Osborne Clarke has advised main market listed Tribal Group plc on a Rights Issue and Disposal to raise a total of £41m.

Macfarlanes has advised Simplifydigital, the UK’s largest broadband, TV and home phone switching business on its sale to Dixons Carphone, Europe’s leading specialist electrical and telecoms retailer and services company.

Simplifydigital was founded in 2007 and its acquisition will help Dixons Carphone to bolster its position in the quad play market, covering mobile, landline, TV and broadband.  The transaction is expected to complete at the end of March.

On March 17, 2016, freenet AG, the largest network-independent supplier of mobile communications in Germany, announced that it had entered into definitive agreements to acquire 23.83% of the shares of Sunrise Communications Group AG from funds advised by CVC Capital Partners for a purchase price of CHF 72.95 per share, equaling CHF 782 million in total, with the option to acquire an additional of 0.73% of the Sunrise shares. The CEO and the CFO of freenet will be invited to join the Board of Directors of Sunrise.

Frankfurt am Main – Coherent, Inc., a world leader in lasers and laser-based technology for scientific, commercial and industrial customers, and Rofin-Sinar Technologies, Inc., listed on the New York and Frankfurt Stock Exchange, one of the world's leading developers and manufacturers of high-performance industrial laser sources and laser-based solutions and components, announced that their Boards of Directors have unanimously approved a definitive agreement under which Coherent will acquire Rofin for $32.50 per share in cash, in a transaction valued at approximately $942 million.

On 17 March 2016, freenet AG signed a contract for the acquisition of a stake of 23.83 per cent in the Swiss telecommunications provider Sunrise Communications Group AG at a price of CHF 72.95 per share(appr. €714m in total). In addition, freenet AG will acquire up to 330,183 further shares (0.73 per cent of the share capital), in Sunrise Communications Group AG next month. The transaction is expected to be completed shortly.

Olswang has advised Blue Prism, leader in Robotic Process Automation (RPA), on its admission to trading on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market. Ahead of its initial public offering (IPO) on AIM, the company raised a total of £21.1 million and is valued at approximately £48.5 million. Admission and commencement of dealings took place today, Friday, 18 March.

Vinge has advised Lifco AB (publ) and its wholly owned subsidiary Sorb Industri AB in connection with its acquisition of the majority of the Norwegian company Cenika AS. Lifco acquires and develops market-leading niche businesses with the potential to deliver sustainable profit growth and robust cash flows. The Group has three business areas: Dental, Demolition & Tools and Systems Solutions. The Lifco Group comprises 133 companies in 28 countries. In 2015 the Group reported EBITA of MSEK 1,186 on sales of around BSEK 7.9, with an EBITA margin of 15.0%.

Davis Polk is advising UCAR Technology Inc. in connection with its acquisition of shares in CAR Inc. from Hertz and Mr. Charles Lu, the founder of CAR Inc.

Pursuant to the terms of the share purchase agreements, UCAR Technology has conditionally agreed to acquire approximately 23.97% of the issued shares of CAR Inc. for an aggregate consideration of approximately HK$5.26 billion. The acquisition is subject to a number of conditions precedent.

Temenos Group AG, the market leading provider of mission-critical software for financial institutions, refinances existing facilities through a new banking facility of USD 500 million provided by the existing lenders Barclays, HSBC, RBS, Credit Suisse and Banque Cantonal Vaudoise and new lenders including Standard Chartered, ING and BNP Paribas.

Homburger advised Temenos Group AG in Swiss legal aspects of the refinancing.

Clifford Chance has advised Telefónica in relation to the issuance of EUR 600 million Zero-Coupon Equity Linked Bonds, issued by Telefónica Participaciones and guaranteed by Telefónica. The bonds were issued on 9 March 2016 and carry a five year term. The bonds do not pay interest, but instead confer on investors the benefit of a cash settled conversion option, linked to the performance of Telefónica ordinary shares.