Appleby has acted as Cayman counsel to Fire Rock Holdings Ltd in respect of its listing on the Growth Enterprise Market of the HKSE with gross proceeds of approximately HK$51.2 million (US$6.6m). Fire Rock develops browser and mobile games from game design, programming and graphics, to the licensing of its self-developed games to licensed operators around the world. Hong Kong corporate partner Judy Lee led the transaction whilst Li & Partners and Shu Jin Law Firm acted as Hong Kong and PRC advisers. Locke Lord and Jingtian & Gongcheng were the Hong Kong and PRC counsels to the sponsors and underwriters.

Appleby has also acted as Cayman counsel to Genscript Biotech Corp in respect of its listing on the Main Board of the HKSE with gross proceeds of approximately HK$524 million (US$67.5m). Genscript, a leading biology research service company, ranked first in the global gene synthesis service market and third in the global DNA synthesis service market in terms of revenue in 2014. The listing marks the second IPO in the area of DNA synthesis products on the HKSE. Hong Kong managing partner Francis Woo led the transaction. Peter Yuen & Associates (in association with Fangda Partners), Fangda Partners, Dorsey & Whitney, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek NV and Clayton Utz were the HK, PRC, US, Japan, Dutch and Australian counsels, respectively.

Baker & McKenzie has advised China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd (CEA) as the lessee and CES MU2 LLC, a special purpose trust incorporated in the state of Delaware, as the issuer in respect of the offerings of approximately US$184.7 million secured notes due 2026 guaranteed by the Export-Import Bank of the United States (US Ex-Im Bank). The proceeds from the offering were used to re-finance certain US Ex-Im loans for the leasing of a new Boeing 777-300ER and a new Boeing 737-800 aircraft. HSBC was the sole book-runner and structuring agent for the transaction. The final coupon rate was the lowest print for EXIM-guaranteed bond of a similar maturity over the last two years. CEA is an international and domestic airline based in Shanghai and is one of the three largest air carriers in China. It is the first Chinese airline listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the HKSE and the NYSE. Shanghai partner Harvey Lau led the transaction.

Bird & Bird has acted for Eyeota in respect of its Series A round of fund raising and internal group restructuring. The transaction raised approximately US$6 million. Eyeota operates as an audience targeting data and data management technology company in the Asia-Pacific, Europe and Australia. It offers Eyeota, a cloud-driven data marketplace that helps publishers, agencies and advertisers to build, segment, monetize and protect their audience data. Partners Marcus Chow (Singapore) and Padraig Walsh (China and Hong Kong) led the transaction.

Clifford Chance has advised GF Securities (Hong Kong) Brokerage Ltd as the sole placing agent in respect of Dalian Port Company Ltd’s proposed placement of up to approximately 1.48 billion new H shares under specific mandate. The first tranche of the placement was for approximately 1.18 billion shares subscribed by China Merchants Holdings (International) Company Ltd at the price of HK$3.67 (US$0.47). Dual-listed in Hong Kong and Shanghai, Dalian Port is the largest port in northeast China and 10th largest in the world. Partner Tim Wang led the transaction.

Davis Polk has advised the underwriters in respect of an SEC-registered Schedule B debt offering by KEXIM of US$400 million 2.125 percent notes due 2021. Net proceeds from the offering will be used by KEXIM to extend loans to fund projects that promote the transition to low-carbon and climate-resilient growth. KEXIM is an official export credit agency providing comprehensive export credit and guarantee programs to support Korean enterprises conducting overseas business. Partner Eugene C Gregor led the transaction.

Davis Polk has also advised Morgan Stanley as global structuring agent and coordinator in respect of its SEC-registered offering in Taiwan of US$400 million fixed-rate senior notes due 2036. The notes were settled in Euroclear and Clearstream and are listed on the Taipei Exchange in Taiwan and offered in Taiwan to professional institutional investors. The underwriters for the offering were E Sun Commercial Bank Ltd, MasterLink Securities Corp and Yuanta Securities Co Ltd. Partners Christopher S Schell and Gregory S Rowland led the transaction.

DLA Piper has acted as international counsel to the underwriters in respect of TeamLease Services’ INR423 crores (US$61.6m) IPO on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India. The IPO was 38-times over-subscribed and was one of the highest performing IPOs in recent times. TeamLease is now valued at over 40 times its 2015-16 estimated earnings, much higher than some global peers in similar businesses. Credit Suisse, IDFC Securities and ICICI Securities were the book-running lead managers for the issue. IDFC Securities Ltd, Credit Suisse Securities (India) Pvt. Ltd and ICICI Securities Ltd managed the offer. Established in 2002, Mumbai-based TeamLease is one of India’s largest, leading people supply chain companies. Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas acted as domestic counsel. AZB & Partners represented Teamlease as domestic counsel.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher has represented Universal Pictures in respect of its multi-year financing agreement with China-based multi-media enterprise Perfect World Pictures. The partnership will begin this year and last five years or for the co-financing of 50 pictures. Legendary Entertainment will continue to finance select Universal titles. This deal represents the first time a Chinese non-SOE entertainment company will be working directly with a major US studio and the first time a Chinese company will invest in a multi-year slate deal with a major studio. Partner Stephen Tsoneff led the transaction which was announced on 17 February 2016. Perfect World was represented by Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.

Khaitan & Co has advised Indo Phyto Chemicals and the seller in respect of the sale of 51 percent stake in Indo Phyto Chemicals to Sequent Scientific Ltd. Indo Phyto Chemicals is engaged in the manufacturing and marketing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), drug intermediates and finished formulations of steroidal hormones at its manufacturing facility at Uttarakhand. Partner Bharat Anand led the transaction.

Khaitan & Co has also advised National Payment Corp of India (NPCI), a section 8 company, in respect of the approximately US$20 million private placement of equity shares. The offer under the issue was made to selected public sector banks, private sector banks, foreign banks with retail presence, multi-state co-operative banks and regional rural banks. The issue was undertaken to implement the directive of the Reserve Bank of India i.e. to broad base the shareholding of NPCI, being a systematic important company for payment banking organizations in India. NPCI is an umbrella organization for all retail payments system in India. It was set up with the guidance and support of the Reserve Bank of India and Indian Banks’ Association. Executive Director Sudhir Bassi and associate partner Madhur Kohli led the transaction.

Kirkland & Ellis has represented the consortium of Bain Capital and GIC in respect of its purchase of a minority interest in QuEST, a global engineering solutions provider. The transaction includes the purchase of the stake held by Warburg Pincus, which invested in 2010, and purchases from certain other QuEST shareholders. Corporate partners Srinivas Kaushik, Pierre Arsenault and Xiaoxi Lin led the transaction which was announced on 18 February 2016.

Mayer Brown JSM has acted as international counsel to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and International Finance Corp (IFC) in respect of loans extended to Ooredoo Myanmar Ltd, a telecom provider in Myanmar. The US$300 million loan (US$150 million each from ADB and IFC) will be used to finance Ooredoo’s telecom infrastructure rollout that will provide a full range of fixed, mobile and data services across Myanmar. In 2013, only seven out of every 100 people had access to a mobile phone in Myanmar. Providing affordable, widely available telecom services to support economic growth and cut poverty has been a priority goal of the Myanmar government. Singapore finance partner Benjamin Thompson led the transaction.

Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Standard Chartered Bank Singapore as documentation bank on behalf of a syndicate of lenders in respect of the approximately US$1.12 billion limited recourse project financing of the “Armada Olombendo” floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) for Bumi Armada Berhad. The financing is in relation to the acquisition, conversion, refurbishment, installation and other ancillary work for FPSO “Armada Olombendo” under a time charter contract with Eni Angola SpA. Upon completion, the FPSO will be chartered to Eni Angola and operated at the Block 15/06 East Hub oil field, offshore Angola. The FPSO is currently under conversion at Keppel Shipyard in Singapore. The syndicate of lenders comprised Standard Chartered Bank, Societe Generale, Natixis, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, The Korea Development Bank, KFW IPEX-Bank GmbH, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, PJSC, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd and Credit Industriel et Commercial. The facility agreement was signed on 23 December 2015 with a tenor of up to 12 years. The facility comprises a term loan facility, a letter of credit facility and a bank guarantee facility. The borrower is Armada Cabaca Ltd, a company incorporated in the Marshall Islands, owned by Bumi Armada Berhad, a Malaysia-listed company. Singapore partner Ben Rose, assisted by partner Robert Driver, led the transaction.

Rajah & Tann is advising SGX Main Board-listed Dapai International Holdings Co Ltd in respect of its S$1.59 million (US$1.13m) private placement of shares in conjunction with a proposed reverse takeover involving the acquisition of a substantial stake in Smart Traffic Co Ltd and a transfer of the company’s Main Board listing to the Catalist Board. The placement proceeds will be utilised for payment of costs and expenses in connection with the reverse takeover. Dapai is one of the largest branded backpack companies in the PRC. Smart Traffic is a system integrator in Thailand which provides solutions based on contactless smart card and a wide range of cutting-edge software solutions and integrated hardware components. Partners Danny Lim and Mark Wong are leading the transaction which was announced on 16 February 2016 and is yet to be completed.

Shearman & Sterling has advised Light Rail Manila Corp (LRMC) in respect of the development and financing of the Light Rail Transit 1 Cavite Extension project (LRT 1 project). The sponsors for the project are Metro Pacific Investments Corp, Ayala’s AC Infrastructure Holdings and Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings. The total project cost is P65 billion (US$1.36b), of which P24 billion (US$504m) will be financed by way of a limited-recourse loan from the bank market. The successful closing marks one of the largest infrastructure project financings in the Philippines to date. On 11 February 2016, LRMC signed a P24 billion (US$504m), 15-year Omnibus Loan and Security Agreement with a syndicate of Philippines banks, including Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co, Security Bank Corp and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. LRMC also signed an EPC agreement with France’s Bouygues Travaux Publics and Alstom Transport for the LRT 1 project on the same day. Launched in 1987, the LRT 1 line is Metro Manila’s oldest elevated railway. Singapore Project Development & Finance partner Bill McCormack led the transaction.

Sullivan & Cromwell is representing Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd (Japan) in respect of its US$1 billion acquisition of an additional 13 percent interest in the Morenci Copper Mine (US) operated by Freeport-McMoRan Inc (US). New York corporate partner Sergio J Galvis is leading the transaction which was announced on 15 February 2016.

WongPartnership is acting for Jurong Port Pte Ltd in respect of its joint venture with Oiltanking Singapore Ltd to develop, own and operate a new liquid bulk terminal in Jurong Port, Singapore for the storage and handling of clean petroleum products and chemicals. Partners Chan Sing Yee, Ameera Ashraf, Elaine Tan, Dorothy Marie Ng and Bonnie Wong are leading the transaction.

WongPartnership has also acted for Barclays Bank plc in respect of the sale of its international offshore trust and fiduciary business to Zedra, an independent investor group led by the Sarikhani and Nielsen families. Partners Vivien Yui and Elaine Chan led the transaction.