Deals – March 11, 2020

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Allen & Gledhill has advised DBS Group Holdings on the issue of its S$1 billion (US$719.6m) 3.3 percent perpetual capital securities, first callable in 2023, under its US$30 billion global medium term note programme. Partner Glenn Foo led the firm’s team in the transaction.

Allen & Gledhill has also advised the Housing and Development Board on the issue of S$700 million (US$503.7m) in principal amount of fixed rated notes due 2027, as Series 090 under its S$32 billion (US$23b) multicurrency medium term note programme. Partners Margaret Chin, Fabian Tan and Sunit Chhabra led the firm’s team in the transaction.

AAS Regina Legal has advised Anicut Angel Fund on the raising by Neeman’s of approximately US$1 million in an early stage round led by Anicut Angel Fund, which made its maiden investment. Tushar Singh and Rohit Anand led this round of investment, on behalf of Anicut, with Tushar joining the company board. Through Anicut, Ashvin Chadha, Arjun Seth, Abhishek Goyal, Ambarish Raghuvanshi, and Sanjay Kapoor are among the investors who participated in this round. Hyderabad-based Neeman’s is an eco-conscious footwear brand making comfortable shoes using Merino Wool. Started in late 2019, Anicut Angel Fund provides early stage capital to start-ups. Partner Ankita Singh led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was announced on March 2, 2020. Neeman’s was represented by Lex Start Partners.

AZB & Partners is advising Navi Technologies, the indirect parent of Chaitanya India Fin Credit, on the acquisition by Chaitanya of 100 percent stake of Essel Finance AMC. Partners Anu Tiwari, Vipul Jain, Samir Gandhi and Aditi Gopalakrishnan are leading the firm’s team in the transaction, which was signed on January 24, 2020 and is yet to be completed.

AZB & Partners has also advised Reliance India and JM Financial Asset Reconstruction on their Rs62.5 billion (US$844m) acquisition of Alok Industries. Partners Ashwath Rau, Suharsh Sinha and Atreya Bhattacharya led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on February 28, 2020.

Baker McKenzie has represented Japanese conglomerate Marubeni on its acquisition of Chenya Energy, marking Marubeni’s first investment in a Taiwan solar project. Marubeni will acquire 100 percent stake in Chenya, as well as its power generation facilities. With the acquisition, Marubeni will have a portfolio of solar power generation assets throughout the island, with a total capacity of approximately 270MW. The assets include one of the world’s largest floating solar power plants. Through the acquisition of Chenya and Chenya’s solar power generation assets, Marubeni will gain expertise in the floating solar power business, and continue to enhance its renewable energy development capabilities. With the addition of Chenya’s solar power generation assets, Marubeni will hold a stake in more than 950MW of power generation assets within Taiwan. Principal Tiffany Huang and partners Gwyneth Gu and Su-Fen Chen led the firm’s team in the transaction.

Baker McKenzie has advised Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), through its Copenhagen Infrastructure II and Copenhagen Infrastructure III funds as sponsors, on the US$3 billion project financing of the 589 MW Changfang Xidao Offshore Wind Farm Project in Changhua County, Taiwan. The project financing was provided by 21 international and Taiwan local banks and life insurance companies, and supported by seven export credit agencies and development banks, and is the largest offshore wind project financing in Taiwan to date. The firm acted as Taiwan local counsel, with its Singapore member firm Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow as Singapore counsel and White & Case acting as international counsel. The lenders and export credit agencies were advised by Watson Farley Williams, Linklaters and Lee & Li. The firm also advised CIP on its original acquisition of the project in 2017, the continued development of the project and investments in the project made by two local Taiwanese life insurance companies, Taiwan Life Insurance and TransGlobe Life Insurance. Taipei partner Murray Bowler, supported by partners Tiffany Huang, Su-Fen Chen and Melanie Ho, and Kim Hock Ang of Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow in Singapore, led their firm’s respective teams in the transaction.

Baker & McKenzie has advised Hokkaido Airports on the execution of a contract and utilization of project finance for a bundled concession deal of seven airports in Hokkaido. Hokkaido Airports was established on August 23, 2019 as a consortium of 17 companies based in and outside of Hokkaido. Its goal is to revitalize regional Hokkaido through integrated and flexible management of seven Hokkaido airports: New Chitose Airport, Wakkanai Airport, Kushiro Airport, Hakodate Airport, Asahikawa Airport, Obihiro Airport and Memanbetsu Airport. The Hokkaido Bundled Seven Airports Concession deal improves Hokkaido’s core transportation infrastructure, and is the first domestic deal to feature comprehensive bundling, in which multiple airports will be operated under a unified structure. Naoaki Eguchi, supported by partner Tetsuo Tsujimoto, led the firm’s team in the transaction, which is one of the largest privatized concession deals in Japan.

Clifford Chance has advised ABN AMRO Bank, Clifford Capital, ING Bank and Natixis, as mandated lead arrangers, on the US$700 million financing for the conversion of the LNG carrier Gimi into an FLNG vessel. Following completion of the conversion works at Keppel Shipyard, Singapore, the vessel will be leased to BP for operations on the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim field, located offshore Mauritania and Senegal in West Africa. Golar LNG and Keppel Capital’s US$1.3 billion Gimi FLNG scheme is the first commercially syndicated project financing of an FLNG vessel in the international bank market. The project’s bankability and lender appetite ensured there was no need for support from an export credit agency. Singapore partner Kate Sherrard, supported by partners Paul Landless, Matthew Buchanan, Hein Tonnaer and Jurgen van der Meer, led the firm’s team in the transaction.

Clifford Chance has also advised renewable energy company Vena Energy on the establishment of its US$1 billion euro medium term note programme and debut offering of US$325 million senior unsecured fixed rate green notes due 2025. The deal marks the first US-dollar corporate green bond benchmark offering from a Singapore-headquartered company. Vena Energy, a portfolio company of Global Infrastructure Partners, is a leading independent power producer of renewable energy in Asia Pacific, and invests, develops, constructs and operates exclusively solar, wind and energy storage projects. It currently has assets and operations in Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. Crédit Agricole CIB, DBS Bank, ING and MUFG were the joint global coordinators and, together with ABN AMRO, Banca IMI, BNP Paribas and SMBC Nikko, were also the joint lead managers. Partner Gareth Deiner, supported by partner Johannes Juette, led the firm’s team in the transaction.

Davis Polk has advised the initial purchasers on a Regulation S offering by Zhenro Properties Group of US$200 million 5.6 percent senior notes due 2021. Hong Kong-listed Zhenro Properties Group is a property developer that focuses on the development of residential properties, and the development, operation and management of commercial and mixed-use properties in China. Partner Gerhard Radtke led the firm’s team in the transaction.

ELP is advising Azafran Innovacion and Azafran Ventures on the scheme of merger between Azafran Innovacion and Azafran Ventures, and their respective shareholders and creditors, under Sections 230-232 of the Companies Act 2013. Mumbai corporate & M&A partners Darshan Upadhyay and Bhavin Gada are leading the firm’s team in the transaction.

ELP is also advising Capital India Asset Management on the formation of a category II alternative investment fund, under SEBI Regulations 2012. The application for registration has been filed with SEBI, and is pending approval. Mumbai corporate & M&A partners Darshan Upadhyay and Bhavin Gada are also leading the firm’s team in the transaction.

J Sagar Associates has advised Export-Import Bank of India on the issue of US$1 billion notes under the US$10 billion global medium term note program. Partners Dina Wadia and Uttara Kolhatkar led the firm’s team in the transaction, which marks the lowest 10-year pricing from any Indian Issuer in the US$ markets, especially in the backdrop of geopolitical tensions.

J Sagar Associates has also advised Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) on the issue of US$1 billion bonds, in dual tranches of US$700 million (10 years) and US$300 million (30 years) bonds, under its US$2 billion global medium term note programme. IRFC’s US$1 billion bond transaction is the first US-dollar 30-year tranche bond from an Indian state-owned issuer. This transaction also witnessed a record investor interest, with demand of US$8 billion worth for US$1 billion bonds, in the backdrop of the crisis created by the outbreak of COVID-19 in the global markets. Partners Dina Wadia and Uttara Kolhatkar also led the firm’s team in the transaction.

Khaitan & Co has advised Pidilite Industries on the series F round of investment, through Madhumala Ventures, in Trendsutra Platform Services, operator of e-commerce marketplace “Pepperfry”. Pidilite Group invested US$10 million directly in the operating company in India. Partner Anuj Shah led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on February 15, 2020. Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas represented Pepperfry.

Khaitan & Co has also acted as global lead counsel to Tech Mahindra on its US$64 million acquisition, together with Tech Mahindra (Americas), of the entire shareholding of the Zen3 group, comprising of Zen3 Infosolutions (America), Oslo Solutions, Zen3 Infosolutions, Zen3 Information Technologies and Zen3 Infosolutions. Tech Mahindra is an Indian multinational subsidiary of the Mahindra Group, providing IT services and business process outsourcing to companies. The Zen3 Group is a US-based group of companies which possesses strong capabilities in AI enablement and tagging, software product engineering and DevOps. Partner Aravind Venugopal led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was announced on February 25, 2020. Perkins Coie also advised the acquirers on US law, while Dorsey & Whitney and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co advised the sellers.

L&L has advised ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel on the acquisition of the secured assets of Bhander Power, including a 500MW thermal power plant, in a sale under the Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act 2002. The power plant is an essential part of the production ecosystem for the steel plant of ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India, previously known as Essar Steel India. Senior partner Mohit Saraf and partners Bikash Jhawar and Nipun Vaid, supported by partners Abhishek Swaroop and Akhil Anand, led the firm’s team in the transaction.

Maples and Calder has acted as Cayman Islands counsel to Abbisko Cayman on a US$60 million Series C round funding, led by Temasek, along with Qiming Venture Capital, LAV Biosciences, CICC, Golden Valley and others. Abbisko is founded by a group of seasoned drug hunters with rich research and managerial experience from top global and Chinese pharmaceutical companies. The founders have successful track records of advancing a number of innovative medicines to market, through US FDA approval, and have pioneered China’s novel drug discovery and development in recent years. Partner Everton Robertson led the firm’s team in the transaction, which closed on February 21, 2020. Hankun Shanghai acted as onshore counsel to Abbisko.

Maples and Calder has also acted as Cayman Islands counsel to Kuaishou Technology on a US$3 billion Series F round funding, led by Tencent, along with Singaporean State-backed Temasek Group, Boyu Capital, YF Capital and Sequoia Capital. Kuaishou Technology’s platform allows users to share snippets of their everyday lives through short videos and live-streaming. Partner Everton Robertson also led the firm’s team in the transaction, which closed on February 11, 2020. Latham & Watkins acted as Hong Kong law counsel to Kuaishou Technology.

Rajah & Tann Singapore, member firm of Rajah & Tann Asia, has acted as Singapore counsel to Edvance International Holdings on its transfer of listing from the Growth Enterprise Market to the Main Board in Hong Kong. Partner Hoon Chi Tern led the firm’s team in the transaction.

SSEK Legal Consultants has acted for The Gesit Companies, a diversified Indonesian conglomerate that operates in the property, trading and services, manufacturing and natural resources sectors, on a transaction with MEA Commercial Holdings (MEACH), a leading Singapore holding company that focuses on real estate investments. The Gesit Companies sold to MEACH a substantial stake in Gesit Sarana Perkasa, a limited liability company that owns JS Luwansa Hotel and Convention Center, a property in the Jakarta business district of Kuningan. Senior partners Dyah Soewito and Ira Eddymurthy led the firm’s team in the transaction.

S&R Associates has represented IRB Infrastructure Developments, one of India’s largest private roads and highways infrastructure developers, on approximately Rs37.53 billion (US$506m) investments in its roads platform by affiliates of GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund. The investment was through a private placement of units by India’s first unlisted infrastructure investment trust, IRB Infrastructure Trust, sponsored by IRB. Partners Sandip Bhagat and Sudip Mahapatra led the firm’s team in the transaction, which is the largest transaction in the roads and highways sector in India.

S&R Associates has also represented Citigroup, as financial advisor to the board of directors of Network18 Media & Investments, on the proposed merger of TV18 Broadcast, DEN Networks and Hathway Cable and Datacom with Network18. Partners Sandip Bhagat and Sudip Mahapatra led the firm’s team in the transaction.