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DLA Piper today announced that it has represented Appleton Papers in a US$675 million business combination with Hicks Acquisition Company II. Appleton is a leading manufacturer of specialty high value-added coated paper products and a provider of proprietary encapsulation applications. Hicks Acquisition Company II is a special purpose acquisition company founded and headed by Thomas O. Hicks with US$149.3 million of cash in trust. Under the terms of the proposed business combination, Hicks Acquisition Company II will invest the cash held in trust to acquire an equity interest in Appleton. Proceeds from the transaction will be used by Appleton to reduce outstanding debt, invest in the company, buy back warrants or for other general corporate purposes. The DLA Piper team was led by Neal Aizenstein (Chicago) with assistance from Andrew Weil (Chicago), Christopher Paci (New York) and Richard Ashley (Chicago).
DLA Piper is delighted to have collected the European Energy Tax Firm of the Year 2012 at the International Tax Review Awards 2012. Roderik Bouwman, DLA Piper's International Head of Tax, said: "This past year has been very strong for the Tax Group in the Energy Sector, that saw us act, alongside many of our interdependency groups, on some fantastic multi-jurisdictional tax projects. We had the opportunity to work for some very high calibre clients such as Valero Energy Corporation and Ralos New Energies AG. "This is further evidence of the great recognition we, as a team, are gaining within the tax community and further strengthens DLA Piper's offering in the Energy Sector. I would like to personally congratulate and thank, amongst others, Maricla Pennesi, Svitlana Musienko, Mark Burgess, Marcin Matyka and Mike Lebovitz who worked on the deals and the compelling submission that ultimately won us this award."
DLA Piper has won the award for Turkish law firm of the year, through its affiliation with YükselKarkınKüçük Attorney Partnership ("YKK"), at the Chambers Europe Awards for Excellence 2012 held in Amsterdam on 10 May.
This award has been presented for the first time in 2012 in recognition of the growing legal market in Turkey. DLA Piper established an office in Istanbul in 2010, having obtained the necessary approval from the Istanbul Bar, to provide advice on international and foreign law. At that time six Turkish partners from YKK became members of DLA Piper International LLP with permission from the Istanbul Bar.
Chambers awards honour outstanding law firms and legal professionals; the awards reflect both pre-eminence in key practice areas and achievements over the last 12 months, including notable work, strategic growth, excellence in client service, and contribution to the legal profession.
Murat Karkın, co-managing partner of the Istanbul office, commented: "it is a great honour to win the Chambers Europe Award. We have had a tremendous year. Providing our clients with outstanding service is our top priority and it is very pleasing to be given an award in recognition of the high quality of our work."
In response to the award, Cüneyt Yüksel, co-managing partner of the Istanbul office, said: "we are delighted to have been named Turkish law firm of the year by Chambers Europe. This award is well-deserved acknowledgment of the firm's efforts to grow into one of the leading practices in Turkey."
DLA Piper represented L88 Investments Prague 1 s.r.o., a subsidiary of L88 Companies, in its purchase of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Headquarters in Prague from a subsidiary of Orco Property Group for US$94 million.The transaction also included the negotiation and completion of a lease with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the construction of a credit facility in which William Blair served as the underwriter.
"The DLA team was fortunate to work with a client such as L88 that had the vision, knowledge and relationships to not only spearhead the project, but to see it through to fruition. The transaction is a landmark deal and its completion is a singular achievement," stated Jonathan Black, a partner in the Corporate and Finance Group of DLA Piper LLP (US). "This transaction will fit precisely within the global infrastructure platform for the L88 Companies and establish them as a leader in the development and repositioning of strategic operational assets for the government end user."
The DLA Piper team in the US served as transaction counsel for the acquisition, lease and financing, and consisted of Jonathan Black (Boston), David Glickstein (Chicago), Harry Hutton (Boston) and Andrew Sroka (Boston) in the US.
The DLA Piper team in Prague served as acquisition counsel and consisted of Jakub Adam, Marketa Paskova and Jan Rataj in Prague.
DLA Piper's Media and Entertainment team in Belgian is pleased to announce that it has been ranked number 1 in the most recent edition of the Legal 500 EMEA. The Legal 500 guide comments that "DLA Piper’s ‘exceptional’ team ‘quickly grasps its clients’ business needs and the issues impacting the industry’. Patrick Van Eecke is ‘a step ahead of the game in identifying the latest trends in technology and providing business-focused advice’. New client Belgacom recently instructed the firm in a dispute with Telenet."
DLA Piper partner Prof Dr Patrick van Eecke participated in the FOSI (Family Online Safety Institute) Brussels Forum 'Safety and Privacy in a Digital Europe - An International Perspective' at the European Parliament on 15 May 2012. Together with Lambert van Nistelrooij, Member of the European Parliament, and John Carr, Senior Expert Adviser to the United Nations (International Telecommunication Union), he has been speaking in the panel 'An International Perspective: The Current Worldwide Regulatory Landscape'. Prof. Van Eecke set the scene by putting the European online regulatory landscape in a global context. The discussion was focusing on several key topics, including parliamentary attitudes to online safety and privacy, the balance between regulation and self-regulation, and specific industry and technology solutions to online safety and their implications for privacy. During his speech he developed the notion of a dual legal framework in Europe: offline versus online and he also commented on the implications of data protection in a global perspective.
DLA Piper is announcing a number of new Group Heads for its Corporate, Employment, Pensions & Benefits (EPB), Finance & Projects, Intellectual Property & Technology (IPT) and Real Estate practices across its International (EMEA and Asia Pacific) and UK business. The changes occur following the announcement of the firm's new Executive Management Team in April 2012, which saw a number of current Group Heads move into Executive Management roles. The firm's International and UK Practice Group Heads are now as follows:
DLA Piper is pleased to announce that its Baltimore office has committed a quarter-million dollar donation to the University of Baltimore (UB) Law School for the construction of its new 12-story building projected to open in early 2013. The funds will be used for the construction of two water features that will be named after the firm, including an exterior water wall in the outdoor garden and an interior stair-step waterfall in the lobby.
“We appreciate the generous support of DLA Piper toward our new law center project,” said Robert L. Bogomolny, president of the University of Baltimore. “The firm’s recognition of the UB School of Law’s reach and impact on the region’s legal community is now a prominent and permanent part of the center, and we’re proud to see it come to fruition.” DLA Piper boasts more than 20 UB Law School alumni spread across five of its US offices, including Roger Truitt, senior counsel in DLA Piper’s Baltimore office who has served as a member of the law school Dean's Advisory Council for the past 12 years and was honored by the UB Law Alumni Association as “Alumni of the Year” in 2007. “DLA Piper has a long-standing commitment to Baltimore and with the Baltimore office being one of the foundation offices of the firm, we saw this as a wonderful opportunity to express our appreciation of UB Law and support the next generation of lawyers in Maryland,” said Paul A. Tiburzi, managing partner of DLA Piper’s Baltimore office. “We are also excited to be part of a new world-class building that will be a model for future law school buildings around the world.” In speaking on behalf of his fellow UB Law graduates, Truitt indicated that “DLA Piper and its UB Law alumni are extremely grateful for the education they received at UB Law and want to see the law school continue to grow in its service to the legal and local communities.” UB Law School is the sixth-largest public law school in the country and produces many of Maryland's leaders in the legal community. The new building began construction in August 2010 on a UB-owned parcel at the intersection of Charles Street and Mt. Royal Avenue. It will include many green design features, such as innovative air handling systems, the active capture of light and water that would otherwise go to waste and the use of recycled materials throughout the construction phase. Further information on the new building is available at: http://law.ubalt.edu/about/news/newbuilding/index.cfm.
Top transactional lawyer strengthens firm’s defense and aerospace capabilities
DLA Piper today announced that Sarah Kahn has joined the firm as a partner and co-chair of the Aerospace, Defense and Government Services Transactional practice in the Washington, DC, office.
Previously a partner at Arnold & Porter LLP, Kahn focuses her practice on cross-border mergers and acquisitions involving public and private companies, particularly those in international aerospace and defense and government services. She also assists clients on joint ventures, commercial contracts, and general corporate matters.
“Sarah is a highly successful corporate M&A lawyer and her deep experience in government contracting and national security issues will be an important complement to the firm’s growing capabilities in this area,” said Jay Smith, global co-chair of DLA Piper’s Corporate practice. “Her advanced skill set and deep pool of international contacts will be extremely valuable as defense and aerospace companies increasingly pursue opportunities in cross-border acquisition transactions.”
“Sarah is recognized as one of the foremost leaders in advising defense contractors involved in complex transactions,” said Rusty Conner, managing partner of DLA Piper’s Washington, DC, office. “She will provide great leadership for the firm’s Aerospace, Defense and Government Services Transactional practice as well as our growing Washington, DC, office.”
Kahn earned a J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
A DLA Piper team led by Richard Flaggert (Boston) and including Frank Ryan (New York); and Nick Fitzpatrick, Patrick Mitchell, and Tom Russell (London) represented ESPN, Inc. in connection with a global bid process for the expansion of the Global X GAMES action/sports franchise, culminating in the naming of three winning host cities on May 2. Barcelona, Spain, Munich, Germany, and Foz Do Iguacu, Brazil will host X GAMES events each year from 2013 to 2016, alongside existing events in Aspen, Los Angeles, Tignes (France), and China. The DLA Piper team developed and ran a bid process paralleling that of FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which began with more than 40 local organizing committee/bidders in April, 2011. Services included the creation of bid manuals and event guides, working with bidders at bid workshops, and drafting the host city agreement used as the basis for negotiations. Following submission of bid books on January 2, the team advised ESPN on the selection of nine finalists announced at Winter X GAMES in Aspen, CO, on January 29. In addition to the three cities ultimately selected, finalists included: Lisbon, Portugal; Quintana Roo, Mexico; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Santiago, Chile; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Whistler, British Columbia. The year-long process culminated in several weeks of round-the-clock negotiations with finalists on the terms of the host city agreements, including revenue share, intellectual property matters, sponsorship, tax, facility and venue issues, performance guarantees, and financial securities for ESPN. Additional support and counsel in various bidder jurisdictions was provided by Dr. Kai Tumbrägel and Guido Kleve (Cologne); Diego Ramos (Madrid); and Roberto Barros and Jorge Barbieri-Gallo (Sao Paulo).
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