August 2014 — A global team of Bingham lawyers represented Hitachi Metals Ltd. as it agreed to acquire Wisconsin-based Waupaca Foundry Inc. from KPS Capital Partners LP for $1.3 billion. Waupaca has six foundries in the United States and is the world’s largest supplier of iron castings for automotive and industrial use.
Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Dimension Data Australia in relation to its proposed acquisition of Oakton Limited (Oakton) by way of scheme arrangement for A$171 million.
Dimension Data is an ICT services provider owned by Japan’s Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT). Its acquisition of Oakton, a technology and consulting services company, will significantly expand Dimension Data’s presence in Australia and allow it to provide the type of end-to-end solutions that its clients are seeking.
Reed Smith has advised leading international specialty pharma company Meda on its acquisition of Rottapharm | Madaus (Rottapharm) for a consideration of €2.275 billion. Rottapharm is a branded specialty pharma company based in Italy and owned by the Rovati family.
The deal is expected to close in Q4 2014 following customary competition approvals. Following completion of the transaction, the Rovati family will own 9% of Meda.
John Wilkinson, Reed Smith life sciences partner, commented:
Norton Rose Fulbright has acted for Exxaro Resources Limited (Exxaro) in its USD472million acquisition of Total Coal South Africa (Pty) Ltd (TCSA) from Total S.A.
On 25 July 2014 Exxaro entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Total S.A. to acquire 100 per cent of the issued share capital in TCSA.
Norton Rose Fulbright advised on all South African law aspects of the transaction, providing integrated advice across six practice areas – corporate, mining (regulatory), tax, competition, environmental and employment.
The Cutrale Group and the Safra Group proposed to acquire all of the outstanding stock of Chiquita Brands Inc. at a price of $13.00 per share in cash to Chiquita shareholders, valuing Chiquita at approximately $1.2 billion including debt. Cravath is representing the Cutrale Group and the Safra Group in connection with this transaction. Chiquita Brands and Fyffes plc previously entered into a definitive agreement under which Chiquita would combine with Fyffes in a stock-for-stock transaction.
Weil is advising Kinder Morgan, Inc. (KMI) in its acquisition of all the outstanding equity securities of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMP), Kinder Morgan Management (KMR) and El Paso Pipeline Partners (EPB).
The transaction is valued at approximately $70 billion and is expected to close by year end.
The KMI team includes General Counsel Dave DeVeau and in house counsel Adam Forman, Angela Teer and Eric McCord.
Norton Rose Fulbright has advised China's largest privately owned corporation, Fosun International Limited (Fosun), on the $489 million takeover of ASX listed ROC Oil Company Limited (ROC).
The deal, announced on 4 August 2014, involved lawyers from our Melbourne, Shanghai, Perth, Hong Kong, Singapore, Jakarta and London offices.
Herbert Smith Freehills has taken the lead in advising Hong Kong-based and-listed energy and resources company Brightoil Petroleum (Holdings) Limited on its successful US$1.1 billion cash acquisition of Kerr-McGee China Petroleum Ltd., the China unit of Texas-based Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, one of the world’s biggest independent exploration and production companies.
Dentons advised Finatem Beteiligungsgesellschaft on the acquisition of lichtbasis meissner – spahn gmbh. The purchase was effected including a reinvestment of the previous shareholders/management and, therefore, is at the same time a management and owner buy-out. The transaction was carried out through a financing provided by BHF-Bank AG. The parties agreed not to disclose the volume of the transaction.
Shoosmiths' corporate team in Manchester has acted for Chase Templeton on a trio of acquisitions which will take premium income at the insurer to over £100 million and turnover to more than £13 million.
The Lancashire-based private medical insurance company, which is backed by Manchester's Palatine Private Equity, has acquired 23 businesses and books since January 2013, all advised by the corporate team at Shoosmiths.