Addleshaw Goddard act for Department for Transport on Direct Award of West Coast franchise

The short-term contract will see Virgin Trains run the franchise for the next two years and nine months for a premium of £430 million.

The team – led by Mike O’Connor, Head of Infrastructure, Projects and Energy at Addleshaw Goddard, with support from Andy Sykes, Jacqui Langley-White, Ben Traynor and Andrew Maskill  – advised the DfT on the franchise agreement and rolling stock elements of the deal.

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Simpson Thacher Represents First Data in $3.5 Billion Private Placement Led by KKR

The Firm is representing First Data Corporation in connection with the receipt by First Data Holdings Inc., the direct parent company of First Data, of commitments to purchase approximately $3.5 billion of its common equity in a private placement. The net proceeds from the private placement will be used to strengthen First Data’s balance sheet through repaying portions of its debt, allowing the company to focus additional capital on accelerating its transformation to a solutions and innovation company that helps First Data clients grow their businesses.

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Taylor Wessing advises FDM Group on £308.5m IPO

International law firm Taylor Wessing has advised FDM Group (Holdings) plc, the international provider of professional IT and business services, around the successful pricing of its initial public offering of shares to the premium segment of the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority and for trading on the main market of the London Stock Exchange.

Based on the offer price, the market capitalisation of FDM will be approximately £308.5 million, making it the UK’s largest listed IT services provider.

FDM announced the pricing of its IPO earlier this week (17th June), placing 81,774,399 shares with investors, priced at 287p each, which is expected to raise £242.7 million. Of the funds raised, £234.7 million will be for selling shareholders, including certain company directors and Inflexion Private Equity, which is selling its entire shareholding in FDM as part of the offer.

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White & Case Advises Bank Syndicate on Worldline IPO

Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised a syndicate of banks led by Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs International on the initial public offering of Worldline on the regulated market of Euronext Paris.

The IPO was initiated by Worldline’s shareholder, Atos SE (listed on the Paris stock exchange). The prospectus received the visa from the French Financial Markets Authority (Autorité des marchés financiers) on June 13, 2014 with the first listing scheduled for June 27, 2014. The size of the global offering is approximately €610 million.
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Airgas, Inc. $300 Million Notes Offering

Davis Polk advised Goldman, Sachs & Co., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC as joint book-running managers and representatives of the underwriters on an SEC-registered public debt offering by Airgas, Inc. of $300 million principal amount of its 3.650% notes due 2024.

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Goodwin Procter Represents Seaton on $310 Million Sale to TrueBlue

Goodwin attorneys recently advised SeatonCorp on its $310 million sale to TrueBlue, Inc. Seaton is currently controlled by private equity firm Leeds Equity partners. The deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2014, will create the largest industrial staffing firm in the United States.
SeatonCorp is an outsourcing and recruiting company that operates under the Staff Management | SMX, PeopleScout, HRX and StudentScout service lines. Founded in 1988, the firm has more than 44,000 employees and operates in 70 countries.

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Herbert Smith Freehills advises Greencross on its A$120 million entitlement offer

Herbert Smith Freehills is pleased to have advised Greencross Limited (Greencross) on its A$120 million fully underwritten pro-rata accelerated non-renounceable entitlement offer and institutional placement (Offer), announced 16 June 2014.

The proceeds from the Offer will be used by Greencross to partially fund its acquisition of CF Group Holdings Pty Limited (City Farmers).

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