Shearman instructed on Yates pub group acquisition

Shearman & Sterling London, led by corporate partner Adrian Knight, advised property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz and his T20 vehicle on its £202m acquisition of the Yates pub group. Yates was a listed wine bar chain until last year, when it was taken private by private equity fund GI Partners. CMS Cameron McK-enna, which advised on the take-private, acted for sellers Thorium.

Pinsents oversees selloff of Midlands Co-op Dairies

Pinsent Masons has advised Midlands Co-operative Society for the first time on the £20m sale of its dairy business to Dairy Crest. Corporate partner Linda Crow led on the deal, which saw Midlands Co-op Dairies transfer its Birmingham dairy processing plant to Dairy Crest. Eversheds acted for the buyers. Depots in Oxford, Farringdon and Thame are likely to close due to the sale.

Osborne Clarke sees Topland through Thistle Hotels dealOsborne Clarke advised Topland Group on its £185m sale-and-leaseback of six hotels to Thistle. The portfolio comprises hotels in Euston, Hyde Park, Piccadilly, Barbican, Bloomsbury and Edinburgh, which have been let to the Thistle operating companies (supported by a guarantee from Thistle Hotel Limited) on 30-year leases, with fixed increases for the first 15 years. Bank of Scotland, which provided finance for the deal, was advised by Eversheds. Norton Rose acted for Thistle.

Freshfields, Milbank bag sale of Scottish Power subsidiary

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy are advising Scottish Power on the sale of its US energy subsidiary PacifiCorp to MidAmerican Energy Holdings for $9.4bn (£5.14bn). Scottish Power intends to return approximately $4.5bn (£2.46bn) of the net proceeds to shareholders following the completion of the sale. MidAmerican is being advised by Herbert Smith and Willkie Farr & Gallagher.