Squire Patton Boggs has acted for the senior executive team and employee shareholders of QM Advisory Limited, the parent company of Quayle Munro Limited (Quayle Munro), in the sale of 100% of the issued share capital of Quayle Munro to a subsidiary of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI). The transaction is conditional on FCA approval.

Osborne Clarke has advised British entrepreneur and businessman, Jamie Waller, and his investment vehicle, on an investment into the car retail business of webuycarstoday.co.uk.

Jamie’s investment vehicle acquired a 45 per cent stake and he will join the business as a non-executive Chairman. The investment will enable the business to further develop its software solutions and enhance its vehicle buying capabilities.

Macfarlanes has advised Quayle Munro, an independent firm that provides corporate finance advisory services to companies underpinned by data & analytics, content, software and services, on its acquisition by Houlihan Lokey, Inc., a global investment bank with expertise in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, financial restructuring, valuation and strategic consulting.

Macfarlanes has advised Twenty14 Holdings, the hospitality investment arm of Abu Dhabi-based conglomerate Lulu Group International, on the £85m acquisition of The Caledonian, a Hilton owned and Waldorf Astoria branded hotel in central Edinburgh.

Twenty14 Holdings has a strategy of investing in profitable luxury sites while preserving their historical legacy and plans to invest an additional £20m sensitively renovating and expanding the hotel by a further 50 rooms over the next few years. 

Hill Dickinson’s Manchester corporate team has advised Waterland Private Equity on a multi-million pound investment in Gas Tag, the pioneering technology company.

The deal, which values Gas Tag at well in excess of £20 million, will enable the Liverpool-headquartered business to continue to scale up rapidly both within the UK and internationally.

In return for the investment, Waterland will gain a minority stake and two of its senior team will join the board of the company.

Mayer Brown JSM represented both Standard Chartered APR and Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) on the divestment of all 154 million of their shares in Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), one of Vietnam’s largest private sector banks. These shares represent 15% of ACB’s capital.

Standard Chartered APR sold 8.75% of ACB’s capital (approximately 90 million shares) to Estes Investment Ltd and Sather Gate Investment, while Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) sold its 6.25% stake (or 64 million shares) to Boardwalk South, Whistler Investment and Estes Investment.

Baker McKenzie has advised Ledger, one of the world leaders in Blockchain and in bitcoin and cryptocurrency security, as part of its fundraising operation involving several French and international funds.

Pfäffikon (Switzerland)/Frankfurt, Jan. 18, 2018 – A Bryan Cave M&A team, led by Frankfurt Office Managing Partner Tobias Fenck, recently advised Altano Group, a corporation of the Swiss holding company Ufenau Capital Partners, on the acquisition of Tierärztliche Klinik für Pferde Großwallstadt. As one of the leading horse clinic operators, Altano Group will strengthen its presence in the Rhine-Main area through this acquisition. This is one of three acquisitions by Altano in the last six months.

In January 2018, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd (“BTMU”) issued RMB 1 billion panda bonds (the “Bonds”) through private placement in China. The Bonds have a coupon rate of 5.3 per cent, with a three-year tenor.

Berlin, January 18, 2018 – Greenberg Traurig Germany advised Quest Investment Partners (Quest) on the acquisition of the “Lenzhaus” office property in Berlin. It was sold by Barings Real Estate Advisers, who had acquired the property for an individual fund of a German pension fund in 2015. The parties agreed to keep the purchase price confidential.