Vinge has advised AniCura in conjunction with its acquisition of the veterinary clinics, Veterinarmottagning i Nasum and its branch in Bromolla, which is located close to Kristianstad. The merger entails that the veterinary clinics have thereby gained a strong partner to assist in their future expansion efforts and at the same time AniCura has strengthened its position in southern Sweden. AniCura is a leader in advanced veterinary care for dogs, cats and other companion animals. The company was founded on the notion of combining resources to provide better veterinary care.

Ashurst advised Chesnara Plc, a UK-based holding company engaged in the management of life and pension books in the UK and Western Europe, on the €67.8 million acquisition of the Waard Group and on a placing of shares by Chesnara. The Netherlands-based Waard Group comprises three insurance companies and a servicing company.

The acquisition will be funded through its own cash together with the placing of 11.5 million new ordinary shares, raising approximately £35 million and representing about 9.99% of the current issued share capital of the group.

IBM has signed an outsourcing agreement with Deutsche Lufthansa under which IBM will acquire Deutsche Lufthansa's IT infrastructure business with approximately 1,400 employees and deliver IT infrastructure services to Deutsche Lufthansa over a term of seven years. The contract volume amounts to approximately €1bn for the entire term.

Noerr LLP has advised UK-based Logicalis Group on the acquisition of Inforsacom, a German IT services and solutions provider. A Noerr team led by the Munich M&A partner Dr. Florian Becker supported Logicalis with this transaction.

Wirecard Group aquired all shares of Amara Technology Africa Proprietary Limited, located in Cape Town, South Africa, including one subsidiary. The Amara Group was founded in 2005 and is sold by a local investor and its founder, who will remain in the management team.

Trowers & Hamlins has advised specialist behavioural health service provider Cambian on its acquisition of Woodleigh Community Care, a specialist care provider for adults with learning disabilities and complex behavioural needs.  The acquisition is Cambian's second since listing on the London Stock Exchange in April 2014.

The acquisition of Woodleigh Community Care brings a number of additional facilities under Cambian's control, including 152 beds across 13 residential homes and supported living units and one hospital in the Yorkshire and Humber region.

The insurance giant’s takeover ranks as the largest deal between two UK companies in the last five years.

Allen & Overy corporate partners David Broadley and Philip Jarvis are advising insurance giant Aviva on its GBP5.6 billion acquisition of life insurance specialist Friends Life Group Limited.

Dechert LLP represented ABAXIS Europe GmbH in its acquisition of 100% of the capital stock of Quality Clinical Reagents Limited (QCR) and Trio Diagnostics (Ireland) Limited (Trio Diagnostics) both headquartered in York, United Kingdom. The sellers consisted of private investors (75%) and Veterinary Solutions Limited (25%), a subsidiary of the United States veterinarian wholesale company Henry Schein, Inc.

Slaughter and May advised Mercer, a part of the Marsh & McLennan Companies group, on Hong Kong legal and regulatory aspects of its transaction to acquire SCM Strategic Capital Management AG (SCM). Slaughter and May worked alongside Niederer Kraft & Frey AG.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised CVC Capital Partners on its agreement to acquire a controlling stake in Sky Betting & Gaming, the online betting and gaming business owned by Sky plc.

The transaction values Sky Bet at £800 million, with Sky receiving £600 million cash on completion, together with further deferred and contingent consideration.