Ince & Co has advised The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) in relation to the transfer of 20 tanker vessels from Vela International Marine Limited (Vela) as part of the largest merger in the history of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between Bahri and Aramco Vela.

The transaction, which has been on-going for approximately two years, concluded on 15th December when the ownership of the final ship was transferred.

Ashurst has advised Transport for NSW (TfNSW) on its contract with the ALTRAC consortium  for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the new $2.1bn Sydney CBD and South East Light Rail (CSELR) line, signed on 17 December.

The NSW Government had announced in October that the consortium, consisting of Alstom, Transdev, Acciona and Capella Capital, was the preferred bidder for the project which would see a light rail line run from Circular Quay along George Street to Moore Park, then on to Kingsford and Randwick.

Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners Ukraine advises Leonardo and Univermag Ukraina, major business centre and shopping mall in Kyiv downtown, across a spectrum of transactional and real estate matters.

Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners Ukraine provides full legal support, including negotiation and registration of leases, advice on land matters and operational issues and risks related to the commercial real estate in Kyiv downtown, as well as general advice on multiple Ukrainian law matters.

Macfarlanes has advised Venn Partners, an asset manager of real estate and other secured credit, on its appointment by the Secretary of State for the Department for Communities and Local Government to operate the £3.5bn ‘Private Rented Sector Housing Guarantee Scheme’.

Optus has announced it has reached agreement with NBN Co on the future of its Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) network to enable the accelerated roll-out of Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN).

Under the terms of the agreement, Optus will progressively transfer ownership of its coaxial cable and ancillary assets to NBN Co, while retaining ownership of strategic aerial fibre assets used to connect mobile base stations and business customers.

Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Inter City Railways Limited, a joint venture in which Stagecoach has a 90% interest and Virgin a 10% stake, on its successful application for the Intercity East Coast rail franchise in the UK

Allens has advised WestConnex Delivery Authority on the first construction contract for the WestConnex road project, being the widening of Sydney's M4 motorway.

Under the contract, signed last week, the Rizzani De Eccher Leighton joint venture will widen Sydney's M4 between Parramatta and Homebush from three lanes to four.

Construction will begin in early 2015.

The Allens team on the matter was led by Leighton O'Brien.

The executive board and the supervisory board of Axel Springer SE have decided to explore a change of the legal form of Axel Springer SE to a partnership limited by shares (Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien – KGaA). The proposed change aims to provide Axel Springer with more flexibility in financing future growth. The legal form of a partnership limited by shares will provide the basis required to retain the commercial influence of Axel Springer Gesellschaft für Publizistik GmbH & Co., the majority shareholder of Axel Springer SE, also in connection with capital increases.

Ashurst has advised  WestConnex Delivery Authority (WDA) on the awarding of a landmark concession contract for the widening of the M4 Motorway in Sydney, in the first stage of the A$14.9 billion WestConnex motorway.

In the first contract announced for the project, the Rizzani De Eccher Leighton joint venture will be responsible for upgrading and widening 7.5 km of the M4 motorway in Sydney as part of the first stage of WestConnex. Ashurst is advising on the project deed and associated concession documents.

The Sheffield office of law firm Irwin Mitchell has advised on the conversion of Maltby Manor into becoming an Academy. Maltby Manor is a 400 pupil primary school in Rotherham and as part of its conversion into an Academy on 1 December 2014, it has also joined the recently established Maltby Learning Trust (MLT).

Formed in February 2014, MLT is a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) was up until the latest development made up of Maltby Academy and Maltby Redwood Primary Academy.

David Sutton, Executive Principal at Maltby Learning Trust, said: