End of the line: Magic circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised mobile phone group Vodafone on selling its $6.6bn (£4.3bn) stake in China Mobile. Freshfields also advised the board of Anglo Irish Bank on its break-up at the behest of the Irish government, advised by Irish firm Arthur Cox.

Picking up the pieces: US firm Jones Day advised on the administration of property and environmental services group Connaught, the largest since that of high street retailer Woolworths in 2008. City boutique firm Starr & Partners advised construction company Morgan Sindall on acquiring Connaught’s assets. Administrator KPMG was advised by City firm ­Denton Wilde Sapte.

Down on the farm: Magic circle firm Clifford Chance advised US bank Citi on a $200m (£130m) bond issue and $150m (£97m) Hong Kong Stock Exchange share placing for Chinese agriculture company Chaoda Modern Agriculture, advised by US firm Sidley Austin and Cayman Islands firm Maples.

Drilling down: City firm Norton Rose advised Kazakhstan mining group ShalkiyaZinc on its $50m (£32m) rescue share issue to Kazakhstan industrial holding group SAT & Company, advised by Anglo-Scottish firm Maclay Murray & Spens.

Safe as houses: Birmingham firm Wragge & Co advised Sanctuary Housing Association on a £120m bond tap issue, with magic circle firm Allen & Overy advising lead manager Barclays Capital.

Fostering Ambition: National firm Eversheds advised healthcare recruiter Pinnacle Staffing on the £2.75m sale of its agency nursing and medical services businesses to nursing agency Ambition 24, advised by south-west firm Osborne Clarke.