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DATE TYPE OF DEAL VALUE TARGET ACQUIRER/ ISSUER HOLDER/ UNDERWITER ADVISERS TO TARGET ADVISERS TO ACQUIRER/ ISSUER ADVISERS TO HOLDER/ UNDERWRITER 22/3/02 recommended offer EUR 8.5 billion ($7.63 billion) Innogy (UK) RWE (Germany) n/a Linklaters, London, Mike Hardwick, Keith Wilson Allen & Overy, London, David Lewis, Kevin Cummings; Hengeler Mueller n/a 22/3/02 spin-off and transfer of manaagment £2 billion ($2.9 billion) n/a Guy Hands (UK) Nomura International (Japan); Terra Firma Group (New Zealand) n/a Linklaters, London, Jan Birtwell, Neal Todd, Conor Hurley; Germany, Martin Krause; in-house, Colin Rowlinson, Chris Barnes SJ Berwin & Co ,London, Mark Hainsworth; Andersen/Garretts, London, John Cuillinance, John Maxey, Darren Docker, Judith Powell; Germany, Klaus Brinckmann 1/4/02 acquisition $1.1 billion Trendwest Resorts Inc (US) Cendant Corp (US) n/a Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe, New York, Pamela Charles Brown, Teresa Maloney Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, New York, James Tandler, Katherine Bristor n/a 2/4/02 acquisition $5.04 billion Enterprise Oil (UK) Royal Dutch/Shell Group (Anglo/ Dutch) n/a Herbert Smith, London, Janette Sawden Slaughter and May, London, Martin Walker, Sara Luder n/a 5/4/02 merger $662 million n/a DSP Group Inc's IP licensing division (US) Parthus Technologies plc (Ireland) n/a Morrison & Foerster, New York, Steven Ruskin, Marjorie Elkin, Steven Meier; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Arthur Cox Hale and Dorr, Boston, Bill Caporizzo, Kimberly Wethly, Bill Benjamin; KPMG 5/4/02 lease financing $3 billion 54 aircraft Crossair Limited, now known as SWISS (Switzerland) n/a n/a Debevoise & Plimpton, Frankfurt, Friedrich Hey; New York, Burt Rosen, Robert Staffaroni n/a 8/4/02 debt deal £740 million ($1.07 billion) n/a Eurotunnel (UK/ France) Agent banks n/a Herbert Smith, London, David Martin, Nikol Davies n/a 11/4/02 merger $685 million Herbalife International Inc (US) Whitney & Co; Golden Gate Capital (US) n/a Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Los Angeles, Paul Issler, Elizabeth Bluestein, David West, Cathy Cleveland Kirkland & Ellis, Chicago, Jeffrey Sheffield n/a 12/4/02 acquisition £875 million ($1.27 billion) 1869 pubs Enterprise Inns plc (UK) Laurel Pub Holdings Ltd (UK) Freshfields, Bruckhaus Deringer London, Francis Sandison, Susan Porter, Stephanie Young CMS Cameron McKenna, London, Simon Meredith, Alison Hughes n/a 16/4/02 bond offering $7.3 billion n/a Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co (US) Morgan Stanley & Co Inc (US) n/a n/a Davis Polk & Wardwell, New York, Po Sit, Chrisian Wimpissinger 17/4/02 demerger undisclosed n/a Halfords (UK) Boots plc (UK) n/a n/a Slaughter and May, London, Tony Beare, Ed Denny

The Andersen network has continued to disintegrate this month with offices across the world joining rival firms. Deloitte and Touche and Ernst & Young appear to be the big winners so far, with KPMG, who originally set out to acquire the entire Andersen network outside the US, lagging far behind. On April 4 Deloitte & Touche signed a memorandum of understanding with Andersen in the US to acquire a ?significant' number of its US tax staff.

Potentially sweeping reforms, political tensions and aggressive revenue authorities all feature on the Nordic tax scene. However, as International Tax Review discovers, there are also plenty of benefits for business

On January 1 2002, a number of tax amendments were approved by Congress following several months of analysis. The tax amendments had been subject to great debate, since it was intended to increase tax revenues by ending the value-added tax (VAT) exemption on a variety of items, especially food and medicines.

European Commission continues state aid probes

A tax appeal tribunal in the UK has ruled that a transfer pricing adjustment to income may be made to companies that set up and support share option schemes for employees of foreign subsidiaries. The Special Commissioners (the first level appeal tribunal on tax cases in the UK) held that share options provided on behalf of foreign subsidiaries were a business facility provided by the UK company to the foreign subsidiaries.

Tax authorities in a number of countries are increasingly focusing on transfer pricing issues related to stock options. Ernst & Young transfer pricing and stock-based compensation professionals have collaborated to review the pitfalls and opportunities with particular reference to the UK, the US and Germany. By Gareth Green and Jeremy Glover in London and Stanley Veliotis in New York

The Singapore government's proposed tax reform package has met with approval from tax advisers who believe that it will go some way towards boosting the country's ailing economy and increasing foreign investment. The Economic Review Committee (ERC), which was set up by the government in December 2001, announced a series of proposed changes on April 11 this year. The government will announce whether it intends to adopt these proposals, which are part of the report called Restructuring the Tax system for Growth and Job Creation, on May 3 when the budget is delivered.

Allen & Overy has poached a Haarmann Hemmelrath partner to set up a tax practice in Germany and increased its tax partnership in Paris. Eugen Bogenschütz is joining the Frankfurt office as head of German tax. Bogenschütz, who was a partner at Haarmann Hemmelrath for eight years, and previously worked at Price Waterhouse, concentrates on cross-border M&A transactions and restructurings. Allen & Overy approached Bogenschütz over six months ago with the offer, at a time when he was not actively seeking to leave Haarmann Hemmelrath, and he was tempted by the opportunity of building a tax practice from scratch as well as the firm's international reach. He explained:

London-based law firm Lovells has launched a Dutch practice in Amsterdam with the appointment of a team of three lawyers, led by Anton Louwinger, formerly of Andersen in Rotterdam. Louwinger will become a tax partner as soon as the necessary professional formalities are in place. Louwinger will be joined by Aart Nolten and Christiaan van Waalwijk van Doorn, both of whom also come from Andersen's Rotterdam office. Prior to working at Andersen, Louwinger worked with Loeff Claeys Verbeke and Van Mens & Wisselink, whose Rotterdam office he helped to set up.