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Dutch pharmaceutical and chemicals company Akzo Nobel has launched a Dm1 billion ($604 million) Eurobond, one of the first by a single-A credit rated company since the devaluation of the Russian rouble in August and the following credit crisis. The offering is also the first Akzo Nobel has made in the Deutschmark market. Senior banking associate, Grant Jenkins, of Dutch law firm Loeff Claeys Verbeke represented the lead managers ABN Amro (Germany) and Warburg Dillon Read.

Oryx Energy and Kerr-McGee have announced plans to merge in a deal worth $4 billion. The combined company will be the fourth largest oil exploration and production company in the US. It will have the equivalent of one billion barrels of oil reserves in oil and gas and an enterprise value of $6 billion. The Kerr-McGee/Oryx merger will consist of a tax free pooling of assets including debt and stock. Oryx shareholders will receive Kerr-McGee stock valued at about $1.8 billion. Kerr-McGee will assume about $1.3 billion of Oryx debt. The new company will be called Kerr-McGee.

As consolidation in the Swiss legal market continues, lawyers are divided over the need to look beyond national boundaries. Stephen Mulrenan reports from Zurich and Geneva

Freshfields of the UK and Germany's Deringer Tessin Herrmann & Sedemund have signed an agreement to associate formally with 40-lawyer Austrian firm Wolf Theiss & Partners. The firms have agreed to share resources and refer clients where necessary, as well as to exchange lawyers and form cross-firm practice groups. Partner Richard Wolf of Wolf Theiss explains: "We were in talks with Deringer when they were also talking to Freshfields, so we were able to seize the opportunity of doing something with both of them."

Allen & Overy has formally announced that its link with French firm Gide Loyrette Nouel is over. The two firms say they remain good friends and will continue to refer work to each other when appropriate. The third firm in the relationship, Loeff Claeys Verbeke, will continue its association with both firms. The link has ended owing to Allen & Overy's wish to build up its own French legal capability as reported in the November issue of IFLR.

The consolidation of the South African legal market continues with the merger of three firms Bowman Gilfillan Hayman Godfrey, John & Kernic and Findlay & Tait. The 60 partner new firm Bowman Gilfillan will be one of the largest in the jurisdiction. Senior partner Peter James of John & Kernic says: "Traditionally clients have used us for their intellectual property work and other firms for other aspects of business law. Now we'll be able to offer a fuller service. The major international clients also look more closely at larger firms."

The government has announced the merger of the Stock Exchange of Singapore (SES) and the Singapore International Monetary Exchange (Simex).

US firm Shaw Pittman Potts & Trowbridge has opened a London office. The office plans to take advantage of a gap it has identified in the London market for specialist advice in the negotiation and structuring of technology transactions and outsourcing. The firm, which already has 100 attorneys in the US practising technology, decided to expand its practice into Europe to meet the needs of its existing UK and US clients and to attract new clients. Paul Mickey, managing partner of Shaw Pittman, explains: "London is the centre for financial transactions in Europe. The types of institutions with technology needs are clustered here."

Meredith Brown, Giselle Hantz and Scott Budlong of Debevoise & Plimpton, New York and London analyze the conflict between US regulation and the UK’s City Code in the light of the SEC’s cross-border proposals

• New York's Brown & Wood has added two lawyers from Baltimore-based Piper & Marbury to form a new Korean practice. Jaemin Park and Jay Cohen both join the firm's Washington DC office as partners. • The Washington DC office of Chicago's Sidley & Austin has added White House associate counsel Karen Popp as a partner. Popp will work in the firm's corporate crime, internal investigations and commercial litigation practices. She has worked at the White House for the last two years, advising congressional and grand jury investigations.