Deal represents the largest European buyout to date in 2018.

Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a leading global, independent infrastructure investor, has announced that its third equity fund, Global Infrastructure Partners III, has agreed to acquire 100 percent of the equity interest of Italian railway operator Italo – Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori S.p.A. (Italo) for Euro 1.94 billion in cash.

Baker McKenzie represented Severgroup, a company managing investments on behalf of Mr. Alexey Mordashov, in connection with the acquisition of a controlling share in the capital of AVA-Peter Ltd., the owner of the “AVA-Peter” and “Scandinavia” clinics.
 
The Baker McKenzie team was led by Moscow partner Sergey Krokhalev with key input from associates Robert Gray, Igor Kungurov, Fedor Mukhodanov and Roman Ishmukhametov.
 

Orrick’s Paris team is advising private equity fund Advent International on its acquisition of Circet Groupe, a leader in the French telecommunications infrastructure market.

Advent International has entered into exclusive negotiations with CM-CIC, Circet Groupe’s major shareholder, along with Omnes Capital and the company’s founders and management team.

Our team includes Charles Briand, Margaux Azoulay and Rudy Marouani on tax aspects; and Diane Lamarche, Anne-Sophie Kerfant, Patrick Tardivy and Emmanuel Benard on the management package aspects.

Paul Hastings LLP, a leading global law firm, announced that it has advised Madison Energy, a division of Chicago-based Madison Industries, on the acquisition of the Centek Group.

Centek Group specializes in the development of engineering solutions for the world’s toughest casing running environments and is a world leading designer and manufacturer of centralizers, primarily for the oil and gas industry.

Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised Gruppo DentalPro (DP Group S.p.A), Italy's leading dental services provider which is controlled by private equity fund BC Partners, on its acquisition of Italian dental clinic group Doctor Dentist from its founding shareholders.

The White & Case team in Milan which advised on the transaction was led by partners Leonardo Graffi and Iacopo Canino, together with associates Alessandro Seganfreddo and Sara Scapin, and lawyer Mariasole Maschio.

Hogan Lovells represented Elastagen Pty Ltd., a clinical stage company developing medical device products based on recombinant tropoelastin, in its acquisition by Allergan, a leading global biopharmaceutical company.

Under the terms of the agreement, Sydney, Australia-based Elastagen will receive an upfront payment of about $95 million plus contingent payments of up to $165 million. Completion of the transition is subject to customary closing conditions, including review by Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board.

A cross-border team from global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright is advising US-based medtech giant Varian Medical Systems, Inc. on its proposed AU$1.58 billion acquisition of all of the issued share capital of ASX-listed life sciences company Sirtex Medical Limited, currently the largest takeover deal announced in Australia for 2018.

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW“) has advised Bremen-based ZEABORN Group (“ZEABORN”) on its acquisition of E.R. Schiffahrt, from its parent E.R. Group, which is owned by Mr Erck Rickmers.

E.R. Schiffahrt is a dedicated ship management company with offices in Hamburg, Singapore, Hong Kong, Cyprus and the Philippines. Ship broker a, a subsidiary of E.R. Group, was also acquired by ZEABORN as part of this transaction.

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW“) has advised Bremen-based ZEABORN Group (“ZEABORN”) on its acquisition of E.R. Schiffahrt, from its parent E.R. Group, which is owned by Mr Erck Rickmers.

E.R. Schiffahrt is a dedicated ship management company with offices in Hamburg, Singapore, Hong Kong, Cyprus and the Philippines. Ship broker Harper Petersen, a subsidiary of E.R. Group, was also acquired by ZEABORN as part of this transaction.