London—As announced by Total on 9th January 2017, Total and Tullow have entered into an agreement for Total to acquire an additional 21.57% interest from Tullow in the Uganda Lake Albert oil project. Dentons is pleased to be advising Total on this transaction.
Lenz & Staehelin acted as counsel to OROX Asset Management SA in Geneva in connection with its authorization by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) to act as asset manager of collective investment schemes. OROX Asset Management SA is part of the Edmond de Rothschild Group and focuses its activity in the real estate sector. Following the authorization by FINMA, OROX Asset Management SA has been appointed by Edmond de Rothschild Real Estate SICAV, a Swiss real estate SICAV, to act as investment manager.
Houthoff Buruma advised Stichting Bedrijfspensioenfonds voor het Bakkersbedrijf ("Bpf Bakkers"), a Dutch pension fund with assets under management of approximately € 3.5 billion, on the appointment of NN Investment Partners as their new integrated (fiduciary) asset manager. This transaction included the preparation of, and negotiations about, a Dutch law fiduciary management agreement based on Bpf Bakker's own template.
Houthoff Buruma team included: Oscar van Angeren , Harm-Paul Plas , Daan Horsthuis
Leading Global Law Firm Baker McKenzie has advised Swiss-founded Selecta Group in its sale of operations in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to Baltcap. The three businesses employ around 75 people and generate net sales in excess of €10 million. The deal is expected to close upon receipt of the relevant merger filing approvals in the Baltics.
Baloise (SIX: BALN) is to acquire a majority stake in publicly listed real-estate company Pax Anlage AG (SIX: PAXN). By entering into agreements with major shareholders including Nürnberger Lebensversicherung AG, Baloise Life Ltd will acquire around 70 per cent of the share capital and voting rights. On 6 January 2017, Baloise published the pre-announcement of a public takeover offer for the remaining approx. 30 per cent of shares in free float at a price of CHF 1,600 per share (subject to dilution effects). The aggregate transaction value amounts to approx. CHF 288m.
A team led by Dr. Pär Johansson of Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek's Cologne office advised data and information management specialist Schober Information Group, based in Ditzingen, on selling its Swiss business to KünzlerBachmann Directmarketing AG.
The Priora group closed a block trade transaction involving the acquisition of a large minority stake in the Swiss listed Galenica AG. Priora disclosed a 10% interest in Galenica whose market capitalization is CHF 7.5 billion.
Bär & Karrer acted as legal advisor to Priora. The team included Ralph Malacrida, Micha Schilling (both M&A), Mani Reinert (Competition), Daniel Lehmann (Tax) and Florian Roth (M&A).
Gleiss Lutz has advised Henkel on the sale of its western European flooring, tiling and waterproofing business for professional users to BASF, which was completed with effect as of 1 January 2017. The transaction includes the flooring business under the Thomsit brand in western Europe and the global rights to the “Thomsit” trademark. Henkel’s flooring, tiling and waterproofing business in western Europe, involving products currently sold by specialised retailers or under the Ceresit brand, also forms part of the transaction.
Walder Wyss advises BioVersys AG, Basel, on its Extended Series A financing Round. The financing round amounts to CHF 5.5 mio. was subscribed by existing shareholders.
The Walder Wyss teams consisted of Alexander Gutmans (Partner, Corporate Venture Capital, Life Sciences), Reto Vonzun (Partner, Corporate) and Ayesha Curmally (Partner, notarial services).
Noerr has advised VR Equitypartner GmbH on the acquisition of a minority stake in Grundig Business Systems GmbH (GBS), which is based in Bayreuth. VR Equitypartner, one of the leading equity financers for SMEs in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, has acquired this minority stake in the GBS Group in order to support its planned further growth. The transaction is subject to approval by the authorities. The parties have agreed not to disclose any details regarding the contracts.