Allen & Gledhill has advised Uni-Asia Holdings on the proposed restructuring of Uni-Asia Holdings by way of a scheme of arrangement. Singapore-incorporated Uni-Asia Group will acquire 100 percent of the issued share capital of Uni-Asia Holdings, a Cayman Islands-incorporated company, and become the listed vehicle in place of Uni-Asia Holdings. Partners Leonard Ching, Alvin Zhuang and Sunit Chhabra led the transaction.
AZB & Partners is advising Thomas Cook (India) and its subsidiaries on their acquisition of 100 percent of the shares in Kuoni Destination Management Specialists Companies in 16 countries across the Americas, Africa, Middle East, Asia and Australia and assets of the Kuoni DMS Company in the USA. Partners Ashwin Ramanathan and Bhavi Sanghvi are leading the transaction, which was signed on April 28, 2017 and is yet to be completed.
AZB & Partners has also advised Rentokil Initial on its acquisition of 57 percent of the shareholding of PCI Pest Control. Partner Rishi Gautam led the transaction, which was completed on March 9, 2017.
Clifford Chance has advised a consortium of seven institutional investors on their arrangement of and subscription for up to US$52.5 million in convertible notes and detached equity options in Australia-listed medical devices company REVA Medical. REVA develops minimally invasive medical devices that leverage proprietary technologies, including drug-eluting bioresorbable coronary scaffolds, for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death worldwide. Perth banking and finance counsel Mark Gillgren, supported by Singapore partner Johannes Juette and New York partners Jonathan Zonis, Jeff Berman and Avrohom Gelber, led the transaction.
Clifford Chance has also acted for BPP Paribas, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and ICBC (London) as the lenders and the shared security agent on the US$800 million restructuring of Mongolian Mining. The lender side of the restructuring was implemented consensually with the bonds requiring schemes of arrangement in the Cayman Islands and Hong Kong. Partner Scott Bache led the transaction, while a separate Clifford Chance team, led by partner Dauwood Malik, acted for the existing shared security agent. Harneys, CC Luxembourg and MahoneyLiotta acted as Cayman counsel, Luxembourg counsel and Mongolian counsel, respectively. Ropes & Gray advised the steering committee of bondholders, while Mayer Brown JSM advised the new bond trustee. Davis Polk & Wardwell represented Mongolian Mining, while Walkers, Loyens & Loeff and Minter Ellison acted as Cayman counsel, Luxembourg counsel and Mongolian counsel, respectively.
Clove Legal has advised Sequretek IT Solutions, a Mumbai-based cyber security start-up, on the Series A investment by GVFL (formerly Gujarat Venture Finance) and Unicorn India Ventures. Sequretek offers a comprehensive suite of products and services for securing information for their enterprise customers. Partner Amit Sirsikar led the transaction. GVFL and Unicorn India Ventures were advised by LawCept, led by partners Tereasa Rini and Afshan Ahmedbhoy.
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has advised Brigade Enterprises on the qualified institutions placement of approximately 22 million equity shares of the company with face value of Rs10 (US$0.155) each at a price of Rs227.50 (US$3.52) per equity share. The preliminary placement document was filed with the stock exchanges on April 25, 2017. The issue opened on April 25, 2017 and closed on April 28, 2017. The placement document was filed with the stock exchanges on April 28, 2017. The shares were allotted to the investors on May 3, 2017. Bangalore capital market partners Arjun Lall and Vijay Parthasarathi led the transaction. Duane Morris & Selvam acted as special international counsel, while Khaitan & Co, led by partner Abhimanyu Bhattacharya and associate partner Thomas George, acted as domestic counsel to Axis Capital and Kotak Mahindra Capital as the lead managers.
Khaitan & Co has advised Aditya Birla Finance (ABF) on its financing of approximately Rs900 million (US$14m) availed by HEG to be utilised for its long term working capital requirements and partial refinancing of certain existing loans. ABF is the NBFC arm of Aditya Financial Services, which provides specialised solution in the areas of capital market and corporate finance. Partner Manisha Shroff led the transaction.
Luthra & Luthra has advised ICRA on an open market buy-back offering aggregating to Rs399.99 million (US$6.2m). Edelweiss Financial Services was the lead manager. ICRA is one of the leading credit agencies registered with SEBI. Along with its subsidiaries, ICRA is engaged in rating services, grading services, industry research, consulting services and knowledge process outsourcing. Partner Vishal Yaduvanshi led the transaction.
Luthra & Luthra has also advised Head Infotech (HI), its founder and CEO Deepak Gullapalli and all HI seller shareholders, including its employee shareholders, on the sale of approximately 87 percent of the entire shareholding of HI to Clairvest Group and a consortium of foreign and domestic investors. The total deal value was approximately US$74 million, making it one of the largest deals in the online gaming industry in India. Pursuant to the deal, Clairvest has acquired a substantial majority stake in HI, with the remaining buyers acquiring a minority stake. HI operates India’s largest online rummy portal (www.ace2three.com), allowing its over eight million users to play the game of rummy. Partners Sundeep Dudeja and Vaibhav Kakkar led the transaction. Clairvest was represented by Khaitan & Co while the co-investors were represented by IC Legal.
Maples and Calder (Hong Kong) acted as Cayman Islands counsel to China Rapid Finance, a Cayman Islands company, on its IPO of American depositary shares representing its ordinary shares, and the listing of such ADSs in New York. The offering was priced at US$6.00 per ADS, with a total offering size of US$60 million, and closed on May 4, 2017. China Rapid Finance operates one of China’s largest consumer lending marketplaces. Morgan Stanley & Co International, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) and Jefferies acted as joint book-runners for the offering. Partner Richard Spooner led the transaction, while Shearman & Sterling acted as US counsel. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton represented the underwriters.
Rajah & Tann Singapore has advised one of the controlling shareholders in Singapore-listed Noble Design Holdings on the disposal of his entire stake in the company to Grand Slam RF18 Investments, thereby triggering a mandatory general offer on the purchaser’s part. Noble Design provides design consultancy for interior and space planning for both commercial and residential projects. It also exclusively distributes and retails imported European home furnishing brands and has further conceptualised and retailed its house labels. Partners Danny Lim and Chia Lee Fong led the transaction.
Sidley Austin has advised HPCL-Mittal Energy on its maiden issuance of US$375 million senior unsecured notes due 2027, the proceeds of which will be used to repay HMEL’s outstanding external commercial borrowings. Partners Matthew Sheridan (Singapore), Manoj Bhargava (Singapore) and David Howe (London) led the transaction, which closed on May 2, 2017.
Skadden has represented Protelindo (Sarana Menara Nusantara) on a US$405 million Re-IPO transaction and sale of shares by certain shareholders, including Micheal Gearon, Tiger Global and Tybourne. Indonesia-listed Protelindo is the largest owner and operator of towers for telecommunications operators in Indonesia. The offering was made under Rule 144A and Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933. Hong Kong and Singapore partners Rajeev Duggal and Jonathan Stone and Palo Alto partner Sean Shimamoto led the transaction.
Skadden has also represented UBS, Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank and Citi as joint book-runners and joint lead managers on a US$240 million Regulation S offering of 6.95 percent guaranteed senior notes due 2024 by Modernland Overseas, a subsidiary of Modernland Realty, a leading real estate developer in Indonesia. The notes were listed in Singapore. The net proceeds from the sale of the notes are to be used to fund the partial redemption of the group’s guaranteed senior notes due 2019, to repay certain credit facilities and for general corporate purposes. Hong Kong and Singapore partners Jonathan Stone and Rajeev Duggal led the transaction, which closed on April 13, 2017.