Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP advised Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Barclays Capital Inc., BNP Paribas Securities Corp., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Credit Agricole Securities (USA) Inc. and HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. as joint bookrunners and representatives of the underwriters on an SEC-registered offering by Rio Tinto Finance (USA) Limited of $2 billion aggregate principal amount of notes guaranteed by Rio Tinto plc and Rio Tinto Limited. The offering consisted of $500 million principal amount of 1.875% notes due 2015, $1 billion principal amount of 3.5% notes due 2020 and $500 million principal amount of 5.2% notes due 2040.

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Morrison & Foerster recently secured a victory for Target Corporation in a class action case brought by consumer Raymundo Sevidal, who alleged fraud and violation of unfair competition and false advertising laws after purchasing three clothing items from Target’s website that were misidentified as made in the United States. On October 28, 2010, the California Court of Appeal agreed with the trial court’s refusal to certify the class based on its finding that the proposed class was not ascertainable.

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The Firm represented The Blackstone Group and its joint venture with Glimcher Realty Trust in connection with their $245 million acquisition of Pearlridge Shopping Center in Honolulu, Hawaii from an affiliate of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.  Pearlridge Center is the second largest mall in Hawaii with total leasable area of over 1.1 million square feet, and has more than 170 tenants.  The transaction closed on November 1, 2010 and was partially financed by a $175 million mortgage loan.  An affiliate of Blackstone holds 80% of the equity interests in the joint venture and is the managing member.  An affiliate of Glimcher manages the day-to-day operations of the shopping center under a management contract with the venture.  Glimcher is a real estate investment trust specializing in shopping center management, acquisition and development.

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Lawyers from the London office of K&L Gates LLP have advised Laing O’Rourke Plc on the recently-closed £50m project financing, construction, and renovation of state secondary schools in the east London borough of Barking and Dagenham.

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Shearman & Sterling acted as special US counsel to The Bank of Nova Scotia in connection with its offering of US$2.5 billion aggregate principal amount of 1.650% Covered Bonds due 2015, issued under the Bank’s US$15 billion Global Public Sector Covered Bond Programme, with Banc of America Securities LLC, Barclays Capital Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated and Scotia Capital (USA) Inc. acting as lead managers.

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Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is advising Oracle Corporation on its acquisition of Art Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of cross-channel commerce solutions. Oracle is the world’s largest enterprise software company.

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Shearman & Sterling represented BE Aerospace, Inc on its $162 million acquisition of Satair A/S’s OEM distribution business. NASDQ-listed BE Aerospace is the world’s leading manufacturer of aircraft cabin interior products and the world’s leading distributor of aerospace fasteners and consumables. Satair is one of the worldwide leaders within sales and distribution of production parts and spare parts for aircraft maintenance and production.

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Kilpatrick Stockton and Townsend and Townsend and Crew today jointly announced the merger of their high-profile firms, creating one of the world’s leading law firms. Following the merger’s effective date of January 1, 2011, the combined firm will be known as Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP.

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Shearman & Sterling represented Banc of America Securities LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC as representatives of the underwriters in connection with eBay Inc.’s offering of US$400 million of its 0.875% Notes due 2013, US$600 million of its 1.625% Notes due 2015 and US$500 million of its 3.250% Notes due 2020. eBay Inc. is a California-based company that operates a global online commerce platform and online payments solutions systems.

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Global law firm White & Case LLP is advising the banks financing the third stage of the development of the passenger terminal at Zvartnots International Airport in Armenia.

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