Global legal practice, Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Investec Bank plc and TD Securities Inc. as joint bookrunners in relation to the €200 million initial public offering of Irish residential property investment company, Irish Residential Properties REIT plc (IRES REIT), and its admission to trading on the regulated market for listed securities of the Irish Stock Exchange. Investec Bank plc, acting through its Irish Branch, was sponsor.

More >>

On 18 April 2014 in Paris, Global Telecom Holding (GTH), VimpelCom Ltd’s listed Egyptian subsidiary, signed a USD 2.643 billion contract with Fonds National d’Investissement (FNI), the Algerian National Investment Fund, for the transfer of a 51% share in Orascom Telecom Algérie (OTA), the leading Algerian mobile telephony operator.

More >>

The Firm represented the underwriters, led by Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Goldman, Sachs & Co., in connection with the public offering of 9,284,337 shares of class A common stock of Artisan Partners Asset Management, Inc. (“Artisan Partners”), inclusive of the shares sold pursuant to the underwriters’ full exercise of their option to purchase additional shares, in each case at a price to the underwriters of $59.675 per share, or approximately $554.0 million in the aggregate. The offering closed on March 12, 2014.

More >>

Skadden is advising Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. in its $46 billion proposed merger with Allergan, Inc., announced April 22. More >>

Chadbourne & Parke represented the Bank of Cyprus Public Company Ltd on the sale of its Ukrainian subsidiary, PJSC “Bank of Cyprus,” and associated debt to Alfa Group, Russia’s largest privately owned banking group, for €202.5 million (US$280 million). The transaction was signed on February 5, 2014 and closed on April 17, 2014.

More >>

Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised the lenders on a new €3 billion syndicated credit facility signed by the French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroën. More >>

Global legal practice Norton Rose Fulbright has advised the Government of Pakistan on a US$2 billion bond issue. The transaction represents the largest ever international bond offering by Pakistan, and is its first international bond issuance since 2007.

Comprising a dual tranche of US$1 billion in five year bonds and US$1 billion in ten year bonds, the issuance received a strong response from investors including fund managers, banks, hedge funds, insurance companies and pension funds based in the US, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

More >>

Simpson Thacher represented the initial purchasers, led by J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, in connection with a 144A/Regulation S offering by Stena AB (publ) (“Stena”) of $600 million aggregate principal amount of 7.00% Senior Notes due 2024. This offering closed on January 23, 2014.

More >>

Linklaters has advised Noble Group Limited (“Noble Group”) on the acquisition of 51% of Noble Agri Limited (“Noble Agri”) by COFCO Corporation (“COFCO”) to establish a 51%/49% joint venture.

Noble Agri will become the principal international origination platform for COFCO, with its upstream origination and trading operations linked to the downstream processing and distribution capabilities of COFCO and its affiliates in China to create a fully integrated value chain, consistent with COFCO’s strategy.

More >>

Catalina Holdings (Bermuda) Ltd and Willkie client SPARTA Insurance Holdings, Inc. recently announced a definitive agreement under which Catalina will acquire SPARTA. Following the closing of the transaction, Catalina plans to place some of Sparta’s business into run off and to transfer SPARTA’s alternative market business to Arch Insurance Company under a separate renewal rights agreement. With total assets of $911 million (as of 12/31/2013), Hartford, CT-based Sparta focuses mainly on specialty program and risk transfer alternatives in the United States. Catalina is a long-term consolidator in the non-life insurance/reinsurance run-off sector.

More >>