Watson, Farley & Williams in association with Lau, Leong & Co has advised DNB Asia Ltd as Facility Agent for a syndicate of eight lenders on the provision of a US$700m facility to BW LPG Holdings Limited to finance 20 LPG carriers and for general working capital purposes.

DNB Asia Ltd is part of Norway’s largest financial services group and specialises in providing shipping and offshore finance, and the syndicate members comprised leading banks across Europe and Asia.

Pinsent Masons has advised Octal Capital Limited on the listing by way of introduction of Willas-Array Electronics onto the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Willas-Array is a long established and renowned provider of electronic components and engineering solutions to industrial and commercial users in the Greater China region.

Simmons & Simmons has advised Barclays, BofA Merrill Lynch and HSBC as joint dealer managers on a tender offer by RL Finance Bonds plc in respect of its £400m Upper Tier 2 Notes and as joint lead managers on a £400m new issue of Solvency II-compliant Tier 2 Notes by RL Finance No. 2 plc, which are guaranteed on a subordinated basis by The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited, the UK’s largest mutual life and pensions company.

Ashurst advised Bank of America Merrill Lynch International in relation to the £1.56 billion recommended cash offer for AZ Electronic Materials S.A., the London-listed company that makes chemicals used in electronic devices such as Apple's iPad, announced today. The offer is being made by Germany's Merck 15. Allgemeine Beteiligungs-GmbH, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Merck KGaA, the world's largest maker of liquid crystals for flat panel displays. BofAML is acting as financial adviser to Merck.

Slaughter and May is advising Deutsche Bank in relation to the European Commission's (EC) investigation into potential coordination within the Yen- and Euro-interest rate based derivatives market. Deutsche Bank received discounts from fines in excess of 40% as a result of its participation in the EC's leniency and settlement programmes.

A team of lawyers from our Global Investigations Group is also advising Deutsche Bank generally on investigations related to interbank offered rates (LIBOR), including in relation to investigations by other regulators that are ongoing.

Herbert Smith Freehills has advised PetroChina Company Limited, a subsidiary of state-owned and China's largest oil and gas company China National Petroleum Corporation, on its acquisition of a 25% stake in phase one of the West Qurna field.

PetroChina will acquire the stake from Exxon Mobil, which will separately sell a 10% stake to Indonesia’s Pertamina, leaving it with a 25% interest. Exxon Mobil will remain as the field's operator after the sales.

International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised the listing agent and the underwriters on the US$215m global offering and listing of Spring Real Estate Investment Trust (Spring REIT) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which took place today.

Managed by Spring Asset Management Limited, Spring REIT is a real estate investment trust formed primarily to own and invest in high quality income-producing real estate assets in Asia, with the initial assets comprising Office Towers 1 and 2 in China Central Place, in Beijing.

Linklaters advised UniCredit AG, BNP Paribas, and HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt AG on the successful placement of more than 7.3 million shares by the wind turbine manufacturer Nordex SE.

In the context of an accelerated bookbuilding process, the securities were issued to institutional investors at a price of 10 euros per share. UniCredit, BNP Paribas, and HSBC Trinkaus acted as joint bookrunners of the transaction which has a volume of about 73 million euros.

Watson, Farley & Williams has advised Santander on an investment in 3 solar PV projects on sites in Cornwall, Dorset and Norfolk, totaling 56.6MW.

WFW advised Santander on the provision of equity financing for the three projects by acquiring shares in individual project SPVs from British Solar Renewables.

Watson, Farley & Williams in association with Lau, Leong & Co has advised Nordea Bank Norge ASA as Facility Agent for a syndicate of 14 lenders on the provision of a US$866,070,430 facility to the BW Group to refinance eight LNG carriers and for general working capital purposes.

Nordea Bank Norge ASA is part of the largest financial services group in Northern Europe and is active in the shipping and offshore arenas, and the syndicate members comprised leading banks across Europe and Asia.