Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co's Investment Funds team has advised Empiric Student Property Plc (Empiric) on an £85 million fund raising, exceeding its target of approximately £75 million.

The deal marked the second tranche offering under Empiric's £300 million share issuance programme launched in October last year.

Investment funds partner John Reed led on the deal with support from associate Emily Troubridge.

Trowers & Hamlins is pleased to have advised Gloucester City Homes on the transfer of Gloucester City Council's 4,500 homes to it.

The transfer will achieve not only long-term investment in the homes but also provide a platform for new homes and regeneration in the city.

The Trowers & Hamlins team was led by partner Ian Doolittle, with support from colleagues Natasha Berbeneva, Neil Waller, Richie Alder, Martin McFall, Adrian Bode and others.

Within a new financing round, SVC-AG für KMU Risikokapital acquires a minority stake in Stratpharma AG which specializes in the development and commercialization of innovative dermatological products.

Walder Wyss advices Stratpharma AG and Stratpharma AG's shareholders in connection with the transaction. The Walder Wyss team includes Alexander Gutmans (Partner, Corporate/M&A) and Robert von Rosen (Managing Associate, Corporate/M&A).

Lenz & Staehelin acted as counsel to the promoter of a Swiss real estate SICAV in connection with its authorization process by FINMA. This SICAV is dedicated exclusively to qualified investors and will launch a sub-fund with a strategy including a sustainable review of the target real estate investments.

The Lenz & Staehelin team included François Rayroux (Partner), Laurence Vogt Scholler (Counsel) and Laura Tscherrig (Associate).

DLA Piper represented NetBase, an enterprise-scale social media analytics company, in a US$24 million investment led by private equity firm Spring Lake Equity Partners and existing investors Thomvest Ventures, Altos Ventures, and WestSummit Capital.

This latest investment will be used to accelerate NetBase’s market position within the core listening and analytics space and will drive its product innovation and global expansion.

The DLA Piper team representing NetBase was led by corporate partner Bradley Gersich (Silicon Valley) and Ian Boardman (Sacramento).

The MSC Group acquired the 42.85% stake held by UniCredit in Bluvacanze S.p.A., thus increasing its stake in Bluvacanze’s share capital from 52.41% to 95.26%.

The transaction was part of a wider program for the property and financial strengthening of the Bluvacanze Group, at the end of which UniCredit refinanced to the MSC Group the formerly existing lines of credit granted to the Bluvacanze Group by UniCredit itself.

Osborne Clarke has advised Media Investment GmbH on its investment in the start-up company Familonet GmbH. Media Investment is an investment company with its seat in Cologne. The company acquires and administrates shares of corporate entities and other investments and offers telecommunication services.

Media Investment is co-investor beside several Venture Capital funds, media enterprises and Innovationsstarterfonds in Hamburg.

Clifford Chance has advised Fosun International Limited (“Fosun”), a leading investment group headquartered in China with operations globally, on its investment in Thomas Cook Group plc (“Thomas Cook”), one of the world's leading global leisure travel groups.

Fosun has invested in 5% of Thomas Cook by way of subscription for newly issued ordinary shares and intends over time to purchase further shares on the open market with a view to increasing its shareholding in Thomas Cook up to approximately 10% of the issued ordinary share capital.

DLA Piper has advised Liberty Global plc and Discovery Communications, Inc. on their minority investments in Formula E, the all-electric single seater car racing series.

The investments by the two global media companies represent an important step in the long-term development of the Formula E series and confirm its potential on the motorsport scene.

Led by Dr. Ulrich Jork, Partner at the commercial law firm's Munich office, Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek advised Swiss Post Solutions on the sale of their shares in MEILLERGHP. The 35 percent holding was acquired by UK-based Paragon Group.
 
Austrian postal services Österreichische Post, which held 65 percent of the shares in the joint venture, likewise sold its holding to Paragon.