Baker & McKenzie advised CureVac GmbH on the Equity investment agreement with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Foundation will invest 46 million euros (52 million dollars) in CureVac. In addition the Foundation will fund various programs for the development of vaccines.
Gide has advised Bruno Maisonnier, the founder of Aldebaran Robotics, a world-leading French company specialised in the field of humanoid robotics, on the sale of his stake in Aldebaran Robotics to its majority shareholder Softbank, the Japanese telecommunications heavyweight. Softbank, which held 80% of Aldebaran, increases its stake to 95%.
The team comprised M&A partner Olivier Edwards, tax partner Christian Nouel, Bruno Laffont and Pauline Schaeffer.
Macfarlanes has advised UK technology start up Improbable on its $20 million fundraising from Andreessen Horowitz, the US venture capital firm that backed Twitter and Facebook.
Since it was founded three years ago, Improbable has developed ground breaking technology, enabling thousands of people to use the same, fully-integrated simulated world simultaneously, which can be applied across a host of different industry sectors, including gaming, defence, transportation and disease planning.
Linklaters has advised the consortium made up of Amethis Africa Finance and the National Bank of Canada on their equity stake purchase in NSIA Participations, the financial services group comprising banking and insurance products, that operates in more than ten West African countries. The transaction will be made through the acquisition of the 26% stake currently owned by Emerging Capital Partners and is subject to regulatory approvals.
Burges Salmon’s Corporate team has advised the energy storage and clean fuel company, ITM Power plc, an AIM quoted company, on the acquisition by JCB Research and Valebond Consultants Limited (a company owned by Jo Bamford) of a strategic shareholding in ITM by way of a subscription for, in aggregate, 16,186,460 new ordinary shares at 30 pence per share (£4.856 million). The investment makes them, in aggregate, ITM’s largest shareholder.
DLA Piper represented Rsam, a provider of Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) solutions, in the completion of a US$32 million strategic growth investment from JMI Equity, a growth equity firm. Rsam intends to use the funds to continue to expand operations.
Founded in 2002, Rsam delivers unparalleled flexibility for companies to leverage out-of-the-box solutions and build-your-own applications for a wide range of compliance, risk, and security functions.
JMI Equity is a growth equity firm focused on investing in leading software and services companies.
Eversheds has advised AES Corporation (AES) on the sale of its equity interest in the IPP4 Al-Manakhir power plant in Jordan, to Nebras Power QSC (Nebras).
The firm worked with AES to negotiate the agreement with Nebras, a subsidiary of Qatar Electricity and Water Company (QEWC), to sell 40% of its 60% equity interest in the IPP4 Al-Manakhir plant which has a capacity of 241 MW. Eversheds also advised AES on its ongoing shareholder relationships with the equity stakeholders.
Herbert Smith Freehills has advised India-based Godrej Consumer Products Limited on its acquisition of a further 34.37 per cent. stake in its artificial hair production and distribution joint venture with the Darling Group, which comprises businesses in the Republic of South Africa and Mozambique.
Eversheds Bianchini, the Italian office of law firm Eversheds, has advised Fondo Italiano di Investimento on its €7.5m for a minority stake in Brugola, an Italian manufacturer of components for the automotive industry.
Brugola will use the capital to help its expansion in the US, where it currently has one office. The cash injection is the first instalment of a deal announced in December, which could see Fondo Italiano invest up to €20m in the company to support its growth strategy
Sheffield-based Magnomatics is set to become a major player in the hybrid electric vehicles market following a second major funding round from Finance Yorkshire.
Established as a spin-out company from the University of Sheffield, Magnomatics’ range of patented products includes high efficiency, ultra compact motors and generators, as well as magnetic transmission systems.