In Brief – March 2014

• A group of firms including Davis Polk and Willkie Farr & Gallagher advised on a £27bn (USD45bn) all-stock deal to combine the two biggest cable providers in the US. Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison and Skadden Arps Meagher & Flom were also involved in the merger, which will create a pay TV and broadband giant with about 30m subscribers across the country. The deal comes after months of wrangling between Time Warner Cable and smaller cable operator Charter Communications. 
• Ashurst picked up the mandate to advise Crossrail on its decision to award a £1bn contract to Bombardier UK. The transport provider – Britain’s only train builder – will provide 65 trains for the Crossrail service, which is due to open in 2018. Bombardier, meanwhile, is believed to have referred the deal to its in-house department, which is led by Daniel Desjardins in Canada.  
• Fladgate has advised the owners of Camden Stables Market and Camden Lock Village on its £230m refinancing deal with Japanese investment bank Nomura.The deal marks the next step in the redevelopment plan for the area alongside the Regent’s Canal once devastated by the infamous Camden fire in 2008. The group of companies held by Camden Market Holding Corp has moved its debt facility from the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), advised by Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) to Nomura. A 12-strong Fladgate team advised on the deal.