Porzio, Bromberg & Newman P.C., a leading regional law firm serving clients nationally and in Europe, today announced the opening of a new Washington DC office. The new office will be led by Kevin Bell, Scott Chambers and Richard Oparil, intellectual property lawyers who are joining the firm from Squire Patton Boggs, with Porzio principal Timothy Ayers. They will be supported by others from Squire Patton Boggs who are joining Bell, Chambers and Oparil, for a total of at least 12 lawyers and professionals. The office is located at 1200 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. Porzio has existing offices in New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts.

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Shearman & Sterling advised International Finance Corporation (IFC), Export Development Canada (EDC), ING Capital LLC, Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation and The Bank of Nova Scotia, as senior lenders, in connection with the $185 million financing, consisting of two tranches, a $160 million facility and a $25 million cost overrun facility, related to the construction and development of the Aurora Gold project, located in Guyana, South America.

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Skadden is advising Compuware Corporation in its $2.5 billion acquisition by private equity investment firm Thoma Bravo, LLC, announced September 2.
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Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Members Equity Bank Limited (ME Bank) in relation to its offer of new Tier 2  Floating Rate Unsecured and Subordinated Notes, which were issued on 29 August 2014.

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Both organisations will take a 50% stake in Fosse Park through an English Limited Partnership, with The Crown Estate managing the asset on behalf of the partnership.

Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co advised The Crown Estate on the purchase. The team was led by Rabinder Chaggar and included partners Miles Kiely, Duncan Field, Phil Baker, Simon Malcolm, Elliot Weston, Clive Chalkley and Mark Hick, and lawyers Samantha Holland, Kate Worthington, Tony List, Will Stark, Lisa Matthews, Alicia Kim, Keith Brades and Emma Cooper. The firm’s dedicated Birmingham-based asset management team also advised on the deal. Lawyers included Joe Morris, Christopher Morris, Gillian Stewart, Holly Taylor, Julia Roe, Kulvir Desai, Parvinder Sohal and Simon Wood.

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Paul Hastings LLP, a leading global law firm, announced today that the firm advised China Huarong Asset Management Co., Ltd. ( “China Huarong”) to issue new shares to a consortium of strategic investors including China Life Insurance (Group) Company, Warburg Pincus, CITIC Securities International Company Limited, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, China International Capital Corporation Limited, China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO), Fosun International Ltd. and Goldman Sachs. All parties have entered into investment agreements and strategic partnership agreements regarding the capital increase. The agreements were approved by the State Council and the State regulatory agencies and the transaction was successfully completed. 
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Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP, a national law firm with 460 lawyers in 22 offices around the country and Barger & Wolen LLP, a California-based law firm with 45 attorneys in six offices, announced today they will join forces. The merger creates one of the largest insurance law practices in the United States with 120 full-time attorneys dedicated to providing legal counsel to companies that shape the insurance and financial services industries.

The partner votes took place on August 28, 2014, and the merger will become effective on October 1, 2014. The combined firm will keep the name Hinshaw & Culbertson and have over 500 attorneys in 11 states as well as London.

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Mayer Brown represented private equity firm The Jordan Company on the sale by its affiliate, The Resolute Fund II, L.P., of Casco Automotive Group, a division of Cap-Con Automotive Technologies Ltd., to Amphenol Corporation for $450 million. Casco is a market leading supplier of highly engineered interior connectivity, power connectivity and sensor products to the worldwide automotive market.

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Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CCK), a global leader in consumer packaging, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire EMPAQUE, a leading Mexican manufacturer of aluminum cans and ends, bottle caps and glass bottles for the beverage industry, from affiliates of Heineken N.V. Dechert LLP advised Crown Holdings on the cash transaction, which is valued at approx. US$1.2 billion.

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Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., a leading global cruise operator, announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Prestige Cruises International, Inc., the market leader in the upscale cruise segment and parent company of Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, for total transaction consideration at closing of $3.025 billion, including the assumption of debt, payable in cash and shares of Norwegian. Up to an additional $50 million may be payable post‑closing based on achievement of certain performance metrics. Cravath represented the Transaction Committee of the Norwegian Board of Directors in connection with this transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2014.

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