Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is advising Ziggo NV, the biggest cable operator in the Netherlands, on the public offer by Liberty Global Plc to acquire Ziggo NV in a stock and cash transaction, valuing Ziggo’s enterprise value at approximately €10.0 billion.

The combination will create a world leader in the cable industry sector. The transaction will be recommended by the boards of Ziggo and will be subject to customary commencement and offer conditions.

Mayer Brown represented private equity firm The Jordan Company on the sale of Haas Group Inc., a fully integrated provider of outsourced chemical supply chain management solutions, to Wesco Aircraft Holdings, Inc. for $550 million. Haas is a portfolio company of The Resolute Fund, L.P., an affiliate of The Jordan Company. Wesco is a leading provider of supply chain management services to the global aerospace industry.

Weil is representing Earthbound Farm, one of the country's leading organic food brands, in its acquisition by The WhiteWave Foods Company, a leading consumer packaged food and beverage company in North America and Europe, from its existing shareholders led by Kainos Capital and founders Drew and Myra Goodman. The transaction is valued at approximately $600 million.

Mayer Brown has advised GA Europe, the retail restructuring specialist, on the sale of multichannel footwear specialist Shoon, to Ken Bartle and Peter Phillips. Mayer Brown also advised GA Europe when they supported a buy-out by Shoon’s management team out of administration in May 2012, providing funding for working capital, as well as taking a direct stake in the equity.

Bartle and Phillips have now acquired all of GA’s interest in Shoon, including its debt.

The Leeds office of Irwin Mitchell has advised on the management buy-out at Leicestershire-based JPD Contracts (UK).  Established in 2003, JPD supplies and installs kitchen appliances to builders and developers. The £10m turnover business has been bought by its  managing director, John Evans, following the retirement of the company’s founder and chairman, John Beckingham.
   
Corporate partner Paul Johnson and associate Sandip Khroud from Irwin Mitchell in Leeds  advised on the deal.

Norton Rose Fulbright has advised long-standing client F&C Asset Management plc (F&C) in connection with a recommended £708 million cash acquisition by BMO Global Asset Management (Europe) Limited (BMO Europe). BMO Europe is a wholly–owned subsidiary of the Bank of Montreal. The proposed acquisition was announced on 28 January 2014 and is to be effected by means of a Scheme of Arrangement.

Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised German DAX30 company Merck KGaA on the sale of its Discovery and Development Solutions (DDS) business to Luxembourg's Eurofins Scientific.

DDS is part of Merck Millipore, the Life Science division of Merck KGaA, and will operate under the name Eurofins Pharma BioAnalytical Services following the completion of the transaction, which is subject to standard closing conditions. The parties agreed to keep the purchase price confidential.

Slaughter and May advised private equity owners Irving Place Capital and Oaktree Capital Management on the disposal to Cerea Partenaire of Chesapeake's former European specialty chemicals plastics business in conjunction with local counsel in France, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

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Kirkland & Ellis advised Gilde Buy Out Partners on the sale of Hofmann Menü Manufaktur group to the existing management team and Partners Group.  Hofmann Menü is a leading German provider of customized cook and freeze products to small business canteens and social organizations such as retirement homes, hospitals and schools. The transaction is subject to approval by the antitrust authorities.
 

Kirkland & Ellis International LLP advised Realtime Technology AG (RTT) and its majority shareholders on the sale of a majority stake to Dassault Systèmes. RTT is one of the leading one-stop providers of high-end software, consulting and creative services in professional, 3D visualization. The group is headquartered in Munich, Germany, with approximately 750 employees and 15 offices worldwide, and is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.