On 17 April 2017 Arbitrazh Court of Moscow district approved a settlement agreement between the Federal Antimonopoly Service and the Google and Yandex corporations, thereby bringing to an end a dispute which had run for more than two years. With the settlement agreement the parties succeeded in finding an acceptable arrangement for managing the consequences of violations of antimonopoly law previously identified by the FAS, and ensuring competition on mobile app market – for mobile search apps in particular.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP (“Freshfields”) has advised Talpa Holding on the acquisition of a 67 per cent stake in SBS Broadcasting from Sanoma, thereby obtaining full ownership of TV-stations SBS6, NET5, Veronica and SBS9. SBS Broadcasting will complement Talpa Holding in further developing a Dutch multimedia company with strong positions in television, radio, print and online. As part of the transaction, SBS Broadcasting’s stake in the TV guide business Veronica Uitgeverij will be sold to Sanoma.

The European Commission has approved unconditionally under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Sky by 21st Century Fox. The Commission concluded the transaction would raise no competition concerns in Europe.

The Allen & Overy team advising 21st Century Fox was led by global co-head of Antitrust Antonio Bavasso, supported by counsel Tom Masterman, senior associate Dominic Long and associates Chris Best, Kenneth Ko, Jessica Bowring and Imogen Carr.

Allen & Overy is advising Souq Group Ltd. (Souq) and certain of its shareholders on the sale of the entire issued share capital of Souq to Amazon.com, Inc. (Amazon). Souq, headquartered in Dubai, UAE, is the largest e-commerce vendor in the MENA region with over 3,000 employees and a full-scale fulfilment, payments and “last mile” delivery infrastructure in several key regional jurisdictions.

The transaction is the largest technology-related M&A transaction in the Arab world to date and highlights a maturing of the e-commerce sector in the region.  

Sanoma has agreed to sell its 67% stake in the Dutch TV business SBS to Talpa Broadcasting Holding B.V. for a net cash consideration of EUR 237 million and will obtain 100% ownership of the TV guide business Veronica Uitgeverij as part of the transaction (a double carve out). SBS is the third largest free-to-air TV broadcaster in the Dutch market with four TV channels: SBS 6, NET5, SBS9 and Veronica. The divestment is subject to closing conditions including customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2017.

On April 10, 2017, New Access SA ("New Access"), Geneva, Switzerland, a company controlled by the private equity fund BlackFin Capital Partners, announced that it signed an agreement to acquire FIS group's Ambit Private Banking business. New Access provides front-office solutions to private banks, including a portfolio management system, a document management system, and a customer relationship management system.

Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek advised DATAGROUP SE on a capital increase against cash contributions with exclusion of subscription rights. The company has generated proceeds of some EUR 21.7 million from the transaction.
 
759,000 new shares were placed with institutional investors as part of the capital increase. The company intends to strengthen its equity and finance further growth with the gross issue proceeds of EUR 21.7 million. The new shares are to be admitted to OTC trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange with simultaneous inclusion in the "Scale" segment.

International law firm Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised the start-up x3Fab on all phases of its launch and on its first major project.

Taylor Wessing has advised accesso Technology Group plc, an AIM listed technology solutions provider in the entertainment and leisure market, on its acquisition of Ingresso Group Limited, a global distribution system for entertainment ticketing, for an EBITDA based price of up to £28m.

Osborne Clarke has advised NASDAQ-listed MKS Instruments on the disposal of its data analytics solutions business to Sartorius Stedim Biotech GmbH.

A global leader in technology solutions, MKS Instruments Inc disposed of its Sweden-based company MKS Instruments AB (Umetrics). Umetrics specialises in data analytics software for modelling and optimising biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing processes.