Houthoff Buruma advised, together with Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in connection with the dissolution of its global alliance with Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.

Houthoff Buruma team included: Paul de Vries

William Fry are advising Hammerson and Allianz Real Estate on its joint venture to acquire the Project Jewel loan portfolio from NAMA for €1.85bn, anchored by Ireland’s largest shopping centre, the 1.5m sq ft Dundrum Town Centre.  Under the joint venture agreement, Hammerson and Allianz have each acquired a 50% stake in Dundrum Town Centre and Dundrum Phase 2, which has lapsed planning consent for 1.1m sq ft of retail space. Hammerson will act as asset and development manager.

Herbert Smith Freehills has advised long standing client Hammerson plc in connection with the formation of a new joint venture with Allianz Real Estate Germany. The joint venture has exchanged contracts with the Irish National Asset Management Agency, following a competitive bidding process, to acquire a €2.6bn portfolio of loans for €1.85 bn. The loans are secured against market-leading retail property assets in Dublin, Ireland, which includes Dundrum Town Centre, Ireland’s pre-eminent shopping and leisure destination.

Clifford Chance advised ICBC Leasing, a subsidiary of China's largest bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, on a joint venture with shipping company Bernhard Schulte Group, Hamburg, Germany.

The company's particular focus lies on the production of special vessels. The object of the joint venture is the operation of offshore wind farm vessels in the North Sea. The German antitrust authorities (Bundeskartellamt) have already granted the required clearance for this joint venture.

The two media groups Ringier and Axel Springer create a further joint-venture in which each will hold an equal stake. Ringier will contribute all its magazine publications in German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland, along with their online offerings and Le Temps, the quality daily newspaper published in French-speaking Switzerland, and Axel Springer Switzerland will contribute all of its Swiss business to the new company. The following titles will be among others encompassed within the portfolio of the planned new joint venture.

DLA Piper has advised German shipping company Bernhard Schulte Group on the structuring of a joint venture with ICBC Leasing, a subsidiary of China's largest bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. The object of the joint venture is the operation of offshore wind farm vessels in the North Sea.

Heineken has announced a joint venture with distributor of brands CFAO under the name of ‘Brassivoire’ in Cote d’Ivoire, to produce beer in the country. This new entity is owned 51% by Heineken and 49% by CFAO.

The new brewery will incorporate the very newest technologies and be located in the new PK24 industrial zone to the north of the city of Abidjan.  The two partners have invested around €150m into the venture.

Allen & Overy LLP advises Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), the largest oil and energy group worldwide, on the establishment of a joint venture in the synthetic rubber segment. Saudi Aramco will hold a 50% stake in the joint venture company with specialty chemicals company Lanxess contributing its business divisions Tire & Speciality Rubbers and High Performance Elastomers.

The two media groups Axel Springer and Ringier are founding a new joint venture company in which each will hold an equal stake. A letter of intent for this purpose had already been signed in December 2014. Axel Springer Switzerland will contribute to the new joint venture company the entire Swiss business of Axel Springer SE, and Ringier will contribute all its publications in the German speaking and French speaking part of Switzerland, together with their online offerings and Le Temps, the quality daily newspaper published in the French speaking part of Switzerland.

Clifford Chance advised Masen (Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy) in connection with the negotiation of agreements aiming at putting in place a strategic partnership with the French industrial group Alcen and the Atomic Energy and Sustainable Energies Commission (CEA).