International law firm Taylor Wessing has expanded in Brussels with the hire of Christian Dekoninck as partner.

Christian will head the firm's office in Brussels. He specialises in patent litigation and is recognised for his expertise in trade marks. He is joined by Marie Keup who returns to Taylor Wessing as Counsel from litigation firm Strelia, and Marie-Dominique Van de Gucht who joins as a paralegal.

Operating in French, Dutch and English, the office provides capability in intellectual property, trade marks, copyright, design, patents, competition and trade.

Squire Patton Boggs is pleased to announce that Jefferson P. VanderWolk has joined the firm as a partner in the Tax Strategy & Benefits Practice in the Washington DC office. Mr. VanderWolk has extensive experience in private practice and government and agency work, most recently as Head of the Tax Treaty, Transfer Pricing and Financial Transactions Division at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Centre for Tax Policy and Administration in Paris.

Baker McKenzie acted as lead legal counsel to Thor Industries, Inc. (“Thor”, NYSE:THO), a leading manufacturer of recreational vehicles, in connection with its €2.1 billion (enterprise value) acquisition of Germany-based Erwin Hymer Group, a leading European manufacturer of recreational vehicles. The combination will create the world’s largest RV manufacturer, with the leading position in both North America and Europe, and establishes a global sales and production footprint for the Company.
 

On September 18, 2018, the shareholders of Erwin Hymer Group SE (“Erwin Hymer Group”) and Thor Industries, Inc. (“Thor”) announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for Thor to acquire Erwin Hymer Group, a privately held international company, for an enterprise value of approximately €2.1 billion. The combination creates the world’s largest RV manufacturer, with the leading position in both North America and Europe, and establishes a global sales and production footprint.

China Reinsurance (Group) Corporation (“China Re”) has entered into definitive agreement to acquire Chaucer from the Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) for US$865 million. This transaction will enable China Re to thrive and prosper and will enhance the company’s international presence and capabilities in serving the belt and road initiative in the global market place. Sidley represented China Re in the transaction.

Clifford Chanced acted for 174 Power Global, an affiliate of the Hanwha Group, as sponsor in the project financing for Laguna Solar, a 101 MW solar photovoltaic plant in Matamoros, Coahuila, Mexico.

The $74m facility was provided by Bancomext and the Korea Development Bank.

Partner Fabricio Longhin led the Firm's team, which included senior associate Alberto Haito and associates Alan Sakar Azuara and Eli Keene.

Global law firm Clyde & Co advised a Swiss investment fund Jacobs Holding AG on its recently announced acquisition of the Cognita global private schools group from KKR and Bregal. The deal is Jacobs Holding’s biggest UK takeover to date and is the largest global education transaction since Nord Anglia’s acquisition and take private last year.

Cognita is a global education group that operates 70 schools in eight countries, including the UK, Spain, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam, Brazil and Chile, educating more than 40,000 children worldwide.

International legal practice Osborne Clarke advised the shareholders of Ninja Theory on its sale to Microsoft, as announced at E3 this year.

The BAFTA award-winning studio prides itself on pushing the boundaries of technology, art and design to create exciting video game experiences. This transformative deal is designed to empower the Ninja Theory team to go even further with their ambition, with the full support of Microsoft behind them.

Osborne Clarke has advised Usercentrics, on a multi-million euro growth financing round. The investment is led by Cavalry Ventures and Reimann Investors who invest together with other well-known business angels like Kai Seefeldt (Producsup), Axel Täubert (Google/DoubleClick) and Jens Lapinski (Angel Invest Ventures).

In May 2018, the first new energy project in Europe, jointly developed by Shanghai Electric Power Co., Ltd. (Shanghai Electric Power) and Malta Government, namely Mozura Wind Power Project in Montenegro (the project), has successfully completed financing. King& Wood Mallesons advised Shanghai Electric Power by providing comprehensive legal services in banking finance, regarding the financing by the Bank-led consortium ("Syndicate") on the project.