Paul, Weiss client Yamana Gold Inc. closed an offering of $500 million aggregate principal amount of its 4.950% senior notes due 2024. The offering was made pursuant to exemptions from registration under Rule 144A and Regulation S of the Securities Act of 1933. Yamana is a TSX- and NYSE-listed Canadian-based gold producer with significant gold production, gold development stage properties, exploration properties and land positions throughout the Americas including Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Canada.

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Seyfarth Shaw LLP represented south suburban Chicago-based Great Lakes Financial Resources, Inc. in its merger into First Midwest Bancorp, Inc., one of the Chicago metropolitan area’s largest independent bank holding companies.  As a result of this merger, Great Lakes Bank (the subsidiary bank of Great Lakes Financial Resources, Inc.) will also merge into First Midwest Bank (the subsidiary bank of First Midwest Bancorp, Inc.).  Great Lakes Bank operates eight branches in Chicago’s south suburbs and has more than $582 million in assets.  The merger will enable Great Lakes Bank to expand its service and product offerings through First Midwest to build on its platform of commercial, retail, and wealth management products and services to meet the growing financial needs of Great Lakes Bank customers.

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Simpson Thacher represented the initial purchasers, led by joint book-running managers, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, UBS Securities LLC, Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., in the sale of an aggregate principal amount of additional $600 million 9.375%/10.125% Senior PIK Toggle Notes due 2017 by Jaguar Holding Company I (the “Issuer”), the indirect parent of Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC (“PPD”). The Issuer used the proceeds from the offering to pay a dividend or distribution to its shareholders and a distribution to its optionholders.

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Shearman & Sterling represented The Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Bank and Barclays as Joint Global Coordinators and Joint Bookrunners, on an offering of £225,000,000 5.25% Senior Notes due 2021 by Debenhams plc. The net proceeds from the issuance will be used to refinance Debenhams’ outstanding indebtedness under its existing senior credit facility. The offering, which was conducted pursuant to Regulation S under the US Securities Act, closed on July 2, 2014.

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Skadden is advising U.S.-based gaming machine provider Video Gaming Technologies, Inc. in its $1.3 billion acquisition by Australia-based gaming product and service provider Aristocrat Leisure Limited, announced July 7.
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International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised a consortium of underwriters on a US$421m rights issue for Uni-President China Holdings Limited (Uni-President).

The new issue, comprised of 3,599,445,000 shares at a price of HK$4.56 per share, commenced trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 25 June 2014.

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The scheme is subject to customary conditions precedent including Wotif Group shareholder approval and court approval. If the scheme is implemented, Wotif Group shareholders will receive cash consideration. The offer is valued at approximately $703 million.

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NautaDutilh advised Partners Group which invested US$750 million in Fermaca in February 2014. The bond offering was used to pay back a US$140 million loan connected to Partners Group’s acquisition of Fermaca, as well as a loan taken out by a Fermaca subsidiary that operates a 381 km natural gas pipeline.

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Paul Hastings LLP, a leading global firm, announced today that it advised Citigroup Global Markets Limited, Raiffeisen Bank, and Société Générale Corporate and Investment Banking, as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners, on the €444.3 million initial public offering of Romania’s leading state-owned electricity distributor and supplier, Electrica S.A. The offering, which closed on Friday 4 July, is the largest ever Romanian IPO, valuing the company at €900 million.

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