Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP (‘Freshfields’) has advised Swedish hotelier Pandox AB (‘Pandox’) on the successful group reorganisation of the Jurys Inn hotel businesses it acquired with operating partner Fattal Hotels Group (‘Leonardo’) from Lone Star in December 2017.

Slaughter and May is acting for Wonga Group in respect of the decision to place it into administration, along with WDFC UK Limited, Wonga Worldwide Limited and WDFC Services Limited. The Boards of these entities have assessed all options regarding the future of the Group and have concluded that it is appropriate to place the businesses into administration.

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Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner contentious construction and engineering partner Catherine Gelder has left the firm’s London office to join CMS—the third partner resignation from the London base this month.

Gelder, who had been a partner at legacy Berwin Leighton Paisner since 2012, had spent her entire career at the firm after joining as an associate in 2002.

She was seconded to the Olympic Delivery Authority for a year during 2008-09, where she advised on issues arising out of the £9 billion ($11.72 billion) redevelopment of east London for the London 2012 Olympics.

International law firm McDermott Will & Emery today announced the addition of Charles (Chuck) Moll and Troy Van Dongen in the firm’s San Francisco office and Marcy Jo Mandel in the firm’s Los Angeles office. The trio joins from Winston & Strawn and offers experience successfully representing clients in complex state and local tax controversies in California and throughout the United States.

Morgan Lewis welcomes finance partner Craig A. Wolfe, a lawyer who for 20 years has assisted companies in a wide variety of industries on restructuring-related matters. He arrives from another global firm and will be resident in New York.

Mr. Wolfe represents distressed debtors in formal Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings and out-of-court restructurings. He also represents strategic and financial purchasers in acquiring distressed businesses and specific assets, as well as creditors’ committees in the bankruptcies of businesses across multiple industries.

Xiao Liu has joined the firm as a partner in the Shanghai office. Mr. Liu has deep experience representing Chinese clients in commercial disputes in federal and state courts in the U.S. Among his many successes, he has helped the following Chinese companies achieve dismissals of complaints filed against them in U.S. litigation matters: Weibo, Jumei International, Youku Tudou, AirMedia, VIPShop, NQ Mobile, and ChinaCache. In addition to his commercial litigation practice, Mr. Liu represents Chinese companies and citizens in U.S.

International law firm Pinsent Masons has strengthened its tax advisory practice with the appointment of Peter Morley to the firms’ Non-Contentious Tax team in Leeds, which delivers high-end tax advisory work across Leeds, London and Glasgow.

Peter joins from Squire Patton Boggs where he was a partner in the corporate tax advisory team. As a tax partner specialising corporate and property tax, Peter has extensive experience advising on the tax aspects of mergers and acquisitions, reorganisations and restructuring, joint ventures, and employment taxes.

Eversheds Sutherland has announced the appointment of Cedric Lam as a Partner in the corporate team and Head of Intellectual Property, Greater China.

Cedric is an esteemed intellectual property lawyer with a focus on advising multinational corporations across numerous sectors in acquiring and maintaining IP rights and implementing IP protection and licensing strategies, as well as counselling private equity and venture capital firms on IP investments in Greater China. Prior to joining Eversheds Sutherland he was a Partner with another leading international firm.

Paris – Paul Hastings LLP, a leading global law firm, announced today that it has advised the shareholders of Skill & You (21 Centrale Partners, Access Capital Partners, Jolt Capital, Alma Learning Group, and Capital Transmission and the management team led by Eric Petco and Sonia Levy-Odier) in connection with the LBO of the group by Andera Partners, alongside Omnes Capital as minority co-investor. LGT European Capital has provided a unitranche financing to support this acquisition.

Shearman & Sterling advised the lenders on the refinancing and recapitalization of Ipsen, a portfolio company of Quadriga Capital. The financing was structured as a unitranche, provided by funds advised by Barings Global Advisers, in combination with a super senior revolving credit facility and a guarantee facility, both provided by ABN AMRO and HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt.