Paris Office Advising on Vivendi’s Proposed $23 Billion Sale of Telecom Unit

Willkie Farr & Gallagher’s Paris office advises proposed $23 billion sale of telecom unit.

As widely reported in the international press, French media giant Vivendi SA has selected cable group Numericable as potential acquirer for its mobile phone unit SFR in what could be one of the biggest financing deals in Europe this year. The proposal is supported by Luxemburg investment fund Altice, Numericable’s largest shareholder (40 percent). Altice is the investment vehicle of French billionaire/entrepreneur Patrick Drahi. Vivendi preferred its offer over a rival bid by Bouygues, the owner of Bouygues Telecom, the third-largest mobile service provider in France, after Orange and SFR.

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Allen & Overy advises banks on EUR 300 million convertible bond issued by LEG Immobilien AG

Allen & Overy LLP advised BofA Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch, and Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking in connection with the issue of a EUR 300 million convertible bond by LEG Immobilien AG.  The convertible bond with a term of 7.2 years provides for an investor put option after 5.2 years and a coupon of 0.5% p.a. payable semi-annually.

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Tags:  Allen & Overy LLP

Eversheds advises Urban Splash on £135m refinancing deal

Global law firm Eversheds has advised property developer Urban Splash on a £135m refinancing deal and a new joint venture agreement with The Pears Group.

Urban Splash, working in partnership with The Pears Group, has agreed to refinance £135m of its remaining debt from the RBS, CoOp, HSBC and Blackstone and formed a new joint venture with Pears.

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Freshfields Advises Warburg Pincus on Acquisition of Mercator from Dnata

International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised private equity firm Warburg Pincus on its acquisition of Dubai-based specialist IT software, development and solutions business, mercator, from dnata (one of the world’s largest air services providers and a subsidiary of the Emirates group). dnata will retain a minority stake in mercator on closing. The transaction, which is structured as a mixed asset sale, comprises a significant and complex separation element

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Kirkland & Ellis Represents Vision Knight Capital on Closing of US$550 Million Vision Knight Capital China Fund II

Kirkland & Ellis represented Vision Knight Capital, a leading independent Chinese private equity firm, which recently closed its second private equity fund Vision Knight Capital China Fund II. The fund closed at its hard cap with aggregate capital commitments of US$550 million. The fund, which will make investments in China’s retail and consumer internet and e-commerce sectors, accepted commitments from a broad mix of global institutional investors, including sovereign wealth funds, pension plans, endowments and foundations, diversified financial institutions and family offices. More >>

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Simpson Thacher Represents SeaWorld Entertainment and Selling Stockholders in Secondary Offering and Share Repurchase

The Firm represented SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. (“SeaWorld Entertainment”), a portfolio company of The Blackstone Group L.P. (“Blackstone”), and certain selling stockholders affiliated with Blackstone (the “Selling Stockholders”), in connection with a public offering of common stock by the Selling Stockholders. Concurrently with the closing of the offering, SeaWorld Entertainment repurchased 1,750,000 shares of its common stock directly from the Selling Stockholders in a private, non-underwritten transaction at a price per share equal to the price per share paid to the Selling Stockholders by the underwriters in the offering. SeaWorld Entertainment is a leading theme park and entertainment company with a diversified portfolio of 11 destination and regional theme parks in the United States, many of which showcase its one-of-a-kind collection of approximately 86,000 marine and terrestrial animals.

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Firm Advises Interpublic on $500 Million Notes Offering

On April 3, Willkie client Interpublic Group announced that it has completed its previously announced registered public offering of $500 million aggregate principal amount of its 4.20% Senior Notes due 2024. A portion of the net proceeds from the offering will be used to redeem all of Interpublic’s outstanding 6.25% Senior Notes due 2014, of which an aggregate principal amount of $350 million is outstanding.

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Appleby Advised on Fortune REIT’s HK$1.8 Billion Loan Facility

Appleby acted as British Virgin Islands counsel to mandated lead arrangers (MLAs) and bookrunners in providing a HK$1.8 billion secured syndicated term loan and revolving credit facility to Fortune Real Estate Investment Trust (Fortune REIT) involving a BVI borrower and several BVI security providers.  The MLAs and bookrunners included Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

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