective. In addition, the transaction was governed by complex restrictions under local real estate laws which had to be mitigated.