Japanese trading house Itochu Corp. recently announced its pending acquisition of U.K. automotive repair company Kwik-Fit Group Ltd. from funds managed by Willkie client PAI partners for approximately $1 billion (£637 million). Kwik-Fit, also known under the brand Speedy in France, specializes in automotive parts repair and tire sales with 1,220 repair centers in France, Holland and the UK. The transaction is subject to the approval of the antitrust authorities, as well as other required authorizations.

Shearman & Sterling represented Bank of America, N.A., as administrative agent, and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and Goldman Sachs Bank USA, as joint lead arrangers and joint bookrunners, in a $1.2 billion term loan and a $250 million asset-based revolving credit facility supporting the merger of J. Crew Group, Inc. with Chinos Acquisition Corporation, an affiliate of TPG Capital, L.P. and Leonard Green & Partners, L.P. TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners agreed to acquire the outstanding shares of common stock of J. Crew for $43.50 per share in cash per terms of the merger agreement announced in November 2010.

Davis Polk advised CIGNA Corporation on an SEC-registered debt shelf takedown of $600 million aggregate principal amount of its senior notes, including $300 million aggregate principal amount of its 4.375% senior notes due 2021 and $300 million aggregate principal amount of its 5.875% senior notes due 2041. BofA Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo Securities acted as representatives of the several underwriters for the offering.

King & Spalding announced today that it advised Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), the master developer of major tourism, cultural and residential destinations in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on all aspects of the company’s competitively bid district energy system that will service a multi-billion development project on Saadiyat, a multi-faceted island development adjacent to Abu Dhabi. King & Spalding advised TDIC on the project structure and tender process, and drafted and negotiated all of the project agreements through to closing.

Davis Polk advised Citigroup Global Markets Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated as joint book-running managers of an SEC-registered offering of US$500 million aggregate principal amount of 3.75% notes due 2016, US$1.5 billion aggregate principal amount of 5.50% notes due 2021 and US$1 billion aggregate principal amount of 6.75% notes due 2041 by ArcelorMittal.

CMS in Brussels, London and Belgrade, with assistance from other CMS offices and local lawyers, has successfully advised the Delhaize Group in relation to the acquisition of Delta Maxi Group, the leading Serbian food retail company which operate more than 450 stores in five Southeastern European countries (Serbia, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania).

Shearman & Sterling is representing Tata Steel UK Limited which has signed an agreement to sell certain assets of Teesside Cast Products (TCP) to Sahaviriya Steel Industries Public Company Limited (SSI), Thailand’s largest steel producer, in a deal worth $469 million plus an amount representing working capital.

Shearman & Sterling represented Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc. in connection with its public offering of $300 million 4.500% Notes due 2021 and $100 million Floating Rate Notes due 2014. Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc. markets, produces and distributes nonalcoholic beverages to approximately 163 million customers throughout Belgium, continental France, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. It is The Coca-Cola Company’s strategic bottling partner in Western Europe and its third-largest independent bottler globally.

DLA Piper has advised Intertek Group plc (‘Intertek’) on its £450 million acquisition of Moody International (‘Moody’) which was announced today.