Allen & Gledhill has advised DBS Bank and United Overseas Bank on the establishment of a S$500 million secured multicurrency medium term note programme and issue of S$200 million 2.80 percent secured notes due 2022 under the programme by Superluck Properties. Tuan Sing Holdings is the guarantor of the programme. DBS and UOB were appointed the arrangers and dealers of the programme and the issue. Deutsche Bank was appointed principal paying agent, non-CDP paying agent and notes trustee for the noteholders and notes security trustee. Allen & Gledhill’s team was led by partners Margaret Chin and Fabian Tan advising DBS and UOB, partner Ong Kangxin advising Deutsche Bank and partner Sunit Chhabra advising DBS and UOB on tax issues.
Allen and Gledhill has also advised Bank of China, Citibank, DBS Bank, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation as transaction counsel on the S$670 million green loan facilities to DBS Trustee, in its capacity as trustee of Mapletree Commercial Trust. The facilities is to part finance, inter alia, the acquisition of Mapletree Business City (Phase 2) (MBC II). DBS and OCBC were appointed green loan coordinators to the facilities. MBC II was completed in 2016 and has been designed with environmentally friendly features and has been certified BCA Green Mark Platinum, BCA Universal Design Mark Platinum Award and LEED Gold. Partner Lim Wei Ting led the Allen & Gledhill.
AZB & Partners has advised Colliers International Group on the acquisition by Colliers International (India) Property Services of a more than 50 percent controlling interest in Synergy Property Development Services. The acquisition will be followed by a merger of Synergy Property Development Services into Colliers International (India) Property Services. Partners Kashish Bhatia and Ami Parikh led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on October 15, 2019.
AZB & Partners has also advised GIC Realty on the acquisition by DLF Cyber City Developers, a joint venture between GIC and DLF, of 100 percent of the capital of DLF Lands India, Paliwal Real Estate, Nambi Buildwell and DLF Info Park Developers (Chennai), and the acquisition of approximately 48 percent of the capital of Fairleaf Real Estate. Partners Sai Krishna Bharathan and Vivek Bajaj led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was valued at approximately Rs29.8 billion (US$415.8m).
Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow and Wong & Partners, the member firms of Baker McKenzie in Singapore and Malaysia, respectively, have advised Maybank Investment Bank, as the placement agent, on the placement of 70 million ordinary shares, representing a 1.57 percent stake of MISC, amounting to M$565.6 million (US$135.5m). The secondary offering was made pursuant to Regulation S of the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended. MISC is a leading blue chip Malaysian international shipping line. Principal Ashok Lalwani (Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow) and deputy managing partner Munir Abdul Aziz (Wong & Partners), supported by partner Sue Wan Wong (Wong & Partners) and principal Kenny Kwan (Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow), led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on November 7, 2019.
Clifford Chance has advised the official receiver and special managers of British Steel on the sale of the business and assets to Jingye Steel and Iron, a privately-owned enterprise from Hebei province in China. Signed on November 10, 2019, the deal prevents a costly shutdown of operations and the potential loss of 24,000 jobs at the steel works and in the supply chain. London partners Philip Hertz, David Lewis, Nick Rees and Iain White, Paris partner Laurent Schoenstein and Amsterdam partner Greg Crookes, supported by Beijing and Hong Kong partners Hong Zhang and Richard Blewett, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Khaitan & Co has advised Life Insurance Corporation of India on the issue of 8.79 percent listed, secured, privately placed non-convertible debentures aggregating to Rs20 billion (US$279m) by JSW Steel, to be used for general corporate purposes, long term working capital requirements and capital expenditure, among others. The debentures were secured by a charge over specific fixed assets up to five million tonnes per annum integrated steel plant at Dolvi Works in the State of Maharashtra. Partner Manisha Shroff led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Khaitan & Co has also advised Edelweiss Insurance Brokers, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Edelweiss Financial Services, on the acquisition of minority stake by US-based Arthur J Gallagher & Co, one of the world’s largest insurance brokerage and risk management services firms. Partner Anuj Shah, supported by director Vinita Krishnan and partner Shailendra Bhandare, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
King & Wood Mallesons has advised CEIEC, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of China Electronics Corporation (CEC), on its approximately HK$4.6 billion privatisation of TPV Technology by way of a scheme of arrangement under the Bermuda Companies Act. The shares of TPV were delisted from The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and Singapore Exchange Securities Trading on November 14, 2019. The transaction involved a number of legal and regulatory issues including corporate M&A and finance along with multi-jurisdiction anti-trust filings. KWM acted for CEIEC as the offeror in respect of both Hong Kong and PRC laws. Hong Kong-based partners Sheldon Tse and Jessica Zhou acted on the M&A and finance aspects of the transaction respectively and Shanghai-based partner Chai Zhifeng advised on the antitrust aspects.
Kirkland & Ellis is advising an investor consortium led by Bizuo (Tony) Liu, the CEO of Cellular Biomedicine Group, some senior management members of Cellular Biomedicine, Hillhouse Bio Holdings, TF Capital Ranok, Dangdai International Group and Mission Right, on the proposed take private of Cellular Biomedicine for US$19.50 per share. Cellular Biomedicine is a biopharmaceutical firm engaged in the development of immunotherapies for cancer and stem cell therapies for degenerative diseases. Corporate partners Nicholas Norris, Daniel Dusek, David Feirstein and Xiaoxi Lin are leading the firm’s team in the transaction.
Paul Hastings has advised SinoMab BioScience on its US$176.5 million global offering and IPO in Hong Kong. SinoMab BioScience is a Hong Kong-based biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the research, development, manufacturing and commercialisation of therapeutics for the treatment of immunological diseases, primarily in monoclonal antibody-based biologics. China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Securities and Orient Capital (Hong Kong) acted as the joint sponsors, joint global coordinators, joint book-runners and joint lead managers for the global offering. Corporate partners and the co-head of China offices Jia Yan and David Wang, supported by Hong Kong corporate partners Samuel Ng and Jason Kuo, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
RHTLaw Taylor Wessing has advised Banque de France on the opening of its permanent representative office in Singapore. Banque de France is a member of the Eurosystem, which comprises the European Central Bank and the national banks of member states who use the euro as their currency. This is only the Banque de France’s second office abroad, following New York, which opened in 2010. The Singapore office will include a dealing room to strengthen the bank’s Asian operations and enhance its analytical capacity on financial markets. The partners leading the team in RHTLaw Taylor Wessing are Erwan Barre, who heads the firm’s corporate practice, and Ch’ng Li-Ling, who is the acting head of the financial services (regulatory) practice.
RHTLaw Taylor Wessing has acted for Crescendas group, a multi-industry group with business interests in properties, hotels and building materials, among others, on its S$21.4 million (US$15.7m) acquisition of Hotel Compass, a freehold boarding house. While the acquisition was initially contemplated as a corporate play, it later evolved into a real estate transaction. Deputy head of real estate practice partner Sandra Han and partner Jeremiah Huang led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed in just three weeks following its transition.
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas has advised Singapore VII Topco I, an affiliate of funds advised or managed by the affiliates of Blackstone Group, on its acquisition of up to 51 percent shareholding, on a fully diluted basis, in Aakash Educational Services. The firm also advised Blackstone on strategy, structuring of the transaction and obtaining unconditional approval from the CCI on September 6, 2019. Partner Gauri Chhabra led the firm’s team in the transaction. Trilegal, led by partners Arjun Ghose and Anirudh Agarwala, advised Blackstone on the corporate aspect of the transaction, while Simpson Thacher & Barlett advised on global anti-trust aspect. S&R advised Aakash on the corporate and competition aspects of the transaction.
Simpson Thacher is advising Yageo on a definitive agreement with KEMET, under which Yageo will acquire all of the outstanding shares of KEMET’s common stock for US$27.20 per share, in an all-cash transaction valued at US $1.8 billion, including the assumption of net debt. The transaction has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies. New York partners Michael Holick (M&A), Justin Lungstrum (credit) and Jeannine McSweeney (executive compensation and employee benefits) are leading the firm’s team in the transaction.
Weil is advising China-listed Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor, a leading global supplier of silicon wafers, on its US$298 million investment in Maxeon Solar Technologies, as sponsor of Maxeon’s spin-off from SunPower. As part of the transaction, SunPower will be separated into two independent and strategically-aligned Nasdaq-listed companies: SunPower, a Silicon Valley-based provider of complete solar solutions and services, and Maxeon Solar Technologies, a Singapore-based owner and operator of solar cell and panel manufacturing facilities in France, Malaysia, Mexico and the Philippines. Partners Charles Ching (corporate), Chris Welty (corporate), Ted Posner (international arbitration and trade), Jeff Osterman (technology and IP) and Paul Wessel (executive compensation and benefits) are leading the firm’s team in the transaction.
WongPartnership has acted for ABC World Asia, a private equity fund for impact investing established by Temasek Trust, on its inaugural S$385 million (US$283m) fund raising to invest in companies that generate social or environmental impact in China, South-East Asia and South Asia. Partners Low Kah Keong and Felicia Marie Ng led the firm’s team in the transaction.
WongPartnership has also acted for Paper.id on a Series A funding round led by investors Golden Gate Ventures and Modalku. Partner Kyle Lee led the firm’s team in the transaction.