Adding another large capital markets transaction for leading Chilean retailer Cencosud S.A., Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy has advised the company in its sale of $1 billion in 10-year bonds – the offering was increased by $200 million due to strong investor demand.

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The firm is representing TD Bank Group in connection with its announced acquisition of Epoch Holding Corporation for $28.00 per share in cash. The transaction is valued at approximately $668 million. Epoch Holding’s subsidiary, Epoch Investment Partners, Inc., provides investment management and investment advisory services to institutional, sub-advisory and high net worth clients. With the acquisition of Epoch, TD expects to add approximately $24 billion in assets under management to the $207 billion already under management by TD Asset Management. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2013, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

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Simpson Thacher represented JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. as administrative agent in connection with a $1.75 billion multi-currency revolving credit facility for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. The facility includes sub-tranches in Canadian Dollars, Euros, Pounds Sterling, Australian Dollars, Yen and Mexican Pesos which are available to be drawn by certain subsidiaries of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

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A Weil team led by New York M&A partner Michael Aiello advised the special committee of McMoRan Exploration Co.’s board of directors in the company’s $3.4 billion sale to Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX), a leading international mining company. McMoRan is an independent public company engaged in the exploration, development, and production of natural gas and oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Upon closing, McMoRan shareholders will receive a distribution of units of a royalty trust that holds a five percent overriding royalty interest on future production in McMoRan’s existing ultra-deep properties.

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Kramer Levin represented certain noteholders in connection with a private exchange of approximately $1.6 billion in various classes of outstanding Energy Future Holdings unsecured notes for approximately $1.15 billion of new unsecured notes issued by EFH’s subsidiary, Energy Future Intermediate Holdings, in a transaction which closed Wednesday, December 5.

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International law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP announced today that John Kaufmann has joined the Corporate Group in the Firm’s New York office as a Partner. Mr. Kaufmann’s practice focuses on private equity, mezzanine and venture capital fund formation and transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate finance. His clients include domestic and off-shore private equity and venture capital funds, real estate funds, Small Business Investment Companies, private investors, and companies in a variety of industries.

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Glenn Fox has joined Baker & McKenzie’s highly regarded Tax Practice as a partner in New York, bringing to the Firm over 20 years experience representing domestic and foreign clients with worldwide assets in estate, trust, tax and tax exempt matters.

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On December 5, 2012, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (“FCX”), Plains Exploration & Production Company (“PXP”) and McMoRan Exploration Co. (“MMR”) announced that they have signed definitive merger agreements under which FCX will acquire PXP for approximately $6.9 billion in cash and stock. FCX will concurrently acquire MMR for approximately $3.4 billion in cash, or $2.1 billion net of 36 percent of the MMR interests currently owned by FCX and PXP. Cravath represented JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. as lead arranger of $9.5 billion in committed financing in connection with these transactions, which are expected to close in the second quarter of 2013.

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Cravath represented the underwriters, led by Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan Securities, BofA Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and UBS Investment Bank, in connection with the US$1.1 billion registered high-yield debt offering of Raytheon Company, a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. The transaction closed on December 4, 2012.

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Paul Hastings LLP, a leading global law firm, represented the initial purchasers in connection with the initial public offering by FibraHotel on the Mexican Stock Exchange. FibraHotel is the very first lodging and very first sector specific Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) in Latin America and one of only two Mexican REITS to be utilized in the wake of a comprehensive legal overhaul in Mexico that created the “FIBRA”, a new Mexican investment vehicle, which bears many similarities to the U.S. REIT. The four-times oversubscribed offering involved the issuance of approximately $300 million in FibraHotel’s stock publicly on the Mexican Stock Exchange and internationally pursuant to Rule 144A and Regulation S. The initial purchasers involved in this transaction were J.P. Morgan and BBVA.

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