Hogan Lovells has advised U and I Group PLC (U+I), a specialist regeneration and property developer, on its new 50:50 joint venture platform (the partnership) with a controlled affiliate of Colony NorthStar Inc. (Colony NorthStar).  The new partnership is a specialist platform that will invest up to €300m in the London City Region, Manchester and Dublin office markets.  Based in the U.S., Colony NorthStar is a leading global real estate and investment management firm.

Niederer Kraft & Frey, Slaughter and May, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz represented Actelion on its transaction with Johnson & Johnson announced today.

The transaction involves the following inter-conditional elements:

    a tender offer by Johnson & Johnson for Actelion at a price of USD 280 per share, valuing Actelion at USD 30 billion (CHF 30 billion).

The Felix Schoeller Group, a specialty paper manufacturer headquartered in Osnabrück, Germany, has on 18 January 2017 entered into an agreement to establish a 50/50 joint venture with the Welbon Group, Hangzhou/China, under the name Winbon Schoeller New Materials Co. Ltd. The joint venture will be focused on production of specialty papers in China. The company is intended to take a leading position in its field in the Asia-Pacific region in the coming years. The joint venture's headquarters are in Longyou in China's Zhejiang province.

Dentons advised Italian manufacturer SAES Getters on a complex, US$40 million joint venture deal with US-based Polyera Corporation and Polyera Taiwan Corporation Limited. The transaction included a cash investment and contribution of intellectual property in Europe, the US and Asia. The joint venture entity will manufacture flexible organic transistors that will enable a variety of innovative applications for display screens.

Addleshaw Goddard has advised a joint venture between Keolis and Amey on the contract to operate and maintain Greater Manchester's Metrolink - the UK's largest light rail network with 37 million passengers using it each year.

The JV partners were awarded the contract, which will run for up to 10 years, following a competitive procurement run by Transport for Greater Manchester.

Vienna, 16 January 2017 - Wolf Theiss has advised as Austrian counsel the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) on a joint venture between QIA and BRF, the Brazilian food manufacturer, to acquire a 79.5% stake in Banvit Bandirma Vitaminli Yem Sanayii A.S., a leading Turkey-based poultry company. QIA will hold 40% in the Austrian joint venture company and BRF 60%. This acquisition will be followed by a mandatory tender offer for the remaining 20.5%.

Law firm Stephenson Harwood LLP has advised Circle Health on a joint venture with VAMED Management und Service GmbH to provide rehabilitation services in the UK.

The joint venture company, Circle Rehabilitation Services Limited, will provide a new model of specialised, in-patient and out-patient rehabilitation services. The company plans to roll out a number of facilities in the UK beginning in Q1 2017 with an initial project at CircleReading Hospital in Berkshire.

McDermott Will & Emery advised French-based Servier, an international pharmaceutical company, in its strategic immuno-oncology co-development alliance with Pieris Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, allowing both companies to bring innovative solutions to cancer patients.

McDermott Will & Emery advised French-based Servier, an international pharmaceutical company, in its license option agreement with OSE Immunotherapeutics on the exclusive worldwide rights for the development and commercialization of the Effi-7 product. Effi-7 is a monoclonal immunomodulatory antibody.

Anokion located in Lausanne and Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ:CELG) partnered to use Anokion's biotech immune tolerizing platform to develop therapies for autoimmune diseases. Anokion received a $45 m upfront payment and is eligible to receive a future payment of an additional $10 m based on certain preclinical development achievements. As part of the strategic collaboration agreement, Celgene obtained an equity interest in Anokion and the exclusive right to acquire Anokion at pre-specified option exercise points.