Mayer Brown announced today that it advised Altice N.V. and Altice USA Inc. as US tax and structuring counsel in its spin-off of Altice USA Inc. and group reorganization of Altice Europe. The separation and reorganization will enable each business to focus more on the distinct opportunities for value creation in their respective markets and ensure greater transparency for investors.

The Mayer Brown team included Tax Transactions & Consulting partners Jason Bazar (New York), Laurent Borey (Paris) and Jim Barry (Chicago), and associate Lucas Giardelli (New York).

BLP has advised XLMedia, the AIM listed leading provider of digital performance marketing, on its successful placing of new Ordinary Shares, raising gross proceeds of £31.7m.  The placing, conducted by Berenberg, was oversubscribed and the proceeds are to be used by XLMedia to fund acquisition opportunities as they arise.

Baker McKenzie acted for Afterpay Touch Group on its AUD$20 million placement of shares and convertible notes to strategic investor - Matrix Partners. The funds will be used partly to scope market entry for the Afterpay product in the United States.

Baker McKenzie has advised the Franco-Irish telecom operator, BSO Networks, in the context of its acquisition of Apsara Networks, an American operator specialising in ultra-low latency telecommunications. This type of telecommunication is used by the main American financial centres (NYSE, NASDAQ and CBOT) for high-frequency trading.
 
By integrating Apsara’s wireless technology into its fibre-optics network, BSO consolidates its position as one of the leading operators used by traders. 

Baker Botts L.L.P., a leading international law firm, announced today that it represented Upside Energy (“Upside”) in Series A investment by SYSTEMIQ, Legal & General and Modern Energy.

Upside is a Manchester-based company that has developed a cloud platform that uses advanced algorithms and artificial intelligence to coordinate connected devices to deliver valuable flexibility services to the energy system.

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW“) has advised Omoove, a fully-owned subsidiary of Octo Telematics (“Octo”), on the launch of its innovative online platform Sharemine.

Sharemine facilitates the creation and management of online car and ride sharing mobile communities. With this new project, Octo aims to help customers save on car ownership and rising insurance costs, and use telematics technology to make roads safer and more environmentally friendly.

Baker McKenzie acted for Afterpay Touch Group on its AUD$20 million placement of shares and convertible notes to strategic investor - Matrix Partners. The funds will be used partly to scope market entry for the Afterpay product in the United States.

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW“) has advised Omoove, a fully-owned subsidiary of Octo Telematics (“Octo”), on the launch of its innovative online platform Sharemine.

Sharemine facilitates the creation and management of online car and ride sharing mobile communities. With this new project, Octo aims to help customers save on car ownership and rising insurance costs, and use telematics technology to make roads safer and more environmentally friendly.

International law firm CMS has advised technology client, what3words, on the successful investment of a significant stake in the company by German carmaker, Daimler.

what3words is an innovator in addressing technology, providing a system which assigns a three-word address to every 3mx3m square on the planet. Daimler have previously worked closely with what3words in integrating the technology with Mercedes’ satellite navigation systems, allowing drivers to navigate to any destination using a unique, three-word combination.

Shearman & Sterling is advising Tele2 on the U.S. aspects of its proposed approximately $3.3 billion merger with Com Hem.