Allen and Gledhill has advised DBS Bank and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation on the S$500 million (US$383m) term loan facility to SATS. The facility will be used to finance general corporate purposes. Partner Lim Wei Ting led the firm’s team in the transaction.
AZB & Partners is advising TPG Capital on its acquisition of 35 percent stake in Schott Poonawalla from Serum Institute of India. Partners Nandish Vyas, Devika Nayak and Bharat Budholia are leading the firm’s team in the transaction, which was signed on April 29, 2025 and is proposed to be completed by May 13, 2025.
AZB & Partners is also advising MSA Safety on its Rs16.9 billion (US$198m) acquisition of M&C TechGroup, including its Indian subsidiary M&C TechGroup India. Partners Alka Nalavadi and Divya Mundra are leading the firm’s team in the transaction, which was signed on May 7, 2025 and is yet to be completed.
Moreover, AZB & Partners is advising Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation on its Rs134.8 billion (US$1.58b) acquisition of 20 percent stake in Yes Bank from SBI, HDFC, ICICI, Kotak Mahindra, Axis, IDFC First, Federal and Bandhan. Partners Zia Mody, Vaidhyanadhan Iyer, Gautam Ganjawala, Abhilash Chandran and Bhargavy Ramesh are leading the firm’s team in the transaction, which was signed on May 9, 2025 and is yet to be completed.
Clifford Chance has advised Chinese freshly-made tea beverage company Auntea Jenny (Shanghai) Industrial Co on its IPO and listing in Hong Kong. With 9,176 stores as of December 31, 2024, Auntea Jenny operates one of the largest networks of freshly-made tea shops in China. China practice chair Tim Wang and partners Jean Thio and Virginia Lee led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Clifford Chance has also advised funds managed by Ares Management, a leading global alternative investment manager, on the A$320 million (US$206m) investment in a portfolio of litigation funding assets originated and managed by Australia-listed Omni Bridgeway, one of the largest litigation funders in the world with operations globally. The transaction is the first continuation fund – and one of the largest secondary market transactions in both scope and size – in the legal finance industry. The secondary market transaction features an innovative structure for the asset class, involving Ares acquiring a 70 percent interest in a new continuation fund (Omni Bridgeway Fund 9), which allows Ares to invest in a diverse portfolio of litigation funding assets across Asia Pacific, Europe and the US. The transaction involves the acquisition by Fund 9 of Omni Bridgeway’s co-investment in 150+ investments made by earlier funds established by Omni Bridgeway (Funds 2/3, Funds 4/5 Series 1) and one remaining balance sheet investment. Ares will receive a preferred return on its 70 percent interest in Fund 9, while Omni Bridgeway will retain further profit rights on the whole portfolio by retaining a 30 percent interest in Fund 9. In addition to the investment in Omni Bridgeway Fund 9, Ares has taken an equity interest through warrants in Omni Bridgeway as an Australia-listed global fund manager for legal assets. Hong Kong partner Francis Edwards, supported by partners Thomas Walsh (Hong Kong), Daryl Liu (Singapore), Chin Seng Chew (Singapore), Cameron Hassall (Australia), Naomi Griffin (Australia), David Clee (Australia), Elizabeth Hill (Australia), Chad Bochan (Australia), Steve Nickelsburg (US), Alistair Dunlop, Jefferey LeMaster (US) and Claire Freeman, led the firm’s multi-jurisdictional team in the transaction.
Moreover, Clifford Chance has advised on the successful share placements in Hong Kong for two well-known consumer companies in China. The firm advised Laopu Gold, a luxury jewelry retailer in China, on the successful placing of 4.31 million new H shares on May 7, 2025, raising gross proceeds of approximately HK$2.7 billion (US$346m). The firm also advised Weilong Delicious Global Holdings, a popular snack company in China, on the successful placing of 80 million existing H shares and top-up subscription on May 8, 2025, raising gross proceeds of approximately HK$1.18 billion (US$151m). The firm had previously advised on the IPO of Weilong Delicious. China practice chair Tim Wang, supported by New York partner Jefferey LeMaster on the Weilong Delicious deal, and working closely with Shanghai He Ping Law Firm on both deals, led the firm’s team in both transactions.
JSA has advised Omnivore on its co-investment with Eurazeo and IvyCap Ventures in Celcius Logistics Solutions, a rapidly growing cold-chain aggregator. Specializing in pharmaceutical and perishable logistics, Celcius plans to expand its operations significantly in non-metro cities across India with this Rs2.5 billion (US$29.4m) Series B round. Partner Siddharth Mody, supported by partner Rohan Kumar, led the firm’s team in the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions.
JSA has also advised Advent International and India-listed Suven Pharmaceuticals on the approximately US$3 billion dollar merger of Cohance Lifesciences with and into Suven Pharmaceuticals. Following the merger, Suven Pharmaceuticals has been renamed as Cohance Lifesciences. National corporate lead and partner Iqbal Khan and partner Ambarish led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Latham & Watkins has advised the joint sponsors and underwriters on the IPO of Hainan Drinda New Energy Technology in Hong Kong. The offer price was determined at HK$22.15 (US$2.84) per H share, with Drinda issuing a total of 63.4 million H shares and raising approximately HK$1.4 billion (US$180m). Drinda’s A Shares are currently listed in Shenzhen. Upon its Hong Kong listing, Drinda has become the first A-H dual-listed company in the photovoltaic (PV) industry. Huatai International, CMB International and Deutsche Bank acted as the joint sponsors, acting together with CLSA and CICC as overall coordinators, joint global coordinators, joint book-runners and joint lead managers. Drinda is a leading specialized manufacturer of PV cells, focusing on the R&D, production and sales of high-efficiency PV cells. Based on the shipment volume in 2024 among specialized manufacturers, Drinda’s N-type TOPCon cells’ market share reached approximately 24.7 percent and ranked first globally, and Drinda’s PV cells’ market share reached approximately 17.9 percent and ranked second globally. Hong Kong corporate partners Terris Tang and Benjamin Su led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co has advised Ather Energy and the promoter selling shareholders Tarun Sanjay Mehta and Swapnil Babanlal Jain on Ather Energy’s IPO aggregating to approximately Rs29.8 billion (US$351m). The offering consists of a fresh issue and an offer for sale by certain selling shareholders, including National Investment and Infrastructure Fund II and affiliates of GIC and Tiger Global. The equity shares of Ather Energy were listed in India on May 6, 2025. The book-running lead managers on this transaction were Axis Capital, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India), JM Financial and Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India). Ather Energy is the second electric two-wheeler company to list in India. Further, this is the first mainboard IPO to list in India in Fiscal Year 2026. National capital markets head Prashant Gupta and partner Ruth Chenchiah, supported by partner Manav Nagaraj, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Trilegal has advised Avathon Capital on the Indian aspects of its acquisition of 100 percent stake in OculusIT from ElevenX Capital. Partners Kosturi Ghosh, Swarnima, Himanshu Sinha and Samsuddha Majumder led the firm’s team in the transaction.
S&R Associates is representing the State Bank of India and seven listed private sector banks, namely HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, IDFC First Bank, Federal Bank and Bandhan Bank, on the proposed Rs134.83 billion (US$1.6b) sale of an aggregate 20 percent share capital of Yes Bank, a listed private sector bank, to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, a part of the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group. The transactions are subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals from the Reserve Bank of India and the Competition Commission of India. Partners Rajat Sethi and Dhruv Nath, supported by competition head Simran Dhir and partner Akshat Kulshrestha are leading the firm’s team in the transaction, which will be the largest cross-border investment in the Indian banking sector.
S&R Associates has also represented AKM Enterprises, part of the MBD Group, on the Rs4.9 billion (US$58m) sale of the MBD Neopolis Mall and Radisson Blu Hotel MBD in Ludhiana, Punjab to Select Infrastructure, a special purpose vehicle of listed real estate investment trust Nexus Select Trust. Partners Radhika Iyer and Meher Mehta, supported by partner Avikshit Moral, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
