Paul, Weiss client Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd completed an offering of $750 million of subordinated contingent write-off loan notes with a scheduled maturity in 2024. The loan notes can be permanently written down to zero, and investors lose their principal if the solvency ratio of Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd falls below a predetermined threshold. The loan notes were issued through a so-called "repackaging vehicle." The offering was Regulation S only.   

Paul, Weiss client Aurizon Mines Ltd. announced that it had entered into an agreement with Hecla Mining Company pursuant to which Hecla will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Aurizon for aggregate consideration of approximately Cdn$796 million. Under the terms of the agreement, Aurizon shareholders may elect to receive Cdn$4.75 or 0.9953 of a Hecla share in exchange for each Aurizon common share, subject in each case to pro-ration. Aurizon entered into the agreement with Hecla following receipt of an unsolicited offer from Alamos Gold Inc. and the completion of a process in which the Aurizon board of directors reviewed and evaluated a range of alternatives focussed on maximizing value.

As has been widely reported in several media outlets, including The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times, Paul, Weiss client Nexen Inc. (Nexen), a Canada-based global energy company with operations in the UK, Canada, Nigeria, the United States and elsewhere, was acquired for more than $15 billion by CNOOC Ltd., China's state-owned offshore oil and gas company. Under the terms of the transaction, which will see TSX- and NYSE-listed Nexen go private, CNOOC acquired all of Nexen's outstanding common shares for $27.50 per share in cash, a premium of 61 percent to the closing price on the NYSE immediately prior to the announcement of the acquisition.

Paul, Weiss client Ericsson completed its previously announced sale of more than 2,100 issued U.S. and international patents and patent applications to Unwired Planet, Inc. The portfolio includes patented inventions related to telecommunications infrastructure and mobile internet technologies, such as GSM, GPRS, EDGE, WCDMA and LTE, as well as many other patented inventions that are widely implemented in many popular wireless devices and mobile industries.

Paul, Weiss client Time Warner Cable (TWC) has agreed to be the charter distributor for SportsNet LA, the new regional television network for the Los Angeles Dodgers beginning with the 2014 Major League Baseball season. SportsNet LA was created by the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership group, American Media Productions, LLC (AMP). TWC will carry the new network for its customers throughout Southern California and Hawaii under a long-term affiliation deal. In addition, in return for agreeing to make payments over the life of the deal, TWC will be the exclusive advertising and affiliate sales agent for the new network and will have certain branding and programming rights with respect to the network.

Paul, Weiss client ClearEdge Power, Inc., a subsidiary of Kohlberg Ventures LLC, announced that it has acquired all of UTC Power Corporation's equity interests from United Technologies Corporation. UTC Power Corporation is a holding company in the business of the design, development, manufacture, sale and installation of aftermarket support for fuel cell products and technology used in stationary energy applications.

Paul, Weiss client, Reckitt Benckiser Group plc (Reckitt), announced it has entered into a three-year collaboration agreement with the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS) for a number of market-leading over-the-counter consumer health care brands in Brazil, Mexico and certain other parts of Latin America, with an option to purchase such brands at the end of the three-year period. Under this collaboration, Reckitt will license the brands from BMS, which will continue to manufacture them for three years. Reckitt will initially pay BMS $482 million to enter into the arrangement, which also includes personnel, supply contracts and an option, based on business performance, to acquire legal title to the related intellectual property at the end of the collaboration period.

Paul, Weiss client School Specialty, Inc.(School Specialty) announced that it entered into an asset purchase agreement with an affiliate of Bayside Capital, Inc., under which School Specialty proposes to sell its assets as a going concern through a court-supervised sale process. To facilitate the transaction, School Specialty and certain of its subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

Paul, Weiss client Grain Management announced that it has signed agreements to acquire wireless spectrum from AT&T and Verizon Wireless for an aggregate purchase price of roughly $290 million. The deal is part of a larger $1.9 billion transaction for the exchange of wireless spectrum between AT&T and Verizon Wireless. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.

As reported in The New York Times, clients Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of "South Park" and "The Book of Mormon," have announced the formation of a new entertainment company, Important Studios. Stone and Parker partnered with the Raine Group, a private equity fund with close ties to our client WME, to create Important Studios, which will house all of Stone and Parker's current and future entertainment activities, including "South Park" and "The Book of Mormon."