FCE Bank plc, advised by Hogan Lovells International LLP, is continuing to refinance itself through the public term securitisation market with its €535.5 million securitisation of automotive loan receivables originated by FCE’s German branches with a Rule 144A option.

The Singapore office of Watson, Farley & Williams (“WFW”), a leading international law firm, advised Standard Chartered Bank and DBS Bank Ltd as mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners in relation to a US$276 million syndicated financing to ECOM Agroindustrial Asia Pte. Ltd and ECOM Agroindustrial Corp. Limited, two members of the multi-national commodities trading group ECOM.  Five other members of the ECOM group provided guarantees in support of the facility which ultimately required the involvement of seven different jurisdictions on three continents.

Baker & McKenzie advised Knowles Electronics, LLC on the acquisition of NXP Semiconductors Austria GmbH and NXP Semiconductors Beijing Ltd. Through this acquisition, the entire NXP-Sound Solution Business of NXP Semiconductors BV – a former business unit of Philips – will be transferred to Knowles Electronics. The purchase price amounts to USD855 million.

Dewey & LeBoeuf has represented key Russian bank client JSC VTB Bank as the borrower on a US$3.13 billion syndicated term loan facility from a consortium of international banks, with 19 mandated lead arrangers.

International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised Travelex, the world’s leading foreign exchange specialist, on the sale of its business payments operations, Travelex Global Business Payments to The Western Union Company for a total cash consideration of £606 million.

Faegre & Benson secured an important defense victory for Seagate against Siemens in a patent infringement trial that was held last summer before a judge in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  On July 4, 2011, the court officially announced a complete defense verdict for Seagate. This is the second courtroom victory Faegre & Benson achieved for Seagate in the company’s now five-year legal battle with Siemens over a patent relating to read-head technology for hard disc drives.

Sedgwick LLP has announced the opening of  its newest office in Seattle, the firm’s first in the Pacific Northwest and 14th office globally. The firm’s Seattle office will be led by managing partner Christopher S. Marks, who has joined the firm’s Complex Litigation Division. At Sedgwick, Marks will handle product liability and commercial litigation matters.

Linklaters, the global law firm, has launched its newest office in Abu Dhabi, further strengthening the firm’s well-established presence in the Middle East.

A team of HFW lawyers in London and Paris, led by head of ship finance John Forrester, has advised Nordea Bank Norge ASA as facility agent on a $750m forward start senior secured facility for Belgian-listed tanker owner Euronav NV.