Kirkland & Ellis advises Pennsylvania-based independent oil and gas company East Resources, Inc. and an unnamed private company (together the “Sellers”) in the sale of 48,000 net acres of Marcellus Shale leasehold in West Virginia to American Energy - Marcellus, LLC for $1.275 billion, subject to customary closing adjustments. Kirkland also advises the Sellers in the sale of 27,000 net acres of Utica Shale leasehold in Ohio to American Energy - Utica, LLC for $475 million, subject to customary closing adjustments.

Clifford Chance has advised Siemens AG on the sale of its business for hospital information systems (HS) for USD 1.3 billion to the US-based company Cerner Corp. The transaction is subject to applicable regulatory approvals.

HS is headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania/USA, and employs some 6,000 employees worldwide with operations in the U.S., in Europe (particularly in Germany) and in Asia. The company offers software and IT services for clinical and financial administration processes in hospitals.

National law firm Shoosmiths has advised Palatine Private Equity and Bridgepoint Development Capital on the successful exit of their investment in Hallmark Hotels Group.

Linklaters is advising CGG on the sale of its North American Land seismic contract acquisition business to Geokinetics Inc. In the transaction, CGG will contribute its North America Land Contract activities (excluding its land multi-client and monitoring businesses) in exchange for a minority equity stake in Geokinetics.

Burges Salmon has advised Co-operative Group on the sale of its Farms business. The sale reflects The Co-operative’s decision to focus on its core Retail and Consumer Services divisions, including Food, Funeralcare, General Insurance and Legal Services.

The net proceeds of the Farms sale will be used to further reduce The Co-operative’s debt and invest in its core businesses. The sale of the business as a going concern incorporates The Co-operative’s existing farming operations, and includes:

  * 15,997 hectares (39,533 acres) of freehold and third party owned land

Herbert Smith Freehills has advised QIC on the sale of one of its flagship commercial office buildings in Sydney for A$555 million.

In what is widely tipped to be the largest Australian commercial office deal of the year, the sale attracted extraordinary interest both nationally and internationally, with more than 40 qualified bidders being granted access to the Herbert Smith Freehills Data Room. The sale is said to reflect a purchasing cap rate of 5.5%, the first such sale in Australia below 6% for many years.

Macfarlanes has advised Brookfield Property Partners on the disposal of its property at 125 Old Broad Street.

The property, a 330,000 sq ft office tower in the City of London, was purchased by US private equity group Blackstone for £320m.

The Macfarlanes team included head of commercial real estate Ian Nisse and corporate partner Nicholas Barclay.

DLA Piper represented Clarion Partners in its sale of LMF Frisa Comercial, a commercial real estate joint venture, to partner Frisa, a Mexican real estate investment group. The transaction closed on July 10 and is valued at US$207 million.

Clarion, a New York-based investment company, had owned 50 percent of LMF Frisa Comercial, which includes nine shopping centers in Mexico.

The Mexico City-based DLA Piper team representing Clarion was led by partners Manuel Rajunov and Dania Duncan and included associates Mario Rea and Javier Zenteno.

Irwin Mitchell‘s Real Estate Team has advised  on the sale of Harman House an office refurbishment in Uxbridge to a Pramerica entity. The seller is an overseas entity advised by Mercer Real Estate Partners. The transaction is indicative of the turnaround in the west London office investment market as well as demonstrating Mercer’s expertise in refurbishment and its ability to bring tenants to the building.

The seller bought the 130,000 sq ft building in 2013 from Threadneedle Investments and it subsequently carried out a major refurbishment of the property.
 

Pinsent Masons has advised Cordea Savills on the £137 million sale of its Student Hall Fund to Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund (USAF).

The deal will see the international property investment manager sell its Student Hall Fund, which comprises 2,904 bedrooms across Bath, Bristol, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Leeds and Loughborough.