Reed Smith today announced the addition of George D. Pavlenishvili as a partner in its Corporate & Transactional Advisory Group (CTAG) in New York. He was formerly a partner in the Energy Group at Stoel Rives LLP in Washington, D.C More >>

Cravath represented the underwriters, led by Citigroup, Goldman, Sachs & Co., Deutsche Bank Securities and J.P. Morgan Securities, in connection with the US$1.29 billion registered secondary common stock offering of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd., a leading global manufacturer, marketer and distributor of high‑performance coatings systems. The shares were listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The transaction closed on April 8, 2015 More >>

Davis Polk advised the note purchasers, exchanging noteholders and lenders in connection with the debt recapitalization of Venoco, Inc., consisting of (i) the issuance by Venoco of $175 million principal amount of 12.0% first-lien senior secured notes due 2019, (ii) the private exchange by Venoco of $194 million in principal and accrued interest of Venoco’s outstanding 8.875% senior unsecured notes due 2019 for $150.35 million in principal amount of 8.875%/12.0% PIK toggle second-lien senior secured notes due 2019 and (iii) a new $75 million secured term loan facility. Approximately $72 million of proceeds from the issuance of the first-lien secured notes were used to repay and terminate the company’s existing reserve-based revolving credit facility More >>

Global law firm Shearman & Sterling has strengthened its M&A and corporate practices—including public and private M&A, private equity, capital markets and corporate governance—with the addition of Rob Masella, who joins the firm as a partner in the New York office More >>

O’Melveny & Myers LLP is pleased to announce that Tobias L. “Toby” Knapp, an experienced mergers and acquisitions and private equity lawyer, has joined the firm’s New York office as a partner. Knapp and partner Paul Scrivano serve as co-heads of U.S. M&A and Private Equity, working with partner Steve Tonsfeldt, O’Melveny’s Global Head of M&A and Private Equity More >>

Kirkland & Ellis LLP represents Ventas, Inc. (NYSE: VTR), which announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately-owned Ardent Medical Services, Inc. (with its affiliates “Ardent Health Services”), a premier provider of health care services and one of the ten largest for-profit hospital companies in the U.S., for $1.75 billion in cash More >>

Shearman & Sterling advised The Dow Chemical Company in connection with a $5 billion revolving credit facility with Citibank, N.A., as administrative agent. More >>

Cravath represented the initial purchasers, Citigroup, BofA Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo Securities, Credit Suisse and Goldman, Sachs & Co., in connection with the US$1.8 billion 144A/Reg. S high‑yield senior debt offering of Rite Aid Corporation, the third largest retail drugstore chain in the United States at the time of the offering. Proceeds of the offering were used to finance the acquisition of EnvisionRx by Rite Aid. The transaction closed on April 2, 2015. More >>