Clyde & Co has advised Liberty House, the industrial arm of the GFG Alliance, on its binding offer for Rio Tinto’s aluminium smelter, the largest in Europe, in Dunkirk, France.

If successful, Liberty House's binding offer to acquire the French smelter from Rio Tinto would form GFG’s first significant step into continental Europe. The offer triggers a statutory consultation with employees and other stakeholders.

Dentons advised Mediterrania Capital Partners on the acquisition, through its third fund (MC III) alongside DEG, Proparco and South Suez, of a stake in Travaux Généraux de Construction de Casablanca (TGCC) for an amount of €55 million. The investment is aimed at supporting the company’s expansion plans based on the growth trends in the construction sector in Morocco and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Dentons successfully represented Stadler Poland, leading manufacturer of rolling stock in two key public tender procedures with a combined value of more than EU600 million.

Dentons' Real Estate team in Warsaw has advised Skanska on the sale of the first two buildings of the High5ive office complex in Krakow, Poland to Niam.

The transaction was signed in December 2017, with the transfer of the property scheduled for the second quarter of 2018.

The completion of both buildings is scheduled for the first and second quarters of 2018. In total, they will offer 23,400 sq.m. of leasable space.

Dentons has advised HSBC Bank plc on c. EU635 million of real estate finance investment facilities to Chariot Top Group BV, a special purpose vehicle incorporated in the Netherlands and owned by an equity consortium including, amongst others, funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. and Redefine Properties, to acquire a retail portfolio from Ares Management L.P., AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets and Apollo Rida. The deal is valued at around EU1 billion.

Eversheds Sutherland has advised long-standing client Letterone Treasury Services on the completion of the sale of its Pure Student Living student accommodation portfolio to iQ Student Accommodation (iQ).

The LetterOne group (LetterOne) is a privately owned Luxembourg-based global investment business focused on utilising its financial resources, management and investment expertise to make value-driven investments internationally. Letterone Treasury Services manages the group’s liquidity.

MinterEllison has advised the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute on the sale of 100% of clinical research company Nucleus Network Limited to private equity firm Crescent Capital Partners.

Based in Melbourne, the Nucleus Network is Australia’s leading early phase clinical research facility. It was established in 2003 and employs more than 100 employees, conducting trials for a range of global biotechnology and pharmaceutical clients.

The sale will boost the Victorian and Australian biotechnology and medical research sectors.

The Firm is representing Melrose Industries PLC in connection with its recently announced unilateral offer to acquire GKN plc, the FTSE 100 engineering firm. GKN designs, manufactures and services systems and components for the aerospace, driveline and powder metallurgy industries globally.

Melrose’s £7.4 billion share and cash offer is the largest unilateral bid in the U.K. since 2009. The cash element will be financed through a new debt facility, which will also be used to refinance the existing Melrose and GKN indebtedness.

Berlin – capiton IV GmbH & Co. Beteiligungs KG sells its shares in Kautex Holding GmbH based in Bonn (Germany) to Plastech Beteiligungs GmbH based in Vienna (Austria). The purchaser is an independent industry holding, focusing on investments in the plastic materials sector. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The closing of the transaction is still subject to the approval by the antitrust authorities.

Zurich - FlexLink AB, headquarted in Göteborg (Sweden) announced the acquisition of Swiss factory automation company SSS-Fördertechnik AG (Switzerland) effective 1 January 2018. SSS-Fördertechnik AG will become part of FlexLink AB under the name of FlexLink Switzerland GmbH and will take responsibility for sales in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.