In December 2017, King & Wood Mallesons (“KWM”) advised Beijing Horizon Robotics Technology Research and Development Co., Ltd. (“Horizon Robotics”) on its successful series A+ financing. This preferred equity financing raised approximately US$100 million. Although Horizon Robotics was only established two years ago, it has achieved extraordinary growth in its business valuation and has strengthened its competitive edge in the artificial intelligence (“AI”) industry as a result of this transaction.

Clifford Chance has advised the Deutsche Glasfaser Group on its refinancing of 650 million EUR.

Refinancing serves to further expand the fiber-optic infrastructure in Germany, especially in rural areas. The expansion of broadband coverage is an important requirement for the increasing digitization of the economy and society.

Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) have advised the management of Exactpro Systems on a management buyout. The transaction saw BLP’s clients buy the company back from the London Stock Exchange, to which they had previously sold the business.

International law firm Bird & Bird has successfully represented Easynet in the Court of Appeal, allowing the consolidation of multiple group companies under the Cross-Border Merger Regulations.

The Court of Appeal decision in Easynet Global Services Ltd [2018] EWCA Civ 10 (18 January 2018) has clarified the extent of the UK Court's discretion to approve mergers under the Cross-Border Merger Regulations.  This clears the way for multiple companies to be consolidated cross-border within the EU. 

Mason Hayes & Curran are advising Chronicle, Google X’s cyber security initiative, on data protection matters, including General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Google X is the same team that pioneered the self-driving car.

Cleary Gottlieb represented Kakao Corp. in a $1 billion Rule 144A/Regulation S offering of global depositary shares.

The GDSs are expected to be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange on February 2, 2018. Citigroup and Goldman Sachs International acted as the joint global coordinators and bookrunners for the offering, which closed on January 23, 2018.

Kakao Corp. operates Korea’s leading instant messaging service as well as leading mobile and online platforms in Korea.

Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) have advised the management of Exactpro Systems on a management buyout. The transaction saw BLP’s clients buy the company back from the London Stock Exchange, to which they had previously sold the business.

Cleary Gottlieb represented Kakao Corp. in a $1 billion Rule 144A/Regulation S offering of global depositary shares.

The GDSs are expected to be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange on February 2, 2018. Citigroup and Goldman Sachs International acted as the joint global coordinators and bookrunners for the offering, which closed on January 23, 2018.

Kakao Corp. operates Korea’s leading instant messaging service as well as leading mobile and online platforms in Korea.

Eversheds Sutherland advised the Swedish auction platform Barnebys in its second acquisition in the United States. Barnebys acquired the assets in the American company Market Street Media LLC who acts under the brand Collectors Weekly.

Collectors Weekly is a search engine that links to auctions on Ebay. The site also creates editorial content about antiques and collector's item. The site has over one million visitors per month.

Eversheds Sutherland's team consisted of Ludvig Blomqvist and Dennis Lundquist.

International legal practice Osborne Clarke has advised Acellere GmbH, on the closing of its series A EUR 2.25 million financing round. The investment comes from Capnamic Ventures and several business angels.

The Frankfurt-based start-up has created “Gamma”, a software analytics platform to assist developers in identifying and mitigating bugs and structural issues in software code. It’s used by companies in the finance, automotive and energy sectors.