UK: get better

British healthcare giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has been advised by Atlanta law firm King & Spalding on its acquisition of Okairos, a specialist developer of vaccine platform technologies, for €250 million in cash.
Swiss-based Okairos, a private company, has developed a novel vaccine platform technology which is expected to play an important role in GSK’s development of new prophylactic vaccines (designed to prevent infection) as well as new classes of therapeutic vaccines (designed to treat infection or disease).
Partner Jack Capers (Atlanta) and senior associate Marcus Young (London) co-ordinated a cross-border team on corporate matters, while London partner Pulina Whitaker worked on employment law issues.

Germany: squeezed out

Magic circle firm Linklaters has advised German retail giant Douglas Holding in relation to the squeeze-out of the minority shareholders by way of assignment to Beauty Holding Two.
Linklaters also supported Douglas at its Annual General Meeting where the assignment resolution was passed.
The AGM approved the squeeze-out on with a 99.9375 per cent majority. Upon entry of the resolution in the commercial register, almost 50 years of Douglas Holding AG’s listing on the stock exchange will come to an end.
The Linklaters team was led by Hans-Ulrich Wilsing.

Italy: drive time

NCTM Studio Legale Associato has assisted Neumayer Tekfor Holding and its Italian subsidiary Tekfor on its sale to Amtek Global Technologies, an Indian producer of automotive components.
German group Neumayer Tekfor Holding is specialised in the design, development and production of cutting edge solutions for the automotive industry and has production plants in Germany, Italy, United States, Brazil and India.
NCTM assisted Neumayer Tekfor Holding and it’s Italian in all matters subject to Italian jurisdiction, with a team composed of Giuliano Lanzavecchia and Alice Bucolo.

Turkey: new programme

Chicago law firm Mayer Brown has advised Turkish bank Türkiye Vak?flar Bankas (VakifBank) on its $3 billion Medium Term Note (MTN) programme.
This is the first MTN set up by a Turkish issuer and programme has been listed on the Irish Stock Exchange’s regulated market but permits the issuer to issue both listed and unlisted series of notes.
The Mayer Brown team was jointly led by banking & finance partners James Taylor (London) and Jim Patti (Chicago).
Bank of America Merrill Lynch acted as the arranger for the MTN programme.

Global: get your coat

Global law firm DLA Piper and independent Italian firm NCTM Studio Legale Associato have advised on the 100 per cent acquisition of the Domenichini family’s Inver Group by The Valspar Corporation.
New York-listed Valspar, which is headquartered in Minneapolis, is a leading global manufacturer of paints and coatings.
Inver - a leading industrial coatings manufacturer in Europe - is headquartered in Bologna and has subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Poland, Russia and Greece.
DLA Piper advised The Valspar Corporation with a team led by Goffredo Guerra, partner in the Italian corporate department.
NCTM Studio Legale Associato assisted the vendor family, with a team led by senior partner Paolo Montironi.