Direct Energie, third largest gas and power supplier in France and active in Belgium under the Poweo brand, has acquired the entire share capital of Marcinelle Energie which owns and operates a 400MW combined cycle gas turbine near Charleroi.

The plant has been built in 2012. This acquisition will improve the sourcing conditions of Direct Energie’s customer both in France and Belgium. On this transaction, Direct Energie was assisted by the Paris office of Bredin Prat and by the Brussels office of Stibbe with respect to Belgium law matters.

On December 18, 2016, Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, Canada (Fairfax) announced that it entered into a merger agreement with Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, AG (Allied World), a company incorporated in Switzerland with shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Pursuant to the merger agreement, Fairfax will make a tender offer for all of the outstanding registered ordinary shares of Allied World.

DLA Piper represented Cimpress N.V. (Nasdaq:CMPR), the world leader in mass customization, in its agreement to acquire National Pen Co. LLC, a leading manufacturer and marketer of custom writing instruments for small and medium businesses, for US$218 million in cash. The acquisition was finalized today.

Paul, Weiss represented PMHC II, Inc., the parent company of Prince International Corporation and a portfolio company of funds affiliated with Palladium Equity Partners, LLC, in the completion of its previously announced acquisition of the Erachem Manganese Chemicals business of ERAMET Group, a French mining and metallurgical company for $193 million.

On December 29, 2016, gategroup Holding AG (gategroup), Kloten, Switzerland (SIX: GATE), announced that it will acquire control over Servair as of 1 January 2017, stepping into the transaction entered into between Air France and HNA Group (HNA) following the successful takeover of gategroup by HNA. Servair is the leading French and African operator in the airline catering and cleaning business.

Jones Day is advising TDK Corporation in its $1.3 billion acquisition of InvenSense, Inc. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies. Completion of the transaction is expected in the second quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018, and is subject to approvals by InvenSense shareholders and the relevant regulatory authorities. The acquisition will be completed through a merger of a newly created subsidiary of TDK with and into InvenSense, with InvenSense continuing following the merger as a wholly-owned subsidiary of TDK.

Gleiss Lutz has advised Enterex International Limited, a Taiwan listed company, on the takeover of the AVA Group from Haugg-Kühlerfabrik GmbH. AVA is the Haugg Group’s distribution network as well as the brand under which the extensive range of engine and vehicle cooling systems are sold. The product portfolio includes cooling radiators, condensers, intercoolers,  heaters, compressors, fans, dryers, evaporators and valves. AVA has companies in the Netherlands, France, Italy, the UK, Denmark and Austria.

Noerr has advised US media company A+E Networks on the takeover of NBCUniversal’s share in the company A+E Networks Deutschland, which it has up to now run jointly with NBCUniversal. A+E Networks and NBCUniversal originally founded the successful German joint venture company twelve years ago.

Houthoff Buruma advised Sligro Food Group Nederland on the acquisition of Tintelingen B.V. Sligro is - next to its food retail and food service business - one of the leading sellers of traditional Christmas gift boxes in the Netherlands. The addition of Tintelingen enables Sligro to expand its assortment with online Christmas gift boxes.

Houthoff Buruma team included: Guillette van Grinsven , Loes Stevens , Michiel Pannekoek

Baker McKenzie represents and advises Amundi, one of the largest European asset managers, in relation to its acquisition of Pioneer Investments, a global asset manager with a strong focus on insurance-linked securities and assets.

The Baker McKenzie team advising Amundi comprises Prague-based partner Libor Basl, who leads the team, and Prague-based associate David Reiterman.

The Prague team advises on due diligence of Czech Pioneer entities and on subsequent regulatory filings with the Czech National Bank.