Davis Polk is advising Lazard & Co., Limited as sponsor to Vedanta Resources plc in connection with the entry by its Indian listed subsidiary, Vedanta Limited, into revenue sharing contracts with the Government of India for the exploration of oil and gas in 41 blocks in sedimentary basins throughout India pursuant to the Indian Open Acreage Licensing Policy. This is the first major auction of hydrocarbon blocks to take place in India since 2010.

As of 31 August 2018, UBS has sold the hotel Widder as well as adjacent premises located at Augustinerhof 1, Augustinergasse 15 and 20 as well as Widdergasse 10, to Swiss Life. The sale is a consequence of the upcoming re-opening of UBS's headquarter at Bahnhofstrasse 45 which will create additional space for UBS which is why the hotel Widder will no longer be required as a alternate location for conferences and seminars.

DLA Piper has advised leading international property specialist Aareal Bank Group, on the provision of a complex five-year term debt facility of up to €800 million to certain funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management LLC, together with its consolidated subsidiaries "Apollo." The debt will finance a pan-European portfolio of logistics properties, with the tailor-made facility providing stability, security and flexibility for Apollo’s growing and diverse pan-European logistics portfolio.

International law firm Ashurst is advising Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as joint sponsors to Whitbread in relation to its proposed sale of Costa to The Coca-Cola Company for an enterprise value of £3.9 billion, announced today.

The proposed sale is a Class 1 transaction for Whitbread under the Listing Rules and is therefore conditional, among other matters, upon the approval of shareholders. Completion of the transaction is expected during the first half of 2019.

Leading law firm Blake Morgan has advised Metro Bank, the revolution in British banking, on obtaining a 25 year lease on a new retail unit on Queens Street in central Oxford.

Slaughter and May is acting for Wonga Group in respect of the decision to place it into administration, along with WDFC UK Limited, Wonga Worldwide Limited and WDFC Services Limited. The Boards of these entities have assessed all options regarding the future of the Group and have concluded that it is appropriate to place the businesses into administration.

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