Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Reliance Worldwide Corporation Limited (RWC) on its GBP687.5 million (A$1.22 billion) acquisition of John Guest Holdings Limited (John Guest) in the UK, as well as the Australian equity and debt financing arrangements for the acquisition.

RWC is a leading global manufacturer and supplier of premium-branded engineered water delivery, control and optimisation products and solutions for residential and commercial plumbing applications and is the leading manufacturer in the world of brass push-to-connect (PTC) plumbing fittings.

Clifford Chance advised one of China's leading independent third-party payment service providers, Huifu Payment Limited (Hui Fu Tian Xia You Xian Gong Si ), on its US$216 million (HK$1.7 billion) initial public offering and listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. CLSA and J.P. Morgan acted as sponsors on the transaction. Huifu is the first payment company to list in Hong Kong and this is also the first payment company IPO out of Asia.

Addleshaw Goddard's Corporate team has advised Rathbone Brothers Plc on its acquisition of Speirs & Jeffrey, Scotland’s largest independent wealth manager, for an initial consideration of £104m.

The acquisition will enable Rathbones to establish a much stronger presence in Scotland, with Glasgow becoming the Group’s largest office after London following the transaction. The transaction will also further enhance Rathbones’ position as one of the UK’s largest wealth managers.

Eversheds Sutherland has advised Cantor Fitzgerald Europe (as Nomad and Joint Bookrunner) and Macquarie Capital (Europe) Limited (as Joint Bookrunner) in connection with the acquisition by Atlantis Resources plc of SIMEC Uskmouth Power Limited from SIMEC, a member of the GFG Alliance and an associated £20 million equity fundraising.

The acquisition constitutes a reverse takeover under the AIM Rules for Companies. As such, both the acquisition and the fundraising are subject to the approval of Atlantis shareholders, to be sought at a general meeting on 13 June 2018.

Eversheds Sutherland Ireland has advised Investec Bank Plc, as ESM Advisor, Bookrunner and Financial Advisor, on the IPO of Yew Grove REIT plc (“Yew Grove”) on the Enterprise Securities Market of Euronext Dublin (“ESM”) and the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (“AIM”) and its associated €75 million fundraising. Yew Grove’s shares were admitted to trading on AIM and the ESM on Friday 8 June 2018.

Simpson Thacher represented The Blackstone Group L.P. (“Blackstone”) in the establishment of its second Asian opportunistic real estate fund, Blackstone Real Estate Partners Asia II L.P. (“BREP Asia II”). Blackstone has announced that BREP Asia II has held a final close and reached its hard cap. Together with commitments from Blackstone and its affiliates, BREP Asia II has approximately $7.1 billion of capital commitments.

Sidley has represented Ronshine China Holdings Limited (Ronshine China) on the placing of existing shares of its controlling shareholder and top-up subscription for its new shares by its controlling shareholder under general mandate. Ronshine China has raised approximately HK$1.1 billion in this share placement. The estimated net proceeds will be applied for Ronshine China’s development purposes and as general working capital of the company.

European law firm Fieldfisher has advised Echo Energy plc, the AIM-quoted exploration and production company, on a successful £8.5 million equity raising, completed in May. The team also acted for the company in relation to its acquisition of assets in Argentina, associated fundraising and a reverse takeover at the end of 2017.

Hill Dickinson's corporate team has recently advised its client Block Energy plc (Block) on its admission to AIM, completion of which took place on 11 June 2018. The admission included a significantly over-subscribed placing which raised gross proceeds of £5 million.

Linklaters has advised Turkey’s Garanti Bank on its issue of $75 million of gender bonds, the first gender bond to be issued in the emerging markets. The gender bonds are focused on financing small enterprises and companies owned or managed by women in Turkey. The gender bonds were subscribed by the IFC, a member of the World Bank Group. The investment was made in partnership with the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility (WEOF), launched by IFC through its Banking on Women Program, and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women.