Orrick advised Verdion GmbH on the development of a 100,000 m² logistics center in Werne near Dortmund, Germany. Constructed by BREMER AG, the building was transferred to Amazon at the end of October.

For the project, valued at around €100m, Orrick advised on the property acquisition agreement, the leasing contract with Amazon, the general contractor agreement, further project contracts and the construction phase of the logistics center.

Hamburg – Long-established shipping company John T. Essberger has acquired Crystal Nordic, a Denmark-based operator of 14 chemical tankers. The vendors are Nordic Tankers and Embarcadero Maritime.

A CMS team headed by Dr Christian v. Lenthe and Dr Marc Riede advised John T. Essberger on all legal aspects of the transaction. On the Danish side, CMS Germany cooperated with Danish law firm Kromann Reumert. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Baker McKenzie acted for Afterpay Touch Group on its AUD$20 million placement of shares and convertible notes to strategic investor - Matrix Partners. The funds will be used partly to scope market entry for the Afterpay product in the United States.

Baker McKenzie has advised the Franco-Irish telecom operator, BSO Networks, in the context of its acquisition of Apsara Networks, an American operator specialising in ultra-low latency telecommunications. This type of telecommunication is used by the main American financial centres (NYSE, NASDAQ and CBOT) for high-frequency trading.
 
By integrating Apsara’s wireless technology into its fibre-optics network, BSO consolidates its position as one of the leading operators used by traders. 

Stuttgart - Atlas Copco, a leading provider of sustainable productivity solutions with an annual turnover of approximately 10.6 billion euros in 2016, has agreed to divest its concrete and compaction business to Husqvarna Group’s Construction division.

Hamburg – The Grenzebach Group has sold Ventech Systems GmbH to Goodyear and LJU Automatisierungstechnik GmbH to Conductix-Wampfler GmbH. CMS advised the Grenzebach Group on both transactions via two teams headed by M&A specialists Dr Hilke Herchen and Dr Jacob Siebert.

Hamburg – The Grenzebach Group has sold Ventech Systems GmbH to Goodyear and LJU Automatisierungstechnik GmbH to Conductix-Wampfler GmbH. CMS advised the Grenzebach Group on both transactions via two teams headed by M&A specialists Dr Hilke Herchen and Dr Jacob Siebert.

Baker McKenzie has assisted Caterpillar Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiary Progress Rail, in the acquisition of ECM S.p.A specialized in the technologies for rail signaling.

Baker McKenzie assisted Caterpillar with a team led by partner Alberto Semeria and  with the assistance of associates Anna Marina De Vivo, Arianna Ferri and Mario Cigno.

The Africa team of CMS Francis Lefebvre Avocats advised the NSIA group, a major player in insurance in Sub-Saharan Africa (around 20 life and non-life subsidiaries in more than a dozen African countries) as well as in banking (two banking subsidiaries in Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea), on the takeover of Diamond Bank SA, the Beninese banking subsidiary of the Nigerian Diamond Bank Plc group and its three banks in Senegal, Togo and Côte d’Ivoire (with total assets of more than €600 million).

Baker McKenzie advised the South African Sappi Group, one of the world's leading pulp and paper manufacturers, on the acquisition of Cham Paper Group's specialty paper business. The sale comprises an enterprise value of CHF 146.5 million. Shortly before Christmas, the transaction received antitrust approval in Germany. Approval in Austria was obtained today.