Clifford Chance has advised Aluminum Corporation of China (Chinalco) on the acquisition by its wholly owned subsidiary, Shining Prospect Pte Ltd, of around 12 percent of Rio Tinto plc. Alcoa has committed US$1.2 billion by way of a convertible instrument into Shining Prospect. Chinalco is the largest alumina and primary aluminium producer in China. Headquartered in Beijing, Chinalco has operations across 21 provinces in China and subsidiaries or offices in 9 countries across 5 continents.

Clifford Chance Singapore has advised the Export-Import Bank of China on a US$615 million financing for PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), Indonesia’s state electricity company. The Indonesian government guaranteed the 15-year loans. The funding will build two new power plants in Java that will greatly increase PLN’s power generation capacity. These are the first Indonesian government-guaranteed loans to be signed in the country. The government had previously issued support letters for PLN’s purchase obligations under its power purchase agreement.

Freshfields has advised Air China on raising its shareholding in Air China Cargo to 76 percent, through the purchase of a 25 percent stake from Citic Pacific for US$118 million.

Freshfields has advised Criteria Caixa Corp on its US$508 million acquisition a further 4.55 percent stake in Bank of East Asia, increasing its total stake in Bank of Asia to 8.89 percent.

Freshfields has advised Baring Private Equity Asia Holdings K.K. on its acquisition of the precision parts maker LADVIK from Kuramoto, the Japan-listed flat-panel display glass substrate developer.

Freshfields has advised on a loan facility by DVB for the acquisition of four A320-200 Airbus aircraft to be operated by Air Asia Berhad. Freshfields acted for Air Asia Berhad.

Freshfields has advised Marubeni Corporation, a Japan-based large trading company, on its purchase of a 16.2 percent stake in the Shanghai Christine Group in China. Marubeni Corporation is one of the top five trading houses in Japan and the Shanghai Christine Group is a major Shanghai-based bakery shop.

DLA Piper advised the joint sponsors and underwriters on the US$5.5 billion listing of China Railway Group, the largest construction company in Asia and the third largest construction contractor in the world. It was the largest A+H listing (dual listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong) in 2007 and pioneered the ‘first A then H’ listing model in the history of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange whereby a PRC company’s H-shares are listed in Hong Kong closely following the listing of A-shares in Shanghai.

Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. advised SEB International, in acquiring a controlling interest in Supor, one of the leading culinary goods and cookware manufacturers. The transaction represents the first direct acquisition by a foreign company of a majority stake in the capital of a Chinese A-share listed company (traded in RMB), the first partial tender offer on a Chinese Stock Exchange and the first anti-monopoly investigation conducted by the Ministry of Commerce of the PRC (MOFCOM).

Hogan & Hartson LLP served as legal counsel to client ChinaEdu Corporation (CEDU) in its initial public offering. CEDU was listed on the NASDAQ Global Market on December 11, 2007. CEDU, a leading educational services provider in China, raised approximately US$68.2 million.

Latham & Watkins advised GigaMedia in an Exclusive Licensing Agreement to Operate. GigaMedia will offer and operate the highly anticipated game Warhammer® Online: Age of Reckoning™ in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Warhammer is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that creates a rich and immersive virtual world for hundreds of thousands of players. Latham & Watkins LLP advised GigaMedia on the licensing agreement, which demonstrates the global reach and popularity of MMORPGs.

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP has advised on the successful US$2.3 billion rights offering and cumulative compulsory convertible preference share issuance by Tata Steel Limited of India, one of the world’s largest steel producers. Milbank acted as international counsel for the lead managers, JM Financial, DSP Merrill Lynch and Citigroup, in the offering. The transaction was one of the largest Indian rights offerings to date, and was carefully structured to deal with overlapping Indian and US securities regulations.

O’Melveny & Myers LLP recently represented ATA Inc. (ATA), a Chinese educational testing company in its approximate US$46.3 million initial public offering on the NASDAQ Global Market. ATA’s American Depositary Shares (ADS) are trading on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol ‘ATAI.’ The IPO totaled 4,874,012 ADS, priced at US$9.50 per ADS. ATA, which is incorporated in the Cayman Islands and headquartered in Beijing, provides computer-based testing services in China, as well as test-based educational programs and test preparation services. Clients include professional associations, such as the China Banking Association and the Securities Association of China, governmental agencies, IT vendors, educational institutions and individual consumers.

Rajah & Tann LLP is acting for Knowledge Two Investment Pte Ltd (KTI) (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lee Latex (Pte) Limited) in its mandatory conditional cash offer to acquire all the issued ordinary shares in the capital of The Straits Trading Company Limited, other than those already owned or agreed to be acquired by KTI and the Lee family companies. The competing bidder is The Cairns Pte. Ltd. (which is an investment firm controlled by the family members of the late Tan Chin Tuan). Based on the offer price of S$5.76 for each ordinary share in the capital of The Straits Trading Company Limited, the offer values The Straits Trading Company Limited at approximately S$1.88 billion (US$1.31 billion).