On 5 January, SCPG Commercial Real Estate Co., Ltd. (“SCPG”) announced that SCPG, China Vanke Co., Ltd (“Vanke”) and Triwater Asset Management Holdings Limited (“Triwater”), through their respective wholly-owned subsidiaries, have reached an agreement with CapitaLand Mall Asia Limited (“CMA”), a wholly owned subsidiary of CapitaLand Limited (“CapitaLand”), to jointly acquire 100% equity and take over corresponding loans of 20 shopping malls at the price of RMB 8.365 billion.

King & Wood Mallesons advised Thing On Enterprise Limited (Thing On, Stock Code 2292) as its Hong Kong counsel on its global offering and initial public offering (IPO) on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The IPO comprised an issue of a total of 180 million shares being priced at HK$1.24 per share, raising gross proceeds of approximately HK$223 million (before the exercise of the over-allotment option).

International law firm Taylor Wessing has advised Inflexion Private Equity on its buyout of Alston Elliot, the data-driven live sports broadcast graphics solutions provider. The capital investment will allow Alston Elliot to continue its expansion into new markets, and Inflexion will leverage its in-house digital expertise to help Alston Elliot build out valuable new innovations for its customers.

Taylor Wessing partner James Goold, who led on the transaction with support from senior associate Suzy Penney and associate Jerome Kennedy said:

Ashurst advised Aberdeen Asset Management Deutschland AG (Aberdeen) on the acquisition of the residential project "Wohnen im Brühl" in the German city of Erfurt. Seller of the project which will offer 50 apartments and 60 underground parking spaces on Bonemilchstraße in Erfurt’s Brühlervorstadt district is the Erfurt-based Dr. Ullrich Real Estate GmbH who will also take care of leasing the units adding up to about 4,650 square metres. Dr. Ullrich Real Estate GmbH wants to start construction this summer. Completion is scheduled for Q3 of 2020.

A team of energy sector experts from Burges Salmon have advised Battery Energy Storage Solutions Ltd (BESS) on a deal to secure £28.5 million of debt funding from Santander Corporate and Commercial.

Burges Salmon has advised the WPP on its procurement of an operator to establish and run a collective investment vehicle for the use of the LGPS funds in Wales.

Charles Russell Speechlys is delighted to have advised the shareholders of British luxury furniture brand OKA on the sale of the company to the Italian owner of Aston Martin, Investindustrial. OKA, co-founded by Lady Annabel Astor and designers Sue Jones and Lucinda Waterhouse as a mail-order business has expanded over 20 years and now has 14 shops across the UK.

Annabel Astor commented on the Charles Russell Speechlys team as follows: “Thank you all for the hard work, long hours and a very speedy result!”

Leading international law firm Clifford Chance advised the investors on Toshiba's US$5.4 billion (JPY600 billion) share placement, which closed on 5 December 2017. The significant equity transaction involved a placement of new shares in the Japanese company to 60 fund investors located outside Japan.

Cologne – Venture capital investor Endeit Capital has taken a stake in Chronext AG, an up-and-coming online portal for luxury watches.

A cross-border team led by Dr Malte Bruhns and Dr Stephan Werlen advised Endeit Capital on legal aspects of the transaction. Alongside Endeit Capital and Tengelmann Ventures, the existing investors – which include Partech Ventures, Capnamic Ventures and Octopus Ventures – also took part in the round of financing, which raised a total of USD 34 million.

CMS has acted for Endeit Capital several times in the past.

An international CMS team of German, Dutch and Luxembourg lawyers led by Partner Dr. Holger Kraft (CMS Germany, Energy) and Cecilia van der Weijden (CMS The Netherlands, Energy) has provided Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, with comprehensive legal advice with regards to the acquisition (on behalf of its clients) of a substantial interest in the Dutch company owning the project rights for the offshore windfarm 'Borssele III/IV'.