Teams from Bird & Bird, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel and Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier have advised SFR and Bouygues Telecom on setting up pooling of their mobile networks, completed on 31st January with signature of a sharing agreement. The purpose of this agreement is the pooling of the operators’ networks over part of metropolitan France through a Ran Sharing agreement in particular, and creation of ajoint-venture company in charge of managing the shared radio sites.

This historic sharing agreement is the first of its kind in France.

Dechert has advised Belgium-based Ablynx in a research collaboration and licensing agreement announced today with a subsidiary of Merck & Co (known as MSD outside the US and Canada). The collaboration and licensing agreement will focus on the discovery and development of predefined Nanobody candidates to be used in cancer immunotherapies. Ablynx will receive an upfront payment of €20 million and up to €10.7 million during the first three year research term.

Leading global investor Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (together with its affiliates, "KKR") and Hertha BSC GmbH & Co. KGaA have entered a strategic partnership. The long-term investment of EUR 61.2 million under the agreement consists of several components. One of these is the acquisition of a 9.7% minority share in Hertha BSC by KKR. The cooperation will allow for a stepwise deleveraging and the repurchase of rights. By this means, Hertha BSC will sustainably improve its cost and earnings situation, as well as the balance sheet structure of the club.

K&L Gates LLP has advised PUMA, one of the world’s leading brands in the athletic footwear, apparel, and accessory industry, on a five-year partnership deal with Arsenal Football Club to become the official kit partner for the English Premier League club.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges has advised global investment firm The Gores Group on a significant joint venture agreement with Premier Foods to grow their bread business, which includes longstanding UK household brands such as Hovis. This transformative agreement, announced today, involves The Gores Group taking a 51% controlling stake in the joint venture, which will trade under the name of Hovis Limited. The new venture will facilitate a significant increase in investment in the bread business, boosting operational efficiencies and reinvigorating the well-known Hovis brand and heritage.

Mayer Brown acted as special counsel to ArcelorMittal (AM) with respect to its agreement with Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC) to form a joint venture at the closing of their $1.55 billion purchase of a steel processing facility in Alabama from ThyssenKrupp AG. At closing, the joint venture will be formed and owned 50% by each of AM and NSSMC.

A Corporate and Private Equity team advised Spire Capital Partners in its partnership with Grant Evans and the founders of Telekenex, Inc., a provider of Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and hosted communications, security and managed network/IT solutions for small and medium-sized business and enterprise customers. This is the private equity firm’s second investment in Spire III, its newly-launched third fund. The transaction follows on the heels of Spire’s acquisition of Surgent Tax & Accounting Education, a deal on which Dentons also advised.

Slaughter and May is advising Premier Foods plc ('Premier Foods') on a conditional agreement with The Gores Group LLC, a US global investment firm headed by Alec Gores ('The Gores Group'), to operate its bread business (excluding the Charnwood Foods facility in Leicester and a flour mill in Andover) as a stand-alone joint venture which will trade under the name of Hovis Limited.

Clifford Chance has advised EnergieSüdpfalz GmbH and Co. KG on a joint wind energy project with juwi renewable IPP, a subsidiary of juwi Holding AG. The companies will be acting as joint operators of the "Offenbach an der Queich II" wind farm, which is due to come online by the middle of the year. The site is set to produce more than 40 million kWh of electricity each year, which is enough power to meet the needs of almost 14,000 homes in southern Rhineland-Palatinate.

Ashurst has advised Aviva as lead international counsel on the formation of Astra Aviva Life, a 50-50 joint venture between Aviva and PT Astra International Tbk ("Astra") (a member of the Jardine Matheson group) to sell and distribute life insurance products in Indonesia.