Bingham McCutchen (James Roome, Brian Keeler) advised Huntsman Advance Material in its acquisition of Luxembourg chemical company Vantico’s debt notes for e360m (£250m) in cash and swapped notes for 100 per cent of Vantico’s shares. Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom also acted for Huntsman. Allen & Overy represented Vantico.

Travers Smith Braithwaite (Chris Hale, Mark Soundy, Spencer Summerfield) acted for Soldier in the purchase of Hamleys’ entire issued and to-be-issued ordinary share capital for £47.5m by Soldier and the management team. Allen & Overy also represented Soldier. Denton Wilde Sapte advised Hamleys.

Withers (Penny Elliott) advised Rocco Forte Hotels in its joint venture with Bank of Scotland Corporate Banking to purchase Brown’s Hotel from Raffles Holding for £51.5m. Bank of Scotland is providing debt and equity. Baker & McKenzie represented Brown’s Hotel, with Maclay Murray & Spens advising Bank of Scotland Corporate Banking.
Allen & Overy (Patrick Speller, Alistair Lindsay) acted for UK packaging firm Rexam in its acquisition of Nancanco for e55m (£38.2m). The consideration consists of e5m (£3.5m) in cash and assumed debt of e50m (£34.7m). Nancanco advised in-house.

Hammonds (William Downs, Robert Craft, Claire Joyner) represented the Co-Operative Group in its purchase of Balfour Convenience Stores from its management and 3i for £30m in cash. Blake Lapthorn advised Balfour Convenience Stores.
Clifford Chance (Guy Norman) represented newco Chelsea in its offer to acquire Chelsea Village for an equity value of £60m, with a total enterprise value of £150m. Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom also advised Chelsea. Denton Wilde Spate acted for Chelsea Village.
contacts
As well as weekly listings, The Lawyer Deals includes a rotating focus on different sectors:
21 July: Corporate
28 July: Finance
4 August: Corporate
11 August: Real estate
18 August: Germany
If you have deals you would like to be considered for inclusion, please fax them to: The Lawyer Deals, 020 7970 4640.
Alternatively, contact the reporters direct:
Corporate: Dearbail Jordan, dearbail.jordan@thelawyer.com, or Helen Power, helen.power @thelawyer.com
Finance: Julia Cahill, julia.cahill@thelawyer.com
Real estate & projects: Emma Vere-Jones, emma. vere-jones@thelawyer.com