Paul Hastings, a leading global law firm, announced today that the firm represented Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc. and China Everbright Securities (HK) Limited as the placing agents on China Everbright International Limited’s (“China Everbright”) US$472 million (HK$3.66 billion) top-up placement.

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Simpson Thacher recently represented the arrangers, led by J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent, in connection with an amendment and restatement of Arrow Electronics, Inc.’s credit facility, extending its maturity to December 2018 and increasing commitments thereunder to $1.5 billion.

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Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ESS) and BRE Properties (NYSE: BRE) have announced a definitive agreement under which BRE Properties will combine with Essex, creating the only publicly traded West Coast pure play multifamily REIT. The combined company is expected to have a pro forma equity market capitalization of approximately $10.4 billion and a total market capitalization of approximately $15.4 billion. The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2014.

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Covington & Burling is pleased to announce that Adem Koyuncu is joining its life sciences practice as a partner, along with associate Sabine Stute. Dr. Koyuncu and Ms. Stute will be resident in the firm’s Brussels office, and will focus on issues involving the law of the European Union and, in particular, of Germany.

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On December 19, 2013, The Jones Group Inc. and Sycamore Partners announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which affiliates of Sycamore Partners will acquire The Jones Group for $15.00 per share in cash, or a total of approximately US$1.2 billion. The transaction is valued at approximately US$2.2 billion, including net debt. Cravath represented The Jones Group in connection with this transaction. Upon completion of the transaction, which is expected to close in the second quarter of 2014, The Jones Group will become a privately held company.

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International law firm Clifford Chance (Paris office) advised the issuer HSBC France on the issue of Euro 1,000,000,000 bonds bearing interest at a rate of 1.625% with a maturity of five years (2018). This bond issue constitutes the second issue of this amount this year for the issuer and reflects the current strong market opportunities.

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O’Melveny & Myers LLP represented Dealertrack Technologies, Inc. in its approximately US$1 billion definitive agreement to acquire Dealer.com, a leading provider of marketing and operations software and services for the automotive industry. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014, subject to regulatory approval.

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Allen & Overy advised Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) and a syndicate of commercial banks (The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, National Bank of Kuwait, Standard Chartered Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation) on the USD1.43 billion debt financing of the Az Zour North IWPP, the first independent water and power project in Kuwait.

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Ashurst advised a consortium comprising Borealis Infrastructure and First State Investments, together with Finnish institutional investors Keva and LocalTapiola Pension, on the €2.55 billion agreement to acquire 100% of the Finnish electricity distribution business, Fortum Distribution Finland (“FDF”), from the Fortum Group. FDF is the owner of the largest electricity distribution network in Finland, with over 600,000 customers across the country, representing more than 20% market share. Completion of the transaction is expected during the first quarter of 2014, subject to regulatory approval.

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