Speechly Bircham has advised the Civica Group (an investee company of OMERS Private Equity) on its acquisition of Coldharbour Systems Limited, the care industry software provider.

Coldharbour Systems, based in Bristol, specialises in application software and related services for the UK care sector. It is a respected provider of financial, accounting, staff and care management systems, with more than 160 customers across residential, community, nursery and health care services.

Ashurst has advised Interserve, the international support services and construction group, on its proposed £250 million Class 1 acquisition of Initial Facilities, a facilities service business and subsidiary of Rentokil Initial Plc.

The proposed acquisition will be funded through a new bank facility, together with the net proceeds of a placing of up to 12,897,771 new ordinary shares, representing up to 9.99 per cent of Interserve's existing issued ordinary share capital.

Corporate partner Jonathan Earle commented:

Slaughter and May, Hong Kong, advised Arcadis N.V., the global natural and built asset design and consultancy firm listed in the Netherlands, on the acquisition of the inProjects group and the Genesis group. These groups operate project management, store fitting and sourcing businesses in various jurisdictions across the Asian Pacific region including China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore and Macau.

The acquisition was announced on 03 March 2014.

CONTACTS

Corporate and Commercial: David Watkins (partner), Alana Lam (associate)

Clifford Chance has advised palero invest, Luxembourg, on its acquisition of Vattenfall Europe PowerConsult GmbH (VPC) from the Swedish energy group Vattenfall AB. The closing of the transaction is subject to customary conditions.

Olswang has advised Warner Bros. on its acquisition of Netherlands-based movie and television producer Eyeworks Group.  Warner Bros. entered into an agreement to acquire all Eyeworks' businesses outside the US, in 15 countries across Europe, South America, Australia and New Zealand. The acquisition of Eyeworks is expected to be complete later in 2014, subject to regulatory approvals.

Clifford Chance advises SMA Solar Technology AG (SMA) based in Niestetal (Germany) on the full acquisition of the solar inverter business of Denmark-based Danfoss A/S and an agreement to form a strategic alliance between the two companies. The transaction is subject to clearance by the competent cartel authorities.

Dentons has advised Modern Times Group MTG AB (publ.) (MTG), the international entertainment group, on its agreement to acquire 75% of Trace Partners SAS (Trace), the France-based youth media brand and global TV channel operator. The stake, which is being acquired from Citizen Capital, Entrepreneur Venture, NextStage and Trace's management, has an enterprise value of €40 million. Trace management will retain the remaining 25% of the company. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval by the French media authorities.

Wragge & Co's Corporate and Commercial teams have advised dnata on its acquisition of Gold Medal International Limited from the Thomas Cook group.

Gold Medal is a distributor and retailer of long-haul scheduled flights, hotels and car hire. Based in Preston, it employs approximately 470 people.

DWF has advised FirstService Corporation, one of the world's largest property managers, and its subsidiary, Colliers International, on its acquisition of Briant Champion Long (BCL), one of the UK's leading independent retail property specialists.

BCL will be integrated into the operations of Colliers UK and be led by Managing Partner, Mark Phillipson. This deal builds on the successful acquisition of Colliers International in 2012 and further strengthens Colliers' presence in London, in addition to expanding its international reach.

Hogan Lovells has advised Qatar Insurance Company S.A.Q (QIC) on its acquisition of Antares Holdings Limited, a leading Lloyd's specialist insurer and reinsurer with a particular focus in Property, Casualty, Marine and Aviation underwriting. The transaction signed on 13 February.

QIC is a publicly listed insurer with a market capitalisation in excess of US$ 2.9 billion; and an underwriting footprint across the Middle East, Africa and Asia. QIC is the market leader in Qatar and a dominant insurer in the GCC & MENA region.