Scandinavian-German dairy group Arla plans to merge with Milch-Union Hocheifel and the UK’s Milk Link. The transaction is currently awaiting approval from the EU competition authorities and the consent of the membership meetings of the companies involved. A team from CMS Hasche Sigle led by Dr Malte Bruhns advised Milch-Union on all legal and tax aspects of this complex transaction. The merger will see Arla expand its worldwide sales by around EUR1.5 billion to a total of EUR9 billion. It also creates the third-largest dairy in Germany. At its headquarters in Pronsfeld in the Eifel region, Milch-Union operates Europe’s most

Oaktree Capital Management is to recapitalize Diamond Foods’ balance sheet with an investment of USD225 million in the branded, packaged food company. Concurrent with the closing of this investment, Diamond will amend its credit agreement with its existing lenders. The recapitalization will result in a capital structure that supports the Company’s long term strategy as well as the execution of its current business plan. The recapitalization will allow Diamond to further strengthen the Company’s leadership position in the walnut industry, continue the growth of its snack business and reduce the amount of existing bank debt. The transactions are expected to

SEI has extended its relationship with Key Capital Investment Management Limited to include an operational outsourcing solution for the firm’s private equity business. Key Capital’s private equity offering is designed to provide family offices and high-net-worth private clients with exposure to a pre-identified list of Europe’s leading private equity firms including Apax, Cinven, CVC, Equistone, and Permira. The extension of SEI’s services is in recognition of the company’s cutting-edge technology, strong service model, and global reputation and presence. Under the agreement, SEI will provide a full range of services for Key Capital’s private equity business including accounting, administration services, treasury,

Some 30 emerging markets private equity funds raised USD7.8 billion in the three months ended 31 March 2012, compared to 46 funds that raised USD9.9 billion in the first quarter of 2011, according to figures released by the Emerging Markets Private Equty Association (EMPEA). On the investment side, 198 deals were completed for USD4.8 billion through 31 March 2012, compared to 217 deals completed for USD8.5 billion in the first quarter of last year.

For the first quarter of 2012, the IntraLinks Deal Flow Indicator (DFI), which provides an early view of current deal flow activity and trends in the global market prior to public announcement, shows a 23 per cent increase in global merger and acquisition (M&A) deal activity compared to Q1 2011. All regions also showed a year-over-year positive trend for Q1 2012 over Q1 2011, with the strongest growth in Asia Pacific (58 per cent) and similarly positive trends in Latin America (42 per cent) and Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) (29 per cent). While North America also posted an increase, it was