Pryor Cashman LLP is pleased to announce the addition of Dennis Sughrue to its Real Estate Group where he will strengthen the firm’s already robust transactional capabilities. Sughrue comes to Pryor Cashman from Herrick, Feinstein, where he was a key member of that firm’s real estate practice.

Phelps Dunbar LLP announces today that Michael S. Hooker has joined the firm as a partner in the Tampa office.  Hooker, formerly a name shareholder at Glenn Rasmussen Fogarty & Hooker, has joined the firm’s commercial litigation practice.  He brings more than 30 years of experience representing clients in the areas of complex commercial and business tort litigation.  Joining Mr. Hooker is Guy P. McConnell, also formerly with Glenn Rasmussen, who joins the firm as counsel.  Their experience handling complex business disputes strengthens the firm’s services in the commercial litigation area for companies in Tampa and across the South.  This is the second lateral group that has joined Phelps in the last month.  In late March, Michael Brundage and Patrick Mosley moved to Phelps from Hill Ward Henderson and added new capabilities to the Tampa office in bankruptcy and creditors’ rights.

Davis Polk advised Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC as representatives of the several initial purchasers on a Rule 144A offering by TIBCO Software Inc. of $600 million aggregate principal amount of its 2.25% convertible senior notes due 2032, which included $75 million aggregate principal amount of notes from the full exercise of the initial purchasers’ over-allotment option.

International law firm McDermott Will & Emery today announced that highly respected private equity partners, Mark Davis and Russell Van Praagh, will join the Firm as partners in the London office.  Mr. Davis will become head of the Firm’s Private Equity practice in London.

SandRidge Mississippian Trust II announced today the closing of its initial public offering of 29.9 million common units, including 3.9 million common units sold pursuant to the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option, representing a 60 percent beneficial interest in the Trust. SandRidge Energy, Inc., as sponsor of the Trust, owns approximately 7.4 million common units and approximately 12.4 million subordinated units convertible into common units. Covington advised SandRidge Energy in the transaction.

Covington & Burling represented AstraZeneca in its $1.26 billion acquisition of Ardea Biosciences. Under the agreement, AstraZeneca will pay $32 per share for all of the outstanding shares of Ardea.

International law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) announced today that it has recruited one of the most highly-rated and respected M&A lawyers in London, Alan Paul, to its Corporate practice. =

International law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP has advised AF Telecom in relation to a shareholder restructuring of Russian mobile phone operator OJSC MegaFon with an aggregate deal value of approx. $8.5 billion. The transaction closed today, April 24, 2012.

Ropes & Gray is representing Russian Standard Corporation (with its affiliated companies, “Russian Standard”), a leading private company in Russia with business interests in premium vodka, spirits distribution, banking and insurance, in entering into a strategic alliance with Central European Distribution Corporation (Nasdaq: CEDC). The parties have signed definitive agreements that provide for an initial investment by Russian Standard of US$100,000,000 in CEDC through the purchase of a combination of newly issued shares of CEDC common stock and exchangeable notes (exchangeable into common shares of CEDC following shareholder approval) to be issued by CEDC. In addition, Russian Standard has agreed to purchase up to US$210,000,000 principal amount of newly issued, unsecured CEDC senior notes due July 31, 2016 at a blended interest rate of 6.00%. The proceeds of these investments will be used to retire CEDC’s 3.00% Senior Convertible Notes due 2013.