Search results for

UK retail group WH Smith has sold its Waterstones book chain to a joint venture between UK's EMI Group and US Advent International for £300 million (US$495 million) in cash. The company, known as HMV Media Group, will also acquire EMI's HMV music retail group and Dillons bookshops. It is expected to rank as one of Europe's leading retailers of books, music, computer games and videos. Linklaters & Paines, London, advised WH Smith. Lead partner was corporate specialist Mark Stamp. Also involved were partners Ian Karet (intellectual property) and Bill Allan (competition). Titmuss Sainer Dechert, London, provided property advice to WH Smith.

UK brewing and leisure group Bass agreed on February 20 to buy Inter-Continental Hotels and Resorts for £1.78 billion (US$2.9 billion). The acquisition gives Bass a leading global position in the luxury hotel market and complements its mid-market Holiday Inns operation. Under the deal, by which it beat its rival, US hotel group Marriott International, Bass will pay US$1.4 billion in cash, repay US$450 million in debt, and assume a further US$1.1 billion in debt. If US and EU regulators approve, the takeover could be completed by March 31. Davis Polk & Wardwell, New York, advised Bass in the US; the team included corporate partners Paul Kingsley, Patrick Dore, and Michael Mollerus. UK counsel was Linklaters & Paines, London, led by corporate partners David Cheyne and Christopher Johnson-Gilbert. Representing Inter-Continental Hotels and Resorts, and its owner, the Saison group of Japan, was US firm Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, New York. UK counsel was Stephenson Harwood in London.

Chilean companies are no longer able to supply all the finance they need domestically. This article explains how they can raise money through Eurobonds. By Ignacio Arteaga-Echeverria and Cristian Herrera-Barriga of Cariola Abogados, Santiago

Taking of evidence in Switzerland for a trial abroad is governed by three different bodies of law:

US firm Davis Polk & Wardwell is representing Aetna in its acquisition of New York Life Insurance. New York Life is being advised by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, New York. Aetna has agreed to pay an initial US$1 billion in cash for New York Life, with contractual payments of up to US$300 million if earning targets are met. The Davis Polk & Wardwell lawyers who are working on this deal include corporate partners Lewis Kaden, David Caplan and tax partner Po Sit. In New York, Skadden Arps's team includes mergers and acquisitions partners Jeffrey Tindell and Robert Sullivan. Also in New York are partners Michael Weiner (antitrust), Stuart Levi (IP) and Neil Liff (employment). In Chicago, Louis Freeman is handling the tax issues.

Philadelphia-based Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP is set to face legal action in Indonesia related to its office there and the hiring of a new partner for the firm. A leading Jakarta firm, Makarim & Taira S, is preparing to sue the US firm because it claims the firm's Jakarta office, PT ML&B Indonesia, operates outside the regime for foreign legal firms. Makarim & Taira is also preparing to sue the laterally hired partner. The moves put at risk Morgan Lewis's estimated US$5 million in billings for Indonesian matters. In January 1998 Morgan Lewis offered a partnership in its international section to Michael Hooton, a New York-qualified Canadian national who was working as a foreign legal consultant at Makarim & Taira. Hooton is due to join the firm shortly.

The Netherlands has produced plans for a special court to rule on disputes over corporate control. This marks the first step to dismantling anti-takeover devices. By Christian Huiskes of Derks.Star Busmann.Hanotiau, Utrecht

US securities authorities are issuing guidance for broker-dealers on the use of new technology in their business. This article summarizes that guidance in five key areas. By Morris Simkin of Winston & Strawn, New York

A common belief is that privatization is nearing an end in Poland as the market matures. Stephen Mulrenan discovers that opportunities still exist in this sector, as well as now in many others

• New York-based Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft has added a further six solicitors to its London office. James Roome, formerly a corporate insolvency partner at Simmons & Simmons, becomes a partner; the other five are at the associate level. They are Yvette Croucher (formerly of Simmons & Simmons), Linda Davies (from Norton Rose), Richard East (from Baker & McKenzie), Seamus Gray (insolvency; from Bannister's) and Sarah Squires (capital markets and tax; from Linklaters & Paines). The total number of solicitors signed up to the firm is now 16.