Deals of the Week

20.09.2001

Tastiest deal: SJ Berwin represented British Land and Slaughter and May acted for the Davidson family - including Manny Davidson, executive chairman of Asda Property Holdings - on forming a joint venture company which has made a 232 million recommended cash offer for Asda Property Holdings, advised by Ashurst Morris Crisp.Most reactive deal: Marriott Harrison advised Albion Chemical in relation to the 107 million management buy-in by Albion of Hays Chemical.

Hays, advised by Freshfields, has retained a 49% equity interest.Least insured deal: Withers acted for the Motor Insurers' Information Centre on the launch of an innovative database designed to give the police immediate roadside access to vehicle insurance data, with the aim of tracking the high level of uninsured driving.Poshest deal: Herbert Smith acted for Harrods on the 53 million sale to Crown Dilmun, advised by Forsters, of Trevor House in Brompton Road and an adjoining former depository building, which are opposite the famous Knightsbridge store.Best anchored deal: Norton Rose is advising the Baltic Exchange, the world's oldest shipping market, on the development of its new electronic trading platform.

As well as offering new services, the platform will replicate many of the activities which have for centuries been focused on the exchange's trading floor.Most mysterious deal: Davenport Lyons acted for film producer Daniel Blatt and production company Hopecharm on the 2.6 million production, and sale to and leaseback from the Millennium Film Partnership, of the first remake based on the classic Agatha Christie novel, 'Murder on the Orient Express'.

Using a Chinese wall, Davenports also acted for Millennium, a regular client.

US network CBS, which pre-bought and part-financed the film, was advised in-house, as was Agatha Christie Limited, which gave the rights and also part-financed it.

Even more mysterious deal: Berwin Leighton Paisner acted for Chorion on its 5.6 million purchase of a controlling interest over the rights to the literary works of Georges Simenon, best known as author of the Inspector Maigret series.

Swiss firm Bourgeois Muller Pidoux & Associes was the principal adviser to the Simenon family.