On Friday 2 December the Centro Property Group announced that it has lodged court orders with ASIC to effect one of the final stages of the $7 billion restructure of the Centro Group – one of the largest and most complex restructures in recent Australian corporate history. The deal was unique because of the complexity of the structure, the size of the debts of the Group and the number of stakeholders involved.

A multidisciplinary team from international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised Heineken International B.V. on its acquisition of the Galaxy pub estate (Galaxy) from The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS) for £412m on a cash-and-debt-free basis.

Dewey & LeBoeuf has represented a creditors group, consisting of over 20 international and Polish banks, on the successful conclusion of a PLN 2 billion (US$634 million) debt restructuring for Polish steel company, Celsa Huta Ostrowiec (Celsa).

Morgan Lewis today announced that Noel Ainsworth—a leading private funds lawyer in the UK—will be joining the firm as a partner in its Business and Finance Practice, resident in London, following the expiration of the required notice period at his current firm.

Herbert Smith announced today that Christophe Lefort, a specialist in large-scale infrastructure projects, has joined the energy and infrastructure team in Paris as a partner.