CMS Cameron McKenna (Andrew Ivison) advised Barclays, Abbey National Treasury Services, Bank of America and Bank of Scotland, the lead arrangers on a £600m bond refinancing of a credit facility. The facility was underwritten in 2001 for the Airline Group’s acquisition of the Government’s 46 per cent interest in National Air Traffic Services. MBIA Assurance, represented by Allen & Overy, guaranteed the bond issue. Lovells advised National Air Traffic Services and Slaughter and May acted for the Government. Richards Butler advised the Civil Aviation Authority.
Linklaters (Patrick Fontaine) acted for sponsor China National Offshore Oil Corporation in the financing of a petrochemical plant in Guangzhou, China. The plant is a joint venture between Royal Dutch/Shell, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation and Guangdong Investment & Development Company. With a total investment cost of $4.46bn (£2.83bn), it is the largest limited recourse financing in China to date. Latham & Watkins advised the commercial banks and Allen & Overy advised the project company, while Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer acted for the Export Credit Agencies.

Clifford Chance (Alistair McGillivray, Geert van der Klis) advised ABN Amro on the restructuring of debt in the Mikron Group. The restructuring consisted of the repayment of term debt with debt from syndicated banks and a notes issue. The restructuring was part of a larger programme whereby a group of Swiss investors acquired a controlling majority in Mikron and injected around SFr100m (£45m) of new equity into the company by way of a captial increase.

Memery Crystal (Alex Read) acted for pharmaceutical company Futura Medical on a £1.7m fund raising and its subsequent introduction on AIM.
Davis Polk & Wardell (Francis Currie) advised the initial purchasers on electronic design technologies, methodology services and design services provider Cadence Design Systems’ offering of $420m (£267m) of convertible notes due in 2023 and its concurrent convertible matched bond and option securities transactions.