Litigators from Beveridge & Diamond’s Washington and Baltimore offices won approval of a major Clean Water Act consent decree over the objections of environmental groups.  On January 6, 2014 Judge George Marovich of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered a historic consent decree between the United States, Illinois, and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRDGC or the District) to govern the ongoing Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP), a multi-billion dollar project to improve stormwater control and wastewater management throughout metropolitan Chicago.   The ruling comes after 7 years of consent decree negotiation with the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Justice, and the State of Illinois, and 3 years of aggressive litigation brought by several environmental groups that sought more work than called for in the decree. Benjamin F. Wilson, Richard Davis and Sarah Albert lead the multi-office team from Beveridge & Diamond that represents MWRDGC regarding the consent decree and the litigation.

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Bracewell & Giuliani LLP is representing Integrys Energy Group, Inc.  (Integrys), the Chicago based utility holding company, in the sale of 100 percent of the stock of Upper Peninsula Power Company (UPPCO) to Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Partners LP (BBIP), a new U.K. infrastructure investment fund.  This transaction is valued at approximately $298 million.  The transaction represents the first major investment by BBIP in the U.S.

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Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP has advised Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia and Eastern Europe, in connection with its $2.94 billion in acquisition financing to Yamal Development LLC, a joint venture between Russian oil and gas companies Novatek and Gazprom Neft.  The financing will enable enabled Yamal Development LLC to purchase Eni S.p.A.’s 60 percent stake in Artic Russia B.V., which, through SeverEnergia LLC, holds four licenses for the exploration and production of hydrocarbons in the Yamalo-Nenets Region of Russia.

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A team of Akin Gump attorneys has advised CITIC PE in relation to the management buyout of AsiaInfo-Linkage Inc. by a consortium that has taken the company private. The transaction closed on January 15.

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Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck’s Corporate Group played the lead role in closing Mexico’s largest real estate transaction representing MRP Group, LP, based in Denver, which sold the majority of its portfolio to Fibra Uno for more than US$2 billion. Brownstein’s team, led by shareholder Steve Demby, worked with several companies including Black Creek Group, LLP, also based in Denver, which established MRP Group in 2002. MRP Group, a multibillion-dollar private equity fund run by John Blumberg, through its operating affiliates and under the name Mexico Retail Properties, acquires, develops and owns high-quality, well-anchored shopping centers throughout Mexico. The assets sold were all of those properties owned by Funds I, II and III. MRP Group will continue to develop, own and operate additional properties through its Fund IV.

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The Firm is representing KKR and Affinity Equity Partners (“Affinity”) in connection with the announced agreement whereby Anheuser-Busch InBev (“AB InBev”) will reacquire Oriental Brewery (“OB”) from KKR and Affinity.  AB InBev originally sold OB in July 2009, a transaction in which the Firm represented KKR.  The enterprise value for the transaction is US$5.8 billion, and as a result of an agreement entered into with KKR and Affinity in 2009, AB InBev will receive approximately US$320 million in cash at the closing of this transaction, subject to certain closing adjustments.

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International law firm Edwards Wildman is pleased to announce that James Crabtree has joined the London office as a partner in its Insurance & Reinsurance Department. Crabtree joins from Taylor Wessing, where he was the head of the International Insurance Group. He advises on insurance and reinsurance claims and coverage disputes, often with an international element, in arbitration and litigation.  More >>

The national law firm of Epstein Becker Green is pleased to announce that Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy, Jr., has joined as a Member of the Firm in the Health Care and Life Sciences practice in the firm’s Stamford, Conn., office.

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Skadden is representing the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation Pte Ltd. in its investment in a $1.3 billion joint venture to acquire 1 million square feet of space in the Time Warner Center in New York. The deal closed on January 15. More >>

Paul, Weiss advised the Tencent internet company on their US$193m strategic investment in China South City Holdings, a logistics firm in China based in Shenzhen.

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