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US firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy is rebuilding its project finance practice in London after the departure of four project finance partners to rival firm Shearman & Sterling last year. Partner Thomas Siebens has returned to London from a three-year residency in the firm's Singapore office. He will develop the global capital markets reach of the firm's project finance and emerging markets group.

Costly asset management failures are dramatic evidence of the need for third party audits of advisers’ practices, says Marcia MacHarg of Debevoise & Plimpton, New York

Interim Services, a Florida staffing company, is paying US$575 million for British recruitment and staffing business Michael Page Group. The acquisition is proof of the growing international importance of the temporary service industry. It will allow Interim Services to expand through Europe and east Asia.

Canadian oil and gas company Morrison Petroleums and rival Northstar Energy Corporation are to merge. The merged company will have a market capitalization of nearly US$1.3 billion. It expects to launch a bid of approximately US$325 million for its outstanding shares as soon as the merger is complete.

American Electric Power and Public Service Company of Colorado made an agreed £1.5 billion (US$2.43 billion) offer for UK energy company Yorkshire Electricity. The two American companies are using their joint subsidiary Yorkshire Holdings for the bid. The offer follows the acquisition last year of four British electricity companies by US corporations and is in line with a trend towards cross-border utilities acquisitions. The financial advisers to Yorkshire Electricity are NM Rothschild and Goldman Sachs International. Merrill Lynch is advising Yorkshire Holdings.

The last 18 months have seen an explosion in the number and size of US firms with English law capability in their London offices. Other firms are steadfastly following their own strategy. Paul Lee reports

Chinese conglomerate CITIC Pacific acquired a 20% stake in China Light & Power, the monopoly provider of electricity to the Kowloon peninsula. CITIC Pacific, a subsidiary of the state-owned China International Trust and Investment Corporation, already has stakes in the airline Cathay Pacific and various trading and property companies. The deal may allow China Light & Power to supply the Chinese mainland with electricity.

Siebe, the UK's largest diversified engineering company, issued US$250 million of global notes under US law. The notes were offered under Rule 144A and Regulation S.

International investment bank Morgan Stanley is to merge with US retail financial services firm Dean Witter, Discover. The merger will create the US's biggest securities firm in terms of capital, with an estimated market capitalization of US$20 billion and total assets under management of US$270 billion.

UK firm Allen & Overy is continuing the rapid expansion of its Moscow office. This follows the arrival last year of two lawyers from US firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy's Moscow office.