Eurasia Drilling Company Limited (EDC) announced on 20 January 2015 that it has agreed with members of its management team the terms of a merger between EDC and EDC Acquisition Company Limited, which will result in EDC being delisted from the London Stock Exchange and its minority shareholders being paid US$22 per Global Depositary Receipt. The transaction values EDC at approximately US$3.2 billion. Conditional on the merger taking place, affiliates of Schlumberger Limited have agreed to buy approximately 45.65 percent of the shares in EDC, with an option to buy the balance of the EDC shares in the future. The deal is subject to a number of conditions and is expected to close in the second half of February 2015. More >>

Cooley LLP, a leading technology and life sciences US law firm, announced today that it has launched a UK practice in London. Cooley’s new office will include 20 partners and more than 55 lawyers and other professionals in total.

“Cooley plans to make a big impact in London,” said Joe Conroy, Cooley’s chief executive officer. “We have brought together partners who are the very best in their fields, and who share our values and approach to achieving success for our global client base. From our San Francisco and Silicon Valley roots, we have grown to 850 lawyers, solving complex business and litigation issues for the world’s most dynamic companies.” More >>

International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, two of Canada’s largest pension funds, on their agreement with Banco Santander, S.A. to acquire jointly an international portfolio of renewable energy and water infrastructure assets. More >>

Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Moorfield Real Estate Fund (MREF) and Moorfield Real Estate Fund II (MREFII) on its sale of a diversified real estate investment portfolio to Lone Star Real Estate Fund III (LSREFIII) for c.£1 billion.

According to Marc Gilbard, Chief Executive Officer of Moorfield Group (Moorfield), this is the largest transaction that Moorfield has undertaken in its corporate history and is a very effective way for MREF and MREFII to realise the majority of their investments. More >>

International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised leading emerging market mobile operator, MTN Group, on its US$750,000,000 4.755% guaranteed bond issuance, its first issuance into the international capital markets. The net proceeds of the bond issue will be used by MTN Group for general corporate purposes. The bond matures in 2024. More >>

A combined team from Dechert’s London and Almaty offices has advised the Steering Committee of international creditors of JSC Alliance Bank, a Kazakhstan based bank, in connection with the restructuring of US$1.3 billion of its financial indebtedness. More >>

Linklaters has advised the leading banks as Dutch energy-from-waste and water treatment facility operator AVR-Afvalverwerking B.V. establishes a structured secured debt issuance platform pursuant to which AVR has raised €130,000,000 of senior term and revolving credit facilities from its relationship lenders, US$75,000,000, £16,000,000 and €197,000,000 of US private placement notes and €23,000,000 of institutional term debt by way of a European private placement. The senior debt has been rated BBB+ by Fitch and is supported by a 5-year dedicated liquidity facility. More >>

International law firm McDermott Will & Emery represented Olam International Limited in its pending acquisition of Archer Daniels Midland Company’s (ADM) global cocoa business. The US$1.3 billion transaction will establish Olam Cocoa as one of the world’s top three cocoa processors.

Based in Singapore and listed on the SGX-ST, Olam is a leading agri-business operating in 65 countries. Its Cocoa business is one of the world’s largest suppliers of sustainable cocoa and is a leader in long-term sustainability initiatives. More >>