Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW“) advised PNE WIND AG (“PNE“) on the sale of its remaining 20% stake in a 142 MW wind farm portfolio to Allianz Renewable Energy Fund II (“AREF II”), an investment fund managed by Allianz Global Investors GmbH, for €23m. PNE remains responsible for the technical, commercial and operational management of the wind farms in the portfolio.
Paul, Weiss represented Canadian agricultural products and services giant Agrium Inc. in its $36 billion merger of equals with Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan. The merger establishes a new parent company named Nutrien Ltd., which will be the world’s premier provider of crop inputs and services, employing more than 20,000 people across operations in 14 countries.
DLA Piper has advised the commercial REIT alstria office on the sale of an office and business property to Cresco Capital Group, with the purchase price amounting to €44 million. The building, which is located at Eschenheimer Landstrasse 55 in Frankfurt, is let for a remaining period of two years and generates annual revenues of approximately €1.6 million. Alstria expects the transaction to reach its conclusion in the first quarter of 2018.
Slaughter and May advised Marks & Spencer (M&S) on the sale and franchise of its retail business in Hong Kong and Macau to its long-established franchise partner, Al-Futtaim. The sale, which completed on 30 December 2017, sees Al-Futtaim become the new sole franchisee for M&S in Hong Kong and Macau.
The sale follows M&S’s strategic review of its international business in November 2016, where M&S proposed to have a greater focus on its established franchise and joint venture partnerships and operate with fewer wholly-owned markets.
Global law firm White & Case LLP has jointly advised Nomura International plc on Zhejiang Geely Holding Group's (Geely) acquisition of the activist fund Cevian Capital's entire shareholding in AB Volvo, the leading global manufacturer of trucks and the largest listed company in Sweden.
Linklaters has advised Chariot Top Group, a company represented by Griffin Real Estate, on a real estate portfolio acquisition comprising 28 shopping centres located across Poland from A-R-A Retail Centres, owned by a consortium formed by Ares Management L.P., AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets and Apollo Rida, and on the subsequent resale of 12 properties from this portfolio to Echo Polska Properties. This transaction has been widely acknowledged to be one of the largest real estate deals signed in 2017 in the CEE region (closing took place on 4 January 2018).
The financing was extended by funds advised by Permira Debt Managers, one of Europe's leading specialist debt investors.
Willkie client Permira Credit Solutions III G.P. Limited, advised by Permira Debt Managers, financed the acquisition of Technogroup IT-Service by Vitruvian Partners.
Founded in 1990, Technogroup offers third party maintenances services for IT systems in data centers, in particular insurance-like technology maintenance services. Technogroup serves over 4,000 customers across Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Shearman & Sterling advised Liberty Global plc on the completed split-off of Liberty Latin America Ltd. Liberty Latin America comprises Liberty Global’s operations in Latin America and the Caribbean that were attributed to its “LiLAC Group” tracking shares and has an enterprise value of approximately $9.3 billion.
Jones Day acted for iQ Student Accommodation in relation to its acquisition of the UK focused Pure Student Living student housing property portfolio and business from LetterOne Treasury.
De Brauw has advised Bosal Nederland on the sale of Tow Bars Division to TowerBrook Capital Partners (UK).
Client name
Bosal Nederland B.V.
Other parties involved
TowerBrook Capital Partners (UK)
Nature of transaction
On 31 December 2017, Bosal Group and TowerBrook reached agreement for the sale of Bosal's international Tow Bars Division which produces and supplies tow bars, bike carriers, wind stops and roof-racks to OEM/OES customers and aftermarket distributors.
Value of transaction