Weil, Gotshal & Manges has advised Apax Partners, who held a 47.7% stake in metaGen Pharmaceuticals GmbH, the German biotechnology company, on the merger of metaGen and Astex Technology Limited, the Cambridge-based biotechnology company. The merged company will operate under the name of Astex Technology Limited. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. This […]

United States Attorney Debra W. Yang announced today the appointment of Assistant United States Attorney Cynthia Valenzuela to serve as District Election Officer for the Central District of California. In this capacity AUSA Valenzuela will lead the efforts of her office in connection with the Justice Department’s Election Day Program for the upcoming elections on

On Friday, Oct. 24, 2003, a jury in a Texas state court awarded $70.4 million to Anglo-Dutch Petroleum International Inc. and Anglo-Dutch (Tenge) LLC against Halliburton Energy Services Inc., and Scottish-based Ramco Energy plc, and Ramco Oil Ltd. for violating confidentiality contracts, causing severe damage to Anglo-Dutch. Anglo-Dutch was represented by John M. O’Quinn of

Sidley Austin Brown & Wood has acted as international counsel in relation to a US$310 million convertible bond offering by China Development Financial Holding Corporation Limited (CDFH), a Taiwan-based financial holding company. The transaction, which is CDFH’s second international convertible bond offering, was completed on September 15, 2003. Sidley’s Hong Kong-based corporate finance team, which

LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell today announced that it has reached an agreement with MSN to be the exclusive provider of content that powers the new “Locate a Lawyer” link on the MSN.com home page. With more than 84 million unique users each month, MSN is the most popular site on the Internet (Nielsen/NetRatings, September 2003) and provides

Leading commercial law firm Phillips Fox advised Melbourne-based crane company BOOM Logistics Limited on six acquisitions in the lead up to its initial public offering on October 14. Over the last five months, Phillips Fox undertook due diligence inquiries in relation to the six acquisitions of mobile crane businesses in Western Australia, Victoria, New South

Herbert Smith advised Somatra Limited, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabian owned company ABT International Limited, in fending off an appeal by City law firm Sinclair Roche & Temperley (“SRT”). SRT had appealed against the award of approximately $5 million in damages to Somatra by Mr Justice Morison in July 2002. The firm’s total liability, including

Two officials of a defunct Fullerton environmental clean-up company were indicted today on federal charges of abandoning asbestos- and lead-contaminated wastes in violation of the Clean Air Act. The case involves Remtech Restoration Corporation, which engaged in the business of the removal and disposal of asbestos-containing material from commercial structures. Approximately 800 bags of illegally

Global law firm Clifford Chance advised International Power plc on a new three-year unsecured US$450 million (£271 million) Corporate Revolver facility with its core relationship banks. The new facility will be available for general corporate purposes and replaces the existing US$540 million (£325 million) facility, which expires in October 2004. International Power has renewed this

A podiatrist who operates in Orange and Los Angeles Counties has been indicted on charges of fraudulently billing Medicare more than $600,000 for procedures that were never performed. The foot doctor is accused of, among other things, submitting bills for procedures he claimed to have performed on patients with no legs. Robert Ken Kasamatsu, 41,