AZB & Partners is advising Warburg Pincus on the Rs8 billion (US$109m) acquisition by its affiliate Windy Lakeside Investment Acquisition of a minority stake in Adani Ports. Partners Ashwath Rau, Nilanjana Singh and Prerak Ved are leading the firm’s team in the transaction, which was signed on March 7, 2021 and is yet to be completed.
AZB & Partners is also advising ICICI Venture Funds Management and two entities advised by ICICI Venture on their Rs5.25 (US$71.5m) acquisition of a more than 30 percent equity stake in Magma HDI General Insurance. Partner Sai Krishna Bharathan is leading the firm’s team in the transaction, which was signed on March 17, 2021 and is yet to be completed.
Baker McKenzie has advised Korea Zinc on its agreement with Acciona to jointly develop and operate the 923MW MacIntyre Wind Farm in southeast Queensland, Australia. Under the joint venture arrangements, Ark Energy, a new Korea Zinc subsidiary focused on decarbonising the group’s energy supply, will take a 30 percent stake in the MacIntyre Wind Farm. Acciona will retain a 70 percent interest. Ark Energy and Acciona will together pursue the late stage development, construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance of the MacIntyre Wind Farm, which will be one of the largest onshore wind farms in the world, once fully operational in 2024. Together with the neighbouring 103MW Karara Wind Farm, which is owned by CleanCo Queensland, the two wind farms will generate clean electricity to supply nearly 700,000 homes, avoid the emission of around three million tonnes of CO2 each year and will involve a total investment of almost A$2 billion (US$1.52b). Partner Tanya Denning led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Baker McKenzie is also advising C-Lab International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sino Biopharmaceutical, on its acquisition of Softhale for US$110 million and additional payments related to regulatory and commercial milestones. Together with its subsidiaries, Sino Biopharmaceutical is a leading innovative R&D-driven pharmaceutical conglomerate in China. Its business encompasses a fully integrated chain in pharmaceutical products, which covers an array of innovative R&D platforms and pipeline, a line-up of intelligent manufacturing and a strong sales infrastructure. Softhale is a privately-owned Belgian company focused on the development of products for the treatment of respiratory diseases. Partners Derek Poon (Private Equity/ M&A-Hong Kong), Dr Thorsten Seidel (M&A-Berlin) and Dominique Maes (Private Equity/M&A-Brussels) led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Clifford Chance has advised Credit Suisse and DBS, as joint book-runners, on Japfa Comfeed’s US$350 million senior fixed rate sustainability-linked bond (SLB) issuance. Japfa Comfeed is one of Indonesia’s leading agri-livestock companies. The bonds were issued on March 23, 2021. Due 2026 and listed in Singapore, the SLB is the world’s first by an agri-food company and the first by an Indonesian company. It is also the first US-dollar denominated SLB issuance from South East Asia. The sustainability performance targets under the bond are the building of wastewater treatment and recycling facilities at Japfa’s facilities. If the targets are not achieved, the coupon under the bond will step up by 25bps. Partner Johannes Juette, supported by partner Gareth Deiner, led the firm’s team in the transaction. Rajah & Tann Asia member firm Assegaf Hamzah & Partners, led by partner Putu Suryastuti, acted as Indonesian counsel.
Clifford Chance has also advised Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and UBS, as the joint sponsors, and the underwriters on the US$2.6 billion IPO and secondary listing of Bilibili in Hong Kong. Nasdaq-listed Bilibili is a Shanghai-headquartered online video streaming and mobile gaming company, with a large and growing community of over 202 million monthly active users, primarily consisting of China’s young generations. Partners Tim Wang, Christine Xu and Liu Fang, supported by New York partner Jonathan Zonis and Hong Kong partners Mark Shipman and Rocky Mui, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Davis Polk has advised the underwriters on Connect Biopharma Holdings’ US$219.9 million IPO of approximately 12.94 million American depositary shares, each representing one ordinary share, including the full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase approximately 1.69 million ADSs. The ADSs are listed on the Nasdaq. Connect Biopharma is a global clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapies for the treatment of T cell-driven inflammatory diseases. The company’s core expertise is in the use of functional cellular assays with T cells to screen and discover potent product candidates against immune targets. Partners Alan Denenberg, James Lin and Emily Roberts, supported by partner David Bauer, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Davis Polk has also advised the joint lead managers on a US$200 million Regulation S offering by Shuifa International Holdings (BVI) of its four percent guaranteed bonds due 2024, guaranteed by Shuifa Group, a leading state-owned conglomerate that focuses on the provision of comprehensive water-related services and solutions, ranging from hydraulic engineering construction, water supply and wastewater treatment to clean energy. Hong Kong partners Gerhard Radtke and Yang Chu led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Dentons has acted as international counsel and Chinese counsel to Beijing Public Housing Center, a leading affordable housing construction and investment company based in Beijing, on the Regulation S global offering of its English law-governed US$300 million 1.9 percent guaranteed bonds due 2026, to be listed in Hong Kong and MOX. Huatai International was the sole global coordinator. Hong Kong capital markets partner Man Chiu Lee, senior partner (Beijing) Ling Chen and partners Yang Chen (Beijing) and Yunfang Zhang (Beijing) led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Maples and Calder, the Maples Group’s law firm, has acted as Cayman Islands counsel to Citigroup First Investment Management (CFIM) on the launch of Algebris Financial Hybrid Securities Fund. Launched on January 29, 2021, the fund is authorised for public offering in Japan. The fund enables Japanese investors to gain exposure to senior and subordinated debt securities of the financial credit sector globally, through investing substantially all of its assets in Algebris Financial Credit Fund, a sub-fund of Algebris UCITS Funds, an investment company incorporated in Ireland and managed by Algebris Investments (Ireland). Hong Kong funds and investment management partner Nick Harrold led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Maples and Calder, the Maples Group’s law firm, has also acted as Cayman Islands counsel to East Point Asset Management on the launch of its first fund involving a seed commitment of US$150 million from Hong Kong-listed financial services firm Sun Hung Kai & Co (SHK & Co). East Point is a newly established independent hedge fund firm that seeks to deliver consistent risk-adjusted, absolute returns and, according to a statement from SHK & Co, remains unchanged from SHK & Co’s own strategy. The partnership and seeding of East Point was conducted through SHK & Co’s fund management platform. Hong Kong partner Ann Ng, co-head of the Asia funds and investment management team, led the firm’s team in the transaction, while Schulte Roth & Zabel acted as international counsel. DLA Piper acted as Hong Kong counsel to SHK & Co.
Rajah & Tann Singapore, member firm of Rajah & Tann Asia, has advised Marketnode, a joint venture between Singapore Exchange and Temasek, on its partnership and investment in Covalent Capital to collaborate and build Asia-Pacific’s first end-to-end digital infrastructure in the fixed income sector. Partners Sandy Foo, Goh Jun Yi and Lee Jin Rui led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Rajah & Tann LCT Lawyers, a member firm of Rajah & Tann Asia, has acted for Danish group BioMar, one of the leading suppliers of high performance fish feed in the aquaculture industry, on its share sale transaction of Viet-Uc, one of Vietnam’s leading seafood groups operating in shrimp and fish hatcheries and shrimp farming in Vietnam. Partner Vu Thi Que led the firm’s team in the transaction.
WongPartnership has acted for Perennial Real Estate Holdings on the financing of its acquisition of Big Box and its redevelopment. Partner Christy Lim led the firm’s team in the transaction, together with partner Serene Soh.
WongPartnership has also acted for the seller on the sale of 1 Chatsworth Park. Partner Christopher Cassim led the firm’s team in the transaction.