Mallesons Stephen Jaques has advised on two major Hong Kong initial public offerings – Kingboard Laminates Holdings Limited and Zhaojin Mining Industry Company Limited – which raised a combined US$1.03 billion in December 2006. The US$744 million (HK$5.8 billion) IPO of Kingboard Laminates was the culmination of parent company Kingboard Chemical’s plan for the spin-off and separate listing of its laminates division. Mallesons advised Kingboard Chemical, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of printed circuit boards, on the Hong Kong law aspects of the transaction. On the Zhaojin Mining IPO, Mallesons acted as Hong Kong counsel to the underwriters UBS and Cazenove Asia. Zhaojin Mining raised approximately US$282 million (HK$2.2 billion) through its global offering and listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange – the largest offering to date by a Chinese gold mining company.

Baker & McKenzie has advised Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) on its takeover of a 90 percent stake in Bank Halim Indonesia. This is the first time ICBC has entered an overseas market via an acquisition and ICBC’s first takeover of a foreign bank outside Greater China. The deal is subject to approval by the China Banking Regulatory Commission and Indonesia’s central bank. ICBC also has the option to purchase the remaining 10 percent of Bank Halim in three years. Bank Halim, based in Surabaya on the island of Java, has assets of about US$56 million and 9 branches. ICBC, the second-biggest bank in the world by market value, has 98 overseas branches. Baker & McKenzie had lead responsibility for legal documentation, regulatory issues, liaison and clearances with the banking authorities, and general transaction management.