Ashurst advised Japanese parking operator Park24 Co., Ltd. ("Park24") and the Development Bank of Japan ("DBJ") on the £312 million acquisition of National Car Parks Limited ("NCP") from Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund II which completed on 3 August.

Following the acquisition, Park24 now operates parking spaces for about 1.2 million cars in eight countries. National Car Parks was founded in 1931 in London and currently operates approximately 500 parking lots for 150,000 spaces in the UK.

Eversheds Sutherland (International) has advised one of the UK’s leading retailers of upholstered furniture, DFS Furniture plc (DFS), on its proposed acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Sofology Limited (Sofology).

Sofology, a specialist retailer with a network of 37 stores in the UK and a strong online presence, will, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, be acquired through a subsidiary of DFS – DFS Furniture Company Limited – for an initial enterprise value of £25m.

Noerr has advised British PE investor Bridgepoint Development Capital on the acquisition of the cruise agency Kreuzfahrtberater.de. Bridgepoint’s portfolio company cruise.co.uk is taking over the internet platform. This makes the new combined company which also includes cruise.uk and seascanner.com the largest cruise travel agency in Europe with cruise sales of approximately €250 million. The founders of Kreuzfahrtberater.de are reinvesting substantially in the joint business and will continue to hold key positions in the leadership team.

Noerr has advised Fosun and its joint venture Nanjing Nangang Iron & Steel United Co. Ltd.  on a strategic acquisition in Germany. Fosun and Nanjing Nangang acquired a majority stake in the automotive supplier Koller.

Hannes Snellman acted as counsel to DUAL Co., Ltd. in its acquisition of 95% stake in Borgstena Group Sweden, the leading Scandinavian automotive textile supplier, from Herenco AB, Pomona-Gruppen AB, and Larsson Industrier i Smalandsstenar AB.                                                         

International legal practice Osborne Clarke has advised Infosys Limited, a global leader in consulting, technology and next-generation services on its acquisition of Brilliant Basics, a London-based product design and customer experience innovator  known for its world-class design thinking-led approach and experience in executing global programs.

DLA Piper has advised Flacks Group on the acquisition of Dorma Beschlagtechnik GmbH, part of the dormakaba Group, one of the top three companies in the global market for access and security solutions. Dorma Beschlagstechnik's line of business concerns the manufacturing of door fittings made of metal and similar materials.

Orrick advised Ardian, the independent private investment company, in its acquisition of a majority stake in imes-icore GmbH, a specialist manufacturer of computer numerical control (CNC) and computer aided design/manufacturing (CAD/CAM) systems.

Baker McKenzie advised Creos Deutschland Holding GmbH on the acquisition of all shares in STEAG Netz GmbH. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

DLA Piper has represented Aetna Inc. (the Company) on the acquisition of Bupa Group’s Thai business, Bupa Thailand, for an undisclosed sum. Aetna is a leading global healthcare provider and this acquisition will significantly increase Aetna’s presence in Asia, and is key to the company’s strategy to go ‘broader and deeper’ into local healthcare markets.