Herbert Smith Freehills has advised leading Asian sportswear brand ANTA Sports Products Limited (stock code: 2020.HK) on a joint venture with Korea's Kolon Corporation (stock code: 002020.KS) and Kolon Industries, Inc. (stock code: 120110.KS).

The joint venture will principally market, sell and distribute "Kolon Sport" branded products in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

Today, Lonza and Sanofi announced that they have entered into a strategic partnership to build and operate a large-scale mammalian cell culture facility for monoclonal antibody production in Visp, Switzerland. The large-scale facility will be established through a joint venture with an initial investment of around CHF 290 million shared equally between Lonza and Sanofi. The initial construction phase of the facility will commence in 2017, pending necessary regulatory approvals. The facility is expected to be fully operational by 2020.

Eversheds Sutherland has advised Romax Technology, a pioneer in predictive maintenance solutions, on a multi-jurisdictional joint venture with BP subsidiary Castrol.

Castrol – one of the world’s leading lubricant brands – takes a controlling interest in Romax Technology’s Insight business. The deal will combine Castrol’s expertise in wind turbine lubrication with Romax Insight’s predictive maintenance, analytics and software business. Romax Insight is headquartered in Nottingham, UK.

King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has advised on the establishment of a commercial operating partnership for the development and expansion of the Sunshine Coast Airport - in a deal valued at $605 million.

KWM acted on behalf of the Sunshine Coast Regional Council, which will continue to own the Sunshine Coast Airport and deliver the new runway project - with Palisade operating the asset under a 99-year lease.

DWF has advised Singapore food and beverage chain Old Chang Kee on their first UK-based joint venture with Singapore company 13 Wonders to form Old Chang Kee UK Limited.

The DWF team was led by corporate director Manmohan Singh with support from corporate solicitor Joseph Hui. They advised the client on the English law aspects of the deal and the structure of the joint venture company. The new venture will involve food retail outlets and manufacture, distribution and trading of food products within the UK. 

Noerr advised thyssenkrupp Marine Systems on the agreement of a strategic partnership for the construction of submarines which enabled thyssenkrupp Marine Systems to secure a submarine manufacturing contract for the Norwegian navy.

thyssenkrupp Marine Systems is a leading system provider for submarines and naval vessels worldwide. The new German-Norwegian partnership is based on the joint purchase and lifetime management of identical submarines. The Norwegian defence ministry selected thyssenkrupp Marine Systems after conclusion of an extensive selection process.

Copenhagen Airports A/S has entered into a partnership with the Scandinavian hotel operator Nordic Choice Hotels, owned by Petter A. Stordalen, on a project involving the takeover of the operation of the hotel currently operated by Hilton and the building of  a new 500-room hotel alongside the existing hotel.

Japan-based Sharp Corporation, part of Taiwan's Foxconn Group, enters into a strategic business alliance with Skytec Group Limited ("Skytec") regarding the manufacture and sale of Sharp branded products and services in Europe. For that purpose, Sharp acquires a majority stake of 56.7% in the newly incorporated joint venture Skytec UMC Ltd.

We have acted for General Practice Investment Corporation Limited (GPIC), a leading developer of primary healthcare centres, on a joint venture agreement with MedicX Fund Limited, a specialist primary care infrastructure investor.

Norton Rose Fulbright has advised BP on its substantial acquisition of the retail fuel distribution business owned by Woolworths Limited, comprising a network of 527 existing retail petrol station sites and 16 committed development sites located in Australia.