Allen & Gledhill has advised Temasek Financial (I) and Temasek Holdings on the issue of €500 million (US$550m) 0.50 percent guaranteed notes due 2031 and €500 million 1.25 percent guaranteed notes due 2049 under their US$20 billion guaranteed global medium term note programme. The notes are unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by Temasek Holdings. Partners Yeo Wico and Wu Zhaoqi, and tax partner Sunit Chhabra led the firm’s team on the transaction.
Allen & Gledhill has also advised CapitaLand Treasury and CapitaLand on the issue of S$500 million (US$367m) fixed-rate subordinated perpetual notes under their S$5 billion Euro medium term note programme. CapitaLand is the guarantor for the notes. Partners Tan Tze Gay and Wu Zhaoqi, and tax partner Sunit Chhabra led the firm’s team on the transaction.
Ashurst has advised Singapore-based payments service provider Coda Payments on an investment by Apis Partners, a UK-based private equity fund that focuses its investments on financial services innovators in growth markets. Coda Payments is a payment processing firm that provides digital content providers alternative payment methods and helps them monetise games and digital contents. Coda’s clients include some of the largest tech giants, such as streaming service provider Netflix, Singapore gaming and e-commerce titan Garena, and leading Chinese game publisher Tencent. Apis Partners’ investment, through Apis Growth Fund II, will allow Coda Payments to leverage on the PE firm’s expertise in the payment industry. Partner Waltter Kulvik, supported by partner Michelle Phang, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
AZB & Partners is advising Advent International on its acquisition, through its Cyprus-based entity Ansamira, of an approximately 74 percent majority stake of the total share capital of Bharat Serums and Vaccines. Partners Zia Mody, Darshika Kothari and Rinki Ganguli are leading the firm’s team in the transaction, which was signed on November 18, 2019 and is yet to be completed.
AZB & Partners has also advised VTB Capital on its Rs21.2 billion (US$295.6m) acquisition, via a block trade on the stock exchange, of 7.26 percent of the share capital of Zee Entertainment Enterprises held by Essel Media Ventures Mauritius. Partners Vaidhyanadhan Iyer, Nilang Desai and Lionel D’Almeida led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on November 22, 2019.
Khaitan & Co has advised Milestone India Professional Investor’s Private Real Estate Investment, part of Mertiz Financial Group South Korea, on its investment in the units of Real Estate Credit Opportunities Fund, a Category II alternative investment fund managed by Edelweiss Alternative Asset Advisors, with a target fund size of US$429 million. The fund has been established as a bilateral platform to build a diversified portfolio of residential real “structured credit” investments in India, with a view to provide last mile funding for real estate projects. Partners Siddharth Shah and Divaspati Singh, supported by partners Bijal Ajinkya, Sudip Mullick, Harsh Parikh, Avnish Sharma and Rashmi Deshpande, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Khaitan & Co has also acted as Indian counsel to JM Financial, Axis Capital, Kotak Mahindra Capital, Morgan Stanley India and Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India), as the book-running lead managers, on the qualified institutions placement of approximately 21.8 million equity shares of Bajaj Finance at a price of Rs3,900 (US$54.40) per equity share, aggregating to approximately Rs85 billion (US$1.2 billion). Partners Abhimanyu Bhattacharya and Thomas George led the firm’s team in the transaction, which is the largest qualified institutions placement by an NBFC in India.
Maples and Calder has acted as Cayman Islands counsel to Huali University Group on its IPO of 300 million shares and listing in Hong Kong. Huali is a leading large-scale private higher education and vocational education group in South China. The offering, which closed on November 25, 2019, raised approximately HK$978 million (US$125m). Partner Derrick Kan led the firm’s team in the transaction, while King & Wood Mallesons and Jingtian & Gongcheng acted as Hong Kong and China counsel, respectively. Reed Smith Richards Butler and JunHe acted as Hong Kong and China counsel, respectively, to the sole sponsor, China Securities (International) Corporate Finance, and the underwriters.
Maples and Calder has also acted as BVI counsel to Shanghai Electric Group Global Investment on its issuance of US$500 million aggregate principal amount of 2.65 percent guaranteed bonds due 2024, which closed on November 21, 2019. Shanghai Electric is wholly-owned by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Shanghai Municipal Government. It is one of the largest comprehensive equipment manufacturing conglomerates in China. Juno Huang led the firm’s team in the transaction, while Clifford Chance acted as English counsel. Paul Hastings acted as English counsel to the joint lead managers, including UBS Hong Kong Branch, Barclays Bank, ICBC International Securities, Guotai Junan Securities (Hong Kong), Bank of Communications Hong Kong Branch, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hong Kong Branch, China Construction Bank (Asia), JP Morgan Securities and MUFG Securities Asia.
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas has advised Warburg Pincus on its investment, through Mauritius-incorporated entity Pear Valley Investment, in Perfios Software Solutions, an entity which provides fintech data platform to banks, non-banking financial institutions and other end consumers. Mumbai managing partner Akshay Chudasama and partner Ashni Roy led the firm’s team in the transaction, which closed on November 15, 2019.
Simpson Thacher represented J-Star in connection with the formation of the J-Star No.4 Series Funds, a ¥48.5 billion (US$445m) Japan-focused buyout fund series. The J-Star No.4 Series Funds are the fourth Japan buyout fund series served by J-Star. The Simpson Thacher team was led by Adam Furber.
Skadden has advised Goldman Sachs, CLSA, Orient Securities and China Renaissance Securities as the underwriters on Pharmaron’s US$589 million IPO in Hong Kong. Beijing-based Pharmaron provides research and development services to the life sciences industry. Trading commenced on November 28, 2019. Hong Kong partners Julie Gao and Paloma Wang led the firm’s team in the transaction.
TT&A has advised Nahar Credits, a non- depositing taking NBFC, on its change of control, via sale of majority shares of Nahar held by Quickbridge Mauritius Holdings, part of the Wonga group, to Primrose Hill Ventures, part of the Zest Money group. Partner Shruti Zota led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was valued at approximately Rs175 million (US$2.4m) and closed on November 13, 2019. Saakshya Law advised Primrose Hill Ventures.
TT&A has also advised Global University Systems on its 100 percent acquisition of Laureate Group’s education and related support services business in India, which includes a UGC-recognised university and another academic institution. This is one of the largest buyouts globally in the private education sector. Partner Feroz Dubash led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was valued at US$150 million and was completed on May 9, 2019.