Davis Polk advised JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent, and Barclays Bank PLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Goldman Sachs Bank USA, JPMorgan Securities LLC, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc., as joint lead arrangers and joint bookrunners, and BNP Paribas Securities Corp., The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., HSBC Bank USA, National Association, Mizuho Bank, Ltd., RBC Capital Markets, RBS Securities Inc., Santander Bank, N.A., Societe Generale, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Fifth Third Bank, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A., ING Bank NV, Intesa San Paolo and Commerzbank AG, New York and Grand Cayman Branches, as co-lead arrangers, in connection with an $8 billion five-year senior unsecured term loan facility provided to Synchrony Financial (“Synchrony”). The proceeds of the facility will be used to refinance Synchrony’s existing indebtedness and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

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Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) on its new solar farm at Moree in northern New South Wales, which is the first merchant financed project ever undertaken in Australia.

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Hunton & Williams LLP advised the underwriters in connection with the sale of $243,850,000 Louisiana Local Government Environmental Facilities and Community Development Authority System Restoration Bonds (Louisiana Utilities Restoration Corporation Project/ELL) Series 2014 (Federally Taxable) and $71,000,000 Louisiana Local Government Environmental Facilities and Community Development Authority System Restoration Bonds (Louisiana Utilities Restoration Corporation Project/EGSL) Series 2014 (Federally Taxable).

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VTTI Energy Partners LP (NYSE: VTTI), a Marshall Islands limited partnership, completed its initial public offering of 20,125,000 common units (including 2,625,000 common units pursuant to the underwriters’ option to purchase additional common units). The common units were sold by VTTI MLP Partners B.V., a wholly-owned subsidiary of VTTI B.V.
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Kirkland represented Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. in connection with the offering of US$900 million of convertible senior notes. This was the largest-ever convertible bond issued by a US-listed Chinese technology company and the largest convertible bond in Asia in the last three years. The offering consisted of a private placement of US$450 million principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2020 and US$450 million principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2021, with a 30-day over-allotment option to buy an additional US$135 million of the notes.

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Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP represented Goldman Sachs International, as sole initial purchaser, in the $400 million offering of Senior Secured Notes due 2019 by ContourGlobal Power Holdings S.A., a finance subsidiary of the parent ContourGlobal L.P.

The notes were secured by share pledges of certain existing and future subsidiaries of ContourGlobal L.P.

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A Charlotte-based team of McGuireWoods attorneys represented the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Pike Corporation (NYSE: PIKE) in connection with the Special Committee’s negotiations and Pike’s entry into a merger agreement under which New York private equity firm Court Square Capital Partners and J. Eric Pike, Pike’s chairman and chief executive officer, will acquire Pike in a “going-private” transaction valued at approximately $595 million. At the effective time of the merger, each of Pike’s shareholders will receive $12 per share in cash, which represents a premium of approximately 50.8% over Pike’s closing price on Aug. 1, 2014, and a premium of approximately 39.6% over the 30-day volume-weighted average closing prices leading up to that date.

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Global legal practice Norton Rose Fulbright has advised a syndicate of lenders on four limited-recourse facilities totalling US$787 million to part finance the procurement of four 174,400m3 LNG vessels to be built by Hudong-Zhonghua in China.

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