WBD has advised South Tees Development Corporation (STDC), the first mayoral development corporation established outside of London, on over half of the developable land on the wider Redcar steelworks site. Tees Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen, formally signed off the deal yesterday (21 February).

Gilbert + Tobin have acted as advisers to Commonwealth Bank of Australia and United Overseas Bank Limited, Sydney Branch as Mandated Lead Arrangers and Underwriters for the A$604 million debt facility in order to fund the acquisition of the Ixom Group by the Keppel Infrastructure Trust from Blackstone.

The transaction and documentation was structured to provide for the significant transactional banking needs of the Ixom Group’s global business, with those arrangements sitting alongside the acquisition debt in the structure.

Supported by a team led by Dr. Peter Vocke, Partner at Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek’s Düsseldorf office, Silverlake Real Estate Group acquired the office building at Ben-Gurion-Ring 174 in Frankfurt, a former SEB branch. With the acquisition of the building, Silverlake is implementing its intended market entry in Frankfurt.

Following the standard listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange in May, publically listed client Predator Oil & Gas Holdings (Predator) have announced that they have issued a convertible loan note instrument to Arato Global Opportunities LLC (the Lender). The net proceeds of the loan notes will be used to fund a returnable bank guarantee to be put in place in relation to their exclusive licence for hydrocarbon exploration and appraisal onshore northern Morocco by the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM) .

Leading international law firm Clifford Chance has advised multinational investment bank and financial services company Barclays on the financing for the AU$1.7 billion acquisition by EG Group of Woolworths' petrol stations.
The deal represents UK-based EG Group's first significant entry into Australia. The financing was arranged by Barclays as "lead left", with Deutsche Bank and UBS acting as the other arrangers and lead managers.

Allen & Overy is advising Scout24 AG (Scout24), a leading operator of digital marketplaces specialising in the real estate and automotive sectors in Germany and other European countries, in connection with the announcement of a voluntary public takeover offer by a holding company which is controlled jointly by funds that are in turn advised by Hellman & Friedman LLC (H&F) and group companies of Blackstone Group L.P. (Blackstone) as well as in connection with the conclusion of an investment agreement.

Taylor Wessing has advised the world’s leading online travel deals company, Secret Escapes Group, on its acquisition of Empathy Marketing Limited, Ireland’s leading marketplace for premium hospitality and e-commerce offers.

The acquisition will see Secret Escapes Group expand its operations in Ireland. It follows a number of other acquisitions across Europe, including most recently the assets and activities of Amsterdam-based TravelBird, on which Taylor Wessing also advised.

The British-Japanese agency group Dentsu Aegis Network has acquired a majority stake in Videobeat Networks GmbH, a full-service agency with offices in Hamburg, Berlin, London, Paris and New York that produces and manages data-driven, cross-platform TV and online video campaigns. In addition to strategic consulting and media purchasing, the agency also handles the creation and platform-specific production of moving image content for its clients.

International law firm Proskauer has announced the arrival of Alexanrda Stocki as a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department, resident in the Paris office.

“We are pleased to welcome Alexandra to Proskauer,” said Yasmine Tarasewicz, partner and co-head of the French & EU Employment Group. “Her expertise and client base provide perfect synergies with our Firm, while her business acumen and strategic strength will reinforce our ability to advise clients on complex restructurings.”

Continuing a string of notable hires in New York, Pillsbury has further strengthened its M&A and Private Equity offerings with the addition of two more talented dealmakers, Jarrod D. Murphy and Ted Powers III. Murphy, previously at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, comes to Pillsbury as a partner. Powers joins as special counsel from Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.