Indian club: City firm Field Fisher Waterhouse advised nightclub Chinawhite on a licensing agreement to open another club in the Lalit Hotel in New Delhi, India. It will be run and operated by Bharat Hotels, which was advised by its in-house team.

Met invests: City firm LG advised the Metropolitan Police Authority on purchasing the freehold of New Scotland Yard from Land Securities. It had previously occupied the headquarters under a lease. City firm Nabarro advised Land Securities.

Mutual benefit: Magic circle firm Allen & Overy advised Britannia Building Society on its merger with Co-operative Financial Services. The deal was enabled by new legislation allowing mergers between different types of mutuals. The merged business will have £70bn assets, nine million customers and 12,000 employees. Co-operative Financial Services was advised by magic circle firm Slaughter and May.

Record deal: City firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, with Scottish firm Bell & Scott, advised HMV Group on acquiring nine UK stores from collapsed entertainment retailer Zavvi. Zavvi was advised by national firm DLA Piper.

Fund first: City firm Lovells advised IRF European Finance Investment on its listing on the Specialist Fund Market, the new EU-regulated market of the London Stock Exchange. The listing is believed to be the first of 2009.

Coal credit: City firm Trowers & Hamlins advised AIM-listed Cambrian Mining on a $36m (£26m) loan facility from Western Canadian Coal Corporation, to repay Cambrian Group’s revolving credit and loan facility with Investec Bank. The firm is also advising Cambrian on a proposed merger with Western Canadian Coal, which was advised by City firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain. US firm Mayer Brown advised Investec.

Hammers bet: City firm Berwin Leighton Paisner advised online bookmaker SBOBET on its sponsorship agreement with West Ham United. The SBOBET logo now appears on West Ham shirts. West Ham was advised by its in-house team and north-west firm Hill Dickinson.