William Fry advised Future Finance Loan Corporation Limited, a Dublin company which provides loans to students in Europe using big data algorithms to assess their credit-worthiness, on their recent funding round of nearly €150m. This included €23.8m in Series B equity and €125m towards future loans made through the platform.

This new funding round will assist Future Finance in providing more loans to students in their main markets of the UK and Germany and will allow them to undertake a European expansion.

Matheson advises Funding Circle on the European Investment Bank's first investment in UK marketplace lending

Matheson acted as Irish legal and tax counsel advising Funding Circle in connection with the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) £100 million investment in loans to UK SMEs. This investment is to be originated through Funding Circle’s online marketplace lending platform by an Irish financing company. The transaction is the first marketplace lending investment by the EIB.

Stuttgart – SME holding company Capcellence has taken a 49% stake in the international Argo-Hytos Group as part of a capital increase. The transaction was conducted via an investment vehicle formed especially for this purpose. The founder family, Kienzle, retains a 51% shareholding in the Switzerland-based Argo-Hytos Group. The transaction has already been completed.

Shanghai - Paul Hastings LLP, a leading global law firm, announced today that it has represented Ping An Fund in its acquisition of a 47.4% interest in New York Stock Exchange-listed AutoHome from Telstra for US$1.6 billion.

Mayer Brown JSM acted as the international legal advisor to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) on its investment in a US$830 million greenfield ammonia plant in Sulawesi, Indonesia, which achieved financial close this week.

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Allianz SE on its acquisition of Zurich Insurance Company Ltd’s Moroccan subsidiary. The purchase price was approximately €244m. The transaction is expected to be complete by the end of 2016, following regulatory approvals.

Statkraft Ventures GmbH led a Series-A financing round with participation of VNT Management and One Creation. In this round the Swiss start-up DEPsys raised CHF 3 million in total.
Statkraft Ventures GmbH regularly invests in promising start-ups in the energy sector. DEPsys’ smart grid solutions monitors and controls the network in real-time to stabilize the system, secure the supply and optimize the energy flow using intelligent algorithms.

Paul Hastings LLP, a leading global law firm, announced today that it represented Ping An ZQ China Growth Opportunity Limited (“Ping An ZQ China Growth Opportunity”) in a $210 million strategic investment in consumer beauty products company Nu Skin Enterprises. Ping An ZQ China Growth Opportunity consists of a consortium of experienced Chinese investors led by Ping An of China Securities (Hong Kong) Company Ltd and a group of additional investors affiliated with ZQ Capital Limited.

International legal practice Osborne Clarke has advised Highland Capital Europe on its $30m investment in global software company Condeco.

The investment by Highland Capital Europe enables the workplace management technology company to accelerate its expansion across the US, Europe, and Asia.

The Osborne Clarke team that advised on the financing was led by Partner Rob Wood and Senior Associate Caroline Drummond, who were assisted by Associate Katie Carter.

DLA Piper has advised the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, commissioned by the German government, on the formation of an energy efficiency fund in Ukraine.