Sales drive: North-west firm Brabners Chaffe Street advised car service and repair operator Nationwide Autocentres on its £73.2m sale to retailer Halfords, advised by national firm Pinsent Masons.

Asset building: Magic circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised asset management company Affiliated Managers Group on its $775m (£500m) acquisition of private equity fund manager Pantheon Ventures from financial services company Russell Investments, advised by US firm Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom.

Gold mine: US firm Shearman & ­Sterling advised Canadian gold mining company Barrick on spinning off its African mining assets, ahead of a listing on the London Stock Exchange. The new company, African Black Gold, is estimated to be worth around £2.5bn. Magic circle firm Linklaters is advising a consortium of banks ahead of the planned IPO.

Changing channels: Magic circle firm Allen & Overy, with Bulgarian firm Borislav Boyanov & Co, advised News Corporation on the $400m (£257m) sale of Bulgarian television business bTV to Central European Media Enterprises, advised by US firm Dewey & LeBoeuf.

Wireless deal: The London office of US firm Latham & Watkins advised a consortium of banks on financing a $500m (£323m) bond issue for telecoms giant Cable & Wireless, advised by Allen & Overy.

Call of Africa: City firm Norton Rose advised a consortium of lenders on providing $240m (£155m) to finance the Main One Cable System Project, the first major telecoms link between Europe and the west coast of Africa. Nigerian firm Banwo & ­Ighodalo advised the main borrower.