Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow has advised Kingdom Hotel Investments on its acquisition of a site in Da Nang, Vietnam, which will be used for the development of a luxury resort and residences.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised AirAsia Berhad, Asia’s largest low cost carrier. The airline took delivery of the 3000th A320 aircraft manufactured by Airbus. Calyon arranged the financing for this aircraft by way of a novel two-tier/multi jurisdictional tax leasing structure through France. A second A320 aircraft was delivered to AirAsia at the end of January pursuant to this leasing structure and AirAsia intend to use this structure to finance 4 further aircraft. It is also the first time such a structure was used for the acquisition of aircraft by an airline in the region.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised Credit Suisse, as sole bookrunner, on the convertible bond issue by property group Hopson Development. Hopson Development sold the equivalent of US$225 million worth of renminbi-denominated but US-dollar-settled convertible bonds to finance existing and new projects as well as potential acquisitions of new land. This is the first time a company has issued convertible bonds in renminbi that are then settled in another currency, in this case US dollars. The transaction was structured this way for accounting reasons.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised UBS Global Asset Management on its acquisition of Standard Chartered’s mutual fund business in Asia for US$117.8 million. The transaction was structured as the acquisition of a 100 percent interest in Standard Chartered Asset Management Company Private Ltd, as well as Standard Chartered Trustee Company Private Ltd, the manager and trustee, respectively, of the mutual funds offered by the company. The transaction remains subject to regulatory approval as well as to a price adjustment linked to assets under management at closing. The deal was led out of the London office with the Asia aspects of the deal handled by the Hong Kong office.

Gide Loyrette Nouel has advised Veolia Water, a division of Veolia Environnement specialising in water services, in an international tender. This was for the acquisition of a 45 percent stake in the City of Lanzhou (Gansu Province, China) municipal water company and the grant of a 30 year concession to treat and supply drinking water. As a result Veolia Water will manage four water treatment plants, the city’s entire water distribution network, 11 elevation plants and associated customer services for a current population of more than 3.2 million inhabitants. The project is expected to generate an estimated cumulated total turnover of 1.6 billion euros for Veolia Water.

Khaitan & Co has advised E*TRADE Mauritius Limited, E*TRADE FINANCIAL Corporation and Converging Arrows Inc in relation to the acquisition of IL&FS Investsmart Limited (Investsmart). Investsmart is one of India’s leading financial services organisations providing a complete range of Financial Management Solutions for retail and institutional customers. E*TRADE Mauritius Limited, has made an open offer for shares of Investsmart. The offer to Investsmart shareholders which is made subject to receipt of approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board and the Reserve Bank of India.

KhattarWong has advised Time Watch Investments Ltd, a SESDAQ-listed company, in its issue of S$5 million convertible bonds. Time Watch entered into a conditional subscription agreement with OCBC Capital Investment Private Limited on January 22, 2007. According to the terms of the agreement, Time Watch will issue, and OCBC Capital has agreed to subscribe and pay for S$5 million in aggregate principal amount of a 3.5-year convertible bond facility due in 2010. OCBC Capital has the right to convert all or any of the convertible bonds into new ordinary shares in Time Watch at any time after six months from the date of issue of the convertible bonds.

Slaughter and May has advised Moody’s Corporation on the acquisition, through a BVI company, of 99 percent of the shares of PT Kasnic Credit Rating Indonesia, a securities rating company.

Watson, Farley & Williams has acted for Natixis in relation to a US$125,000,000 loan facility to Apexindo Pratama Duta Tbk, a Singapore-based subsidiary of Apexindo Pratama Duta Tbk. The loan facility was led by Natixis, as agent, security trustee, joint lead arranger and bookrunner and Goldman Sachs, as co-arranger and Standard Chartered Bank, as joint lead arranger with a syndicate of commercial banks and institutional investors including, United Overseas Bank Limited and funds managed by PMA Investment Advisers, as participants

Yulchon (formerly Woo Yun Kang Jeong & Han) has represented a leading Korean environmental consulting and project management firm in the overseas Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project in China. This was the first reported case of an overseas CDM project by a Korean company acting as a project participant. Yulchon acted for and advised the Korean company in its negotiations and execution of a series of contracts related to the CDM project.