Nabarro has advised a consortium of brokers comprising Panmure Gordon, Oriel Securities, RBC Europe and Pareto Securities in relation to the £65m cashbox placing by Faroe Petroleum. Faroe is an AIM listed independent oil and gas group focused on exploration, appraisal and production in Norway, the Atlantic Margin and the UK North Sea.

The Nabarro team was led by Head of Corporate Iain Newman and assisted by senior associate Ben Price and associate Sarah Etherington. Faroe was advised by K&L Gates LLP.

Osborne Clarke has advised the world's leading online marketplace for business lending, Funding Circle, on its latest round of fundraising. The latest fundraising round will be used to fuel the company's exploration into new products and new markets.

The internal, Series D round was led by Index Ventures and other existing investors, Accel Partners, Union Square Ventures and Ribbit Capital. In total, Funding Circle has now raised $123 million in equity funding.

Partner Rob Wood led the Osborne Clarke team, he was assisted by Senior Associate Simon Jones.

Baker & McKenzie advised UBS Limited and Commerzbank AG as the joint lead managers on an establishment of a EUR600 million euro medium term notes program and an offering of EUR350 million 5.5 percent Eurobonds due in 2017 issued by Alfa Holding Issuance plc to finance a senior loan to ABH Financial Limited, a holding company of open joint stock company “Alfa Bank,” a major Russian bank.

Ashurst advised J.P. Morgan as financial adviser to AbbVie Inc. on its £32 billion merger with Shire plc. Under the terms of the merger, Shire shareholders will be entitled to receive £24.44 in cash and 0.8960 shares in New AbbVie for each Shire share. Based on AbbVie's 30-day volume-weighted average price of $54.83 to 17 July 2014, the merger terms represent an indicative value of £53.19 per Shire share. The merger is primarily being funded by AbbVie through existing cash resources and a new bridge credit facility.

Allen & Overy has advised BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered Bank, as joint lead managers and bookrunners, on the issuance of USD1.5 billion and EUR525 million bonds by ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL), which were guaranteed by OVL’s parent Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC). The bonds were issued under Regulation S of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Clifford Chance advised the senior lenders, represented by J.P. Morgan Limited and UniCredit Bank AG London Branch, in the context of the acquisition of Nocibé by Douglas Holding AG, the leader in perfume and cosmetic retail in Europe. As a result of this transaction Douglas will become the largest perfume and cosmetics retailer in France with a network of 642 stores.

The team was led by Thierry Arachtingi (partner) and included Pierre-Benoît Pabot du Chatelard and Maroussia Cuny on the financing, and Katia Gruzdova (counsel) on tax aspects.

DLA Piper has advised Ziraat Bank, Turkey's largest bank by deposits and number of branches, in its successful debut issuance of $750 million 4.250 notes due 2019 under the bank's Medium Term Note (MTN) programme. The firm also advised on the establishment of the programme in May 2014.

The DLA Piper team that advised Ziraat Bank on matters of both US and English law was led by partner and Head of US securities for EMEA, George Barboutis and included senior associate Alexander Kolmakov and associate Elizabeth Clare from the firm's London office.

Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Macquarie Capital Securities Limited and ICBC International Capital Limited in relation to their role as the joint sponsors of Kangda International Environmental Company Limited’s (“Kangda”) HK$1.4 billion Initial Public Offering (IPO) and listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Kangda is a leading wastewater treatment service provider in the People’s Republic of China. The company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 4 July 2014.

Ashurst has advised Canaccord Genuity, acting as bookrunner, in connection with the initial public offering (IPO) of Lucibel on the Paris Alternext market.

Lucibel has completed a private offering prior to its listing on Alternext in order to finance its growth both in France and abroad. Thus, Lucibel intends to reinforce  its commercial strength, improve its innovation capacity and continue its acquisition strategy.

Global legal practice Norton Rose Fulbright has advised China Merchants Securities (HK) Co., Limited as sole sponsor, sole global coordinator, sole bookrunner and joint lead manager on the HK$795 million global offering and initial public offering of Sinomax Group Limited. 

Sinomax Group Limited is a leading manufacturer and distributor of visco-elastic pillows, mattress toppers and mattresses in the United States, Hong Kong and China.

Shares of the company will be listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 10 July 2014.