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Nestlé, the Swiss consumer products group, will pay £715 million to Dalgety, the UK food group, for its Spillers pet food business. The deal, subject to regulatory clearance, will give Nestlé 20% of Europe's branded pet food market. It is Nestlé's biggest acquisition since the 1992 purchase of Perrier, the French mineral water group. Two UK firms are working on the deal. Freshfields advise Nestlé while Slaughter and May advise Dalgety. Freshfield's corporate partner Julian Francis is leading the team, which includes partners Francis Sandison (tax), Nick Spearing (antitrust), Nick Carter (intellectual property) and Mark Wheelhouse (property).

Bell Atlantic has launched a US$2.4 billion convertible bond. The five-year deal is the largest international equity-linked offering to date. Bell could not sell shares direct because of US regulations which prohibited an equity offering within two years of its merger with Nynex, the New York telephone company, last year. The bonds, which were distributed largely to non-US investors, will be exchangeable into Bell's 25% stake in New Zealand Telecom after 18 months. Davis Polk & Wardwell advised the lead managers, SBC Warburg. Davis Polk's team was led by capital markets partners Winthrop Conrad in New York and Sandy Whitman in London.

The eastern European offices of Philadelphia-based Pepper, Hamilton & Scheetz are to join New York's Coudert Brothers. Coudert thereby increases its east European practice with the addition of an office in Almaty, Kazakstan and bolsters its position in Moscow and St Petersburg, enlarging its offices in both cities to incorporate Pepper Hamilton's personnel. It remains unclear whether Pepper Hamilton will retain its sole remaining office outside the US in London. The London office had been headed by partner Sally March, who shared her time between London and St Petersburg.

The Fed has proposed changes to Regulation K which liberalize the rules governing expansion in the US for international banks. By Connie Friesen and David Nissenbaum of Richards & O’Neil LLP, New York

Federal Mogul, the global automobile parts manufacturer, announced on January 12 its plans to purchase Fel-Pro, a privately owned manufacturer, for US$720 million. The transaction includes US$225 million in common stock and US$495 million in cash. The deal will make the combined company a single source for engine-dealing systems, considered vital for auto-parts makers as the industry consolidates. Advising Federal-Mogul on all corporate aspects of the deal is Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, New York. Lead partner is M&A specialist William Groll. Also involved is the Chicago office of Baker & McKenzie, advising on tax issues. Representing Fel-Pro is Katten Muchin & Zavis, Chicago. Lead partner is corporate specialist David Shavitz.

US firm Steel Hector & Davis, based in Florida, is to form an association with Brazilian firm Moreira Lima & Royster. The move highlights foreign firms' growing interest in establishing a presence in Brazil. Moreira Lima has offices in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Moreira Lima was created in late 1997 after two lawyers, Eduardo Moreira Lima and Michael Royster, left Brazilian firm Garcia & Keener Advogados. Joseph Pallot, partner at Steel Hector, says it provides his firm with an opportunity. "We had been looking at entering the Brazilian market since late 1996," he says. "Brazil is Florida's number one trading partner."

English law recognizes both legal interests (eg the interest of a registered holder of shares) and equitable interests (eg the interest of a beneficiary in shares held on his behalf under a trust). Although the High Court has had jurisdiction to enforce rules of both common law and equity for over 120 years, whether a rule has its origins in law or equity may be significant now. Two recent decisions of the Court of Appeal demonstrate this.

Despite some growing pains, Russia is still the world’s favourite emerging market. Moscow is the place to be thanks to a wealth of large potential clients and a market still short of lawyers. Nick Ferguson reports

Recent delegation of powers from the CFTC to the NFA should lead to faster approval of non-US entities to engage in futures trades with US customers. By Michael S Sackheim of Brown & Wood LLP, New York

Finland's two largest energy companies are to merge. Imatra Power, the state-owned power generator, will join with Neste Oy, the partially privatized oil company. After EU merger clearance, minority shareholdings will be transformed into shares in the new holding company, IVO-Neste Group. The company will have a combined turnover of approximately FIM55 billion (US$10 billion) and will list on the Helsinki stock exchange. Full privatization is likely to follow. The government holds stakes of 95.6% in IVO and 83% in Neste. Gasum, Nesté's natural gas joint venture with Gazprom, will not be included in the merged company. The Ministry of Trade and Industry and IVO-Neste have appointed Finnish firm Roschier-Holmberg & Waselius as legal adviser. The firm's team comprises partners Tomas Lindholm, head of the capital markets group, and Gunnar Westerlund, head of the tax group.