The Freshfields team advising Aberdeen was led by corporate partners Julian Long and Claire Wills and senior associate Keir MacLennan.

After having assisted French banking group Crédit Mutuel Arkéa in relation to its acquisition of all of Belgian online banking leader Keytrade Bank’s activities, including in Switzerland, which became effective in June 2016, Walder Wyss Ltd. assisted Crédit Mutuel Arkéa in relation to the merger by absorption of Keytrade Bank SA, Brussels (seat of the Swiss registered and FINMA licenced branch STRATEO) by Arkéa Direct Bank SA (previously Fortuneo SA), which became effective on 3 November 2016.

Slaughter and May, working alongside the Standard Life in-house legal team, is advising Standard Life plc (Standard Life), on the recommended all-share merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management (Aberdeen) to be effected by means of a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement (the Merger). The Merger is conditional upon regulatory and antitrust clearances and shareholder approvals.

Ashurst has been advising leading international waste-to-product company Renewi plc (formerly Shanks Group plc) ("Renewi") on its €497 million merger with Benelux recycler Van Gansewinkel Groep B.V. ("VGG"), which completed on 28 February 2017. Upon completion, Renewi's ordinary shares were also re-admitted to the premium listing segment of the Official List and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities.

Gleiss Lutz is advising leading German full-service digital agency SinnerSchrader Aktieng-esellschaft (“SinnerSchrader”) in connection with the acquisition of a majority stake by Accenture Digital Holdings GmbH (“Accenture”), a member of the Accenture Group, the con-clusion of a business combination agreement, and the next steps in the takeover process. SinnerSchrader’s shares are traded in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Premier global law firm Baker & McKenzie has advised SIX Swiss Exchange listed Walter Meier AG, a Swiss heating and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) distributor on its de facto merger with Tobler Haustechnik AG (held by UK listed Wolseley Overseas Ltd.). Tobler owners Wolseley have agreed to contribute all shares in Tobler against 39.2 per cent of Walter Meier shares and a cash consideration of SFr118m (£94m).

Kyiv, Warsaw, 25 January 2017 – The leading Chinese IT solutions and services provider AUTOMATED SYSTEMS HOLDINGS LIMITED is to merge with the U.S. based Grid Dynamics, Inc.

The Ukrainian and Polish offices of Wolf Theiss, together with the U.S. law firm Morgan Lewis, advised Hong Kong based Automated Systems Holdings Limited (ASL) in the transaction. The parties have signed a merger agreement and plan to close in March 2017.

Weil is advising the Transaction Committee of the Board of Directors of Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) in RAI’s merger agreement with British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT) under which BAT will acquire the 57.8% of RAI it does not currently own for a reported $49 billion. RAI is the parent company of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, the second-largest U.S. tobacco company whose brands include Newport, Camel and Pall Mall. BAT is a global tobacco group with brands sold in more than 200 markets. The merger would create the world’s largest publicly traded tobacco business.

Merger creates a global leader in oil and gas projects that will enhance the performance of the world’s energy industry.

TechnipFMC (NYSE and Euronext: FTI) has announced that it is operating as a unified, combined company following completion of the merger of FMC Technologies and Technip. The merger creates a global leader in oil and gas projects, technologies, systems, and services that will enhance the performance of the world’s energy industry.

Davis Polk advised Technip S.A. on the closing of its combination with FMC Technologies, Inc. The transaction to form TechnipFMC plc, the new U.K. combined entity, was implemented through a European cross-border merger and a U.S. reverse triangular merger. Technip shareholders received two shares of TechnipFMC for each share of Technip, and FMC Technologies shareholders received one share of TechnipFMC for each share of FMC Technologies.