Taylor Wessing has advised its client Rutland Partners on its £85m acquisition of Maplin Electronics.
Maplin, the electronics specialist retail chain, is an iconic brand with a tech-savvy customer base. Having started in 1972 as a small mail order business, Maplin has grown considerably over the years and has established itself as a national electronics chain with over 210 stores across the UK and Ireland.
Hogan Lovells has advised Vodafone Global Enterprise Limited on its Euro 145 million (£115 million) voluntary tender offer for the entire ordinary issued share capital of Cobra Automotive Technologies S.p.A. (Cobra), listed on Italy's Telematic Share Market managed by Borsa Italiana S.p.A. The offer was announced on 16 June 2014 and marks Vodafone's first public tender offer in Italy.
DLA Piper represented Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Florida (Florida Blue) in its agreement to sell affiliate Comp Options Insurance Company, Inc. (OptaComp) to AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. The deal is expected to close in the fall of 2014.
OptaComp is a Florida-based, workers’ compensation insurer that works with small businesses with low-hazard risk profiles.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is advising London Stock Exchange Group plc (“LSEG”) on its $2.7bn acquisition of Russell Investments from Northwestern Mutual and on its related $1.6bn rights issue. The transaction represents a rare opportunity for LSEG to acquire a high quality US business with a leading global brand providing index and investment management services.
Simpson Thacher is representing Avago Technologies Limited (NASDAQ: AVGO) in connection with its agreement to acquire all of the outstanding shares of PLX Technology, Inc.
Slaughter and May, working with Norwegian firm BA-HR, advised Det norske oljeselskap ASA on the acquisition of Marathon Oil Norway from Marathon Oil Corp in a transaction that values Marathon Oil Norway at US$ 2.7 billion. The transaction, announced on 2 June 2014, is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to complete in Q4 2014.
Marathon Oil Norway owns 13 licence interests (10 operated) on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and had net production of approximately 80,000 boe per day in 2013.
Ashurst advised US private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management on the €225 million acquisition of Cimenta2 by its real estate asset management fund Haya Real Estate. Cimenta2 is the real estate asset management division of Spain's Cajamar banking group.
The deal gives Haya Real Estate control of Cimenta2 and its professional team. Under the terms of the deal, the properties will remain on Cajamar's balance sheet but Haya will manage its €7.3 billion real estate loan portfolio for a period of 10 years.
Burges Salmon has advised the management of Ministry of Cake on its recent buyout. The management team of Ministry of Cake has agreed terms with listed food producer Greencore Group plc to acquire the business. The team is supported by private equity provider LDC, which is part of the Lloyds Banking Group.
Ministry of Cake has been a part of Greencore since 2008, and has seen its revenues rise to £25 million over that period.
Norton Rose Fulbright advises AnaCap on its buyout of AssurOne Group, a leading French digital broker dedicated to personal insurance
Baker & McKenzie is advising Meibah International GmbH, an acquisition vehicle controlled by Miaocheng Guo, the CEO of the Meikai Group (headquartered in Hangzhou, China) on the public takeover of Schumag Aktiengesellschaft. The public takeover will be implemented by way of a voluntary public tender offer to all Schumag shareholders and was publicly announced on June 10, 2014.