After 17 years of partnership, Carrefour Group and Sabanci Holding have decided to reorganize the governance of their joint venture, CarrefourSA.

Sabanci Holding will become the majority shareholder by acquiring an additional 12% of the capital of CarrefourSA from Carrefour Group. Carrefour will retain a stake of 46.2%. Sabanci Holding will own 50.8% of CarrefourSA.

Clifford Chance lawyers advising Carrefour in France were Mathieu Remy and Dessislava Savova (Partners), Marianne Pezant (Counsel), Justine Souchay and Alexander Kennedy.

Pinsent Masons advised the Cabinet Office on its first IP joint-venture deal which will create a new business based on the Government’s intellectual property assets in the Best Management Practice portfolio.

Capita plc will own a 51% share of the new company. The joint-venture will bring together commercial expertise which will enable much needed investment in developing products and breaking into new international markets. The joint-venture is a key example of driving innovation in the public sector.

A Travers Smith team led by Head of Commercial, IP and Technology, Tom Purton, and including senior associate Ben Chivers has advised Pinewood Shepperton plc ("Pinewood") on a 50:50 joint venture agreement with Seven Stars Ltd ("Seven Stars").

Pinewood is a leading provider of services to the global film and television industry. Seven Stars is part of one of China's leading private media groups and is part of the largest and fastest growing media conglomerates in China, with operating subsidiaries in the Hong Kong, Europe and the US.

Hong Kong, Beijing: Leading international law firm Clifford Chance has advised Capital Dynamics on its strategic cooperation agreement with China-based fund of funds manager Diligence Capital. The partnership will enable Capital Dynamics to join its long-standing global scope and infrastructure in private equity with Diligence Capital's local knowledge and expertise so as to enhance both parties' business in the Greater China region.

Sydney: Leading international law firm Clifford Chance has advised Australia's Toga Group on a 50:50 joint venture in hotel management and ownership with Singapore's Far East Orchard Limited.

The Toga Group develops hotels, residential apartments and mixed use projects including retail and commercial across Australia, New Zealand and Europe, largely under the Adina, Vibe and Travelodge brands. This is the third corporate transaction that the Sydney team has completed for Toga Group in recent years.

Clifford Chance advised Software AG, Darmstadt, on the agreement relating to a strategic partnership with metaquark GmbH, Berlin. Through the partnership, Software AG will be able to develop and market mobile applications ("apps") from one single platform. Businesses can now use Software AG's MobileSuite, an integral component of the webMethods platform, to administer the entire life cycle of mobile applications from design and development through secure distribution to devices and end users from one App store to monitoring the operational IT infrastructure.

Following Eversheds’ recent advice to AID Partners Capital on the acquisition of the HMV business in Hong Kong and Singapore, the global law firm has advised the buy-out fund on a US$10 million investment in Prime Focus World N.V. (“Prime Focus”) and the formation of a joint venture with Prime Focus’ parent, Prime Focus Limited.

DLA Piper has advised Allianz Real Estate, the real estate holding of the Allianz insurance group, on a joint venture with SES Spar European Shopping Centres, an industry leader in Austria and Slovenia in the retail and food sector. The joint venture, which is the largest European transaction in the retail sector in 2012-2013, will manage a portfolio composed of 7 shopping centres in Italy, Austria and Slovenia

Wragge & Co's Life Sciences team has completed two deals in a week for biotechnology company Heptares Therapeutics.

Freshfields has advised Swiss-based Frontiers Media on a joint venture with Nature Publishing Group. Both companies want to innovate communications and publishing around scientific content via Open Access and Open Science tools.

International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised Swiss-based publishing group Frontiers Media SA on a joint venture with Nature Publishing Group. NPG has acquired a majority stake in Frontiers.