IFLR1000's selection of deal announcements this August shows us that it has been—barring a few notable exceptions—a fairly sedate month with representation across a range of sectors, but with the biggest impact in the technology, pharmaceuticals, energy and government and public policy industries.

Uber Technologies—a San Francisco-based riding-hailing firm—sold its China operations to rival Didi Chuxing, China's leading ride-hailing service, after losing $2 billion in China in the past two years; and Greenko Investment Company issued $500 million 4.875% senior notes due 2023 that are guaranteed by Greenko Energy Holdings—the offering being India’s first ever high yield green bond issuance.

Davis Polk & Wardwell topped the value tables and there is no doubt that its advice to Uber Technologies in its $35 billion disposal played a significant role, while elite US firm Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz continued its strong showing for the second month running in a category known for fluctuations. Kirkland & Ellis also led the table in deal volume with 26 deals in August, which was its second month in a row at the top.

Elsewhere we saw the Republic of Poland issue a Rmb3 billion three-year 3.4% bond—known as a Panda bond—on the Chinese domestic market, which was the first yuan renminbi denominated issue by a European sovereign on the Chinese market. There were also a couple of high value pharmaceutical deals with Pfizer’s $14 billion acquisition of cancer drug pharmaceutical company Medivation, and GlaxoSmithKline and Verily Life Sciences, owned by Google holding company Alphabet, £540 million joint venture to research ways of fighting disease through electronic implants—an interesting combination of the life sciences with the highly influential technology industry.

If you have any public deal announcements you would like us to take into account for our reports please send them to - amajeed@iflr1000.com

It’s almost time for the launch of IFLR1000’s Deals Database since the BETA version went live in May. The fully searchable database of significant deal records will go live in October and will include searchable and filterable data on the most significant legal transactions from around the globe, and all of our featured monthly deals will be included along with many more garnered from the IFLR1000's own research, press releases and other deal announcements.
Below you can access our top picks for August 2016 linked to their record in the new Deals Database.

Adam Majeed - Asia-Editor

 

Mergermarket table 1 - Law firms by global M&A deal value

Mergermarket table 2 - Law firms by global M&A deal volume

 

Deal 1: Avril Group €880 million financing 

Jurisdictions: France

Deal type: Corporate finance, Securitisation

Industry sectors: Industrials and manufacturing, Agriculture  

Deal 2: Bancomext $700 million note issuance 

Jurisdictions: Mexico

Deal type: Investment grade bond/note issue 

Industry sectors: Banking

Deal 3: China Life Insurance/GIC $1.4 billion acquisition of minority stake in Joy City  

Jurisdictions: China, Hong Kong

Deal type: Fund formation, Private acquisition

Industry sectors: Real Estate 

Deal 4: Didi Chuxing $35 billion acquisition of Uber's China assets 

Jurisdictions: China

Deal type: Public acquisition

Industry sectors: Consumer goods and services, Technology and telecommunications 

Deal 5: Emerson Electric $3.15 billion acquisition of Pentair valves and control business 

Jurisdictions: United States, Switzerland, United Kingdom

Deal type: Public acquisition

Industry sectors: Energy, Industrials and manufacturing 

Deal 6: Ezurum 99.5MW Hydro Power Project 

Jurisdictions: Czech Republic, Turkey

Deal type: Project development, Project finance

Industry sectors: Energy 

Deal 7: Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg €2.2 billion refinancing 

Jurisdictions: Germany

Deal type: Refinancing

Industry sectors: Aviation, Social infrastructure 

Deal 8: GlaxoSmithKline and Verily Life Sciences £540 million Galvani Bioelectronics joint venture 

Jurisdictions: United States, United Kingdom

Deal type: Joint venture

Industry sector: Pharmaceuticals and life sciences, Technology and telecommunications 

Deal 9: Greenko Investment Company $500 million high yield green bond issue  

Jurisdictions: India

Deal type: High-yield bond/note issue

Industry sectors: Energy 

Deal 10: Iluka Resources £215 million acquisition of Sierra Rutile 

Jurisdictions: Australia, United Kingdom, Sierra Leone

Deal type: Public acquisition 

Industry sectors: Mining 

Deal 11: NXP Semiconductors $1 billion senior notes issue

Jurisdictions: Netherlands, United States

Deal type: High-yield bond/note issue

Industry sectors: Industrials and manufacturing

Deal 12: Pfizer $14 billion acquisition of Medivation 

Jurisdictions: United States

Deal type: Public acquisition 

Industry sectors: Pharmaceuticals and life sciences 

Deal 13: Republic of Poland Rmb3 billion sovereign 'panda' bond issue 

Jurisdictions: China, Hong Kong, Poland

Deal type: Investment grade bond/note issue, Sovereign bond issue

Industry sectors: Government and public policy 

Deal 14: Vinci Highways $1.37 billion acquisition of Linea Amarilla 

Jurisdictions: Brazil, Peru

Deal type: Public acquisition

Industry sectors: Transport

 

IFLR1000 Reporters:

Sam Duke - Editor

Adam Majeed - Asia-Pacific Editor

Ben Naylor - EMEA Editor

John Crabb - Journalist EMEA

Jon Moore - Journalist EMEA

Wai Yee Tsang - Journalist Asia-Pacific

Rani Mehta - Journalist Latin America

Kurt Stumpo - Journalist - North America and the Caribbean