Allen & Gledhill has advised Frasers Property North Gem Trustee, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Frasers Property, on the S$785 million (US$578.6m) green term loan facility, arranged by Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, DBS Bank, Bank of China and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, to refinance existing loans relating to Northpoint City South Wing, which is part of the largest integrated development in the north of Singapore. In recognition of the development’s environmentally-friendly design, the Singapore Building and Construction Authority has conferred it a Green Mark Gold Plus rating. The loan was issued under Frasers Property’s green loan framework, established under the LMA/APLMA green loan principles. The framework details clear guidelines on how Frasers Property will evaluate and select eligible green projects, based on the group’s sustainability objectives, as well as manage the net proceeds from green loans, including reporting on the manner in which the net loans are allocated. Partner Lim Wei Ting led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Allen & Gledhill has also advised the Housing and Development Board on the issue of S$500 million (US$368.6m) principal amount of fixed rate notes due 2026, as Series 085 under its S$32 billion (US$23.6b) multicurrency medium term note programme. Partners Margaret Chin, Fabian Tan and Sunit Chhabra led the firm’s team in the transaction.
AZB & Partners has advised SoftBank Vision Fund on the Rs24.5 billion (US$355.5m) acquisition by its subsidiary, SVF Doorbell (Cayman), of compulsorily convertible preference shares amounting to approximately 22 percent of the total share capital of Delhivery, an e-commerce logistics firm that facilitates the delivery of goods for online retailers, such as Flipkart, Amazon and Paytm. L&L Partners advised Carlyle Asia Partners, which is also took part in the US$413 million funding round. The transaction, which requires approval by the Competition Commission, was the sixth round of funding for Delhivery, with Tiger Global, Times Internet, Nexus Venture Partners, Fosun, Multiples Fund and Carlyle as existing investors. AZB partners Vinati Kastia and Daksh Trivedi led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was signed on December 21, 2018 and was completed on March 8, 2019. For L&L, partner Samir Dudhoria, supported by partners Abdullah Hussain and Kanika Chaudhary, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
AZB & Partners has also advised Twenty-First Century Fox on its acquisition by The Walt Disney Company for approximately US$71.3 billion in stock and cash. The Walt Disney Company will also acquire Twenty-First Century Fox’s interest in Sky. Partners Ashwath Rau and Roxanne Anderson led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was signed on June 20, 2018 and was completed on March 20, 2019.
Conyers Dill & Pearman has advised Jefferies Financial Group on the sale of its stake in Epic Gas to BW Group. The sale was immediately followed by a tender offer by BW Group for all the remaining issued shares of Epic Gas. Oslo-listed Epic Gas owns and operates a fleet of vessels for the transportation of liquefied petroleum gas and petrochemicals. With a fleet of over 165 vessels, BW Group is a global maritime group involved in shipping, floating gas infrastructure and deepwater oil and gas production. BVI corporate partner Anton Goldstein, working alongside Morgan Lewis, led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on March 19, 2019.
Conyers Dill & Pearman has also provided BVI and Cayman Islands advice to International Alliance Financial Leasing on its HK$420 million (US$53.5m) IPO of 495 million shares in Hong Kong. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Beijing, the company provides finance leasing and advisory services in China. Hong Kong corporate partner Richard Hall, working alongside Stevenson, Wong & Co and ONC Lawyers, led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on March 19, 2019.
Davis Polk has advised the initial purchaser on a US$255 million Regulation S offering by CIFI Holdings (Group) of its 6.55 percent senior notes due 2024. Established in 2000 and headquartered in Shanghai, CIFI Holdings is engaged in the property development, property investment and property management business in China. Partner Gerhard Radtke led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Davis Polk has also advised the initial purchasers on a US$200 million Regulation S only offering by Hong Kong-listed China South City Holdings of its 11.875 percent senior notes due 2021. The company develops and operates large-scale, integrated logistics and trade centres in China. It currently has eight projects in different stages of development located in regional economic hubs in China. Partner Gerhard Radtke also led the firm’s team in the transaction.
J Sagar Associates has advised the Government of India (GoI), through the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management and the Ministry of Power, on its approximately Rs145 billion (US$2.1b) sale of its entire 52.63 percent shareholding in REC to Power Finance. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had given its in-principle approval for the transaction on December 6, 2018. The transaction helped the GoI to meet and exceed its disinvestment target of R800 billion (US$11.6b) for Financial Year 2018-19. Partners Rohitashwa Prasad and Sujoy Bhatia led the firm’s team in the transaction. The firm, with a team led by partners Dina Wadia, Rohitashwa Prasad and Uttara Kolhatkar, also advised REC on procurement of consents from its bondholders and other lenders, in connection with the transaction.
J Sagar Associates has also advised Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Fund on its US$60 million investment in Supermarket Grocery Supplies (BigBasket). Mirae was the lead investor in this round, along with Alibaba (an existing investor) and CDC Group. BigBasket entered the unicorn US$1 billion club in the last round of investment, which will increase BigBasket’s valuation to approximately US$2-2.3 billion. After this round, BigBasket can aggressively venture into new cities and categories, like micro delivery, and maintain market leadership against Amazon, Flipkart, and Grofers, which are trying to establish their presence in the grocery business, owing to the high repeat and habit-forming nature of the business. Partners Vikram Raghani and Manav Raheja led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Khaitan & Co has advised Reliance Jio Infocomm on the proposed restructuring / reorganisation of its business, through a composite scheme of arrangement, among Reliance Jio Infocomm, Jio Digital Fibre and Reliance Jio Infratel, and their respective shareholders and creditors. Partners Haigreve Khaitan and Mehul Shah, assisted by partner Sharad Abhyankar, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Khaitan & Co has also advised Northern Arc Capital on the Rs9.1 billion (US$132m) investments by IIFL Special Opportunities Fund and its series managed by IIFL Asset Management, Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore Branch) and Affirma Capital, comprising both primary and secondary rounds. The transaction also includes partial exits by Dvara Trust, Leapfrog Financial Inclusion India (II) and Accion Africa-Asia Investment. Northern Arc Capital is a non-banking financial company registered with the Reserve Bank of India. Partner Akshay Bhargav led the firm’s team in the transaction.
L&L Partners has also advised Ribbon Communications on its global acquisition of the business and technology of AnovaData (Anova). The transaction, which valued Anova at US$17 million, was structured as a stock and cash deal. Ribbon is a Nasdaq-listed global software leader in secure and intelligent cloud communications. Anova provides a cloud narrative, streaming analytics platform for network and subscriber optimisation and monetisation. The acquisition will help Ribbon expand into network optimisation, security and data monetisation, via big data analytics and machine learning. Anova’s solutions will help Ribbon in providing end-to-end solution for real time communications and IP data service assurance, security, optimisation and monetisation. Partner Shinoj Koshy led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Mayer Brown has represented the joint lead managers on the issuance of a dual tranche bond offering totaling US$2.4 billion by the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The dual-tranche issuance, which comprised US$1 billion 6.85 percent bonds due in 2024 and US$1.4 billion 7.85 percent bonds due in 2029, was priced on March 7, 2019 and closed on March 14, 2019. The offering generated robust demand from international investors, marking another successful return of the government of Sri Lanka to the US dollar bond market. Partner Thomas Kollar led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was announced on March 27, 2019.
Proskauer is representing Barcelona-based, Nasdaq-listed Grifols on its entry into a strategic alliance with China’s leading blood plasma company, Shanghai RAAS Blood Products. Pursuant to the transaction, Grifols will exchange a minority interest (45 percent economic rights and 40 percent voting rights) in its US subsidiary Grifols Diagnostic Solutions (GDS) for a 26.2 percent interest in Shanghai RAAS. Upon consummation of the transaction, Grifols will become the second-largest shareholder in Shanghai RAAS and will obtain additional rights. Shanghai RAAS will become Grifols’ exclusive distributor of plasma-derived products and transfusional diagnostic solutions in China. Shanghai RAAS will use Grifols’ NAT technology to screen plasma donations throughout its network of plasma collection centres across China. Grifols will maintain control of GDS. Partners Daniel Ganitsky (M&A), Peter Samuels, (M&A), Yuval Tal (corporate-Hong Kong), Stuart Rosow (tax) and Martin Hamilton (tax) led the firm’s team in the transaction, which is subject to approval by US and Chinese regulatory authorities and is expected to close in the second half of 2019.
Rajah & Tann Singapore, a member firm of Rajah & Tann Asia, has advised Dukang Distillers Holdings on its proposed acquisition of a kiwifruit business, and its proposed disposal of its existing Chinese liquor business, each for Rmb1.11 billion (US$165m). Partners Howard Cheam and Cynthia Wu led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Skadden has advised Koolearn Technology Holding, a leading online education service provider in China and a subsidiary of New York-listed New Oriental Education & Technology Group, on its HK$1.6 billion (US$203.8m) IPO in Hong Kong. Trading in the shares commenced on March 28, 2019. The listing will provide funds for Koolearn’s long-term development and expand its opportunities in the industry. Hong Kong partners Julie Gao and Christopher Betts led the firm’s team in the transaction.
S&R Associates has advised the promoter selling shareholder on the Rs12.05 billion (US$174.8m) offer for sale, through the stock exchanges in India, of 10.55 million shares of Endurance Technologies. New Delhi partner Juhi Singh led the firm’s team in the transaction.
WongPartnership is acting for Digileap Capital, as the offeror, and DBS Bank, as the financial adviser, on the proposed voluntary delisting of Challenger Technologies in Singapore. Partners Andrew Ang, Dawn Law and Anna Tan led the firm’s team in the transaction.