Allen & Gledhill has advised the Housing and Development Board on its issue of S$640 million (US$469m) fixed rate notes due 2029 under its S$32 billion (US$23.5b) multicurrency medium term note programme. Partners Margaret Chin and Sunit Chhabra led the transaction.
Allen & Gledhill has also advised TPG Capital, Alliance Asia Holdings, Myanmar Winery & Distillery and Total Supply Chain on the US$742 million sale of 75 percent interest in the shares of Myanmar Supply Chain & Services and Myanmar Distillery and its related supply chain business. The group is Myanmar’s leading manufacturer, marketer and distributor of distilled beverages, including Grand Royal, the country’s leading whisky. The shares were sold to International Beverage Holdings (Singapore), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thai Beverage. Partners Oh Hsiu Hau, Minn Naing Oo, Lim Chong Ying and Alexander Yap led the transaction, which is one of the largest M&A transactions in Myanmar to date. Weerawong, Chinnavat & Partners represented Thai Bev. Senior partner Weerawong Chittmittrapap and partner Sunyaluck Chaikajornwat led the transaction.
AZB & Partners has advised John Distilleries and its promoter Paul John on the acquisition by Sazerac Investment Holdings of over 20 percent equity stake of John Distilleries held by Gaja Trustee and GPE (India). Partner Anind Thomas led the transaction, which first closed on October 19, 2017.
AZB & Partners has also advised Kotak Investment Advisors, as investment manager of Kotak India Real Estate Fund VIII, on the issue of Rs2.4 billion (US$37m) secured, non-convertible, redeemable debentures by Allied Investments and Housing entity OMR Mall Developers, and the issue of Rs800 million (US$12.3m) listed, secured, non-convertible, redeemable debentures by National India Bullion Refinery entity C&J Corporate Park, to Kotak Investment Advisors. Partner Ashwath Rau led both transactions, which were completed on September 27, 2017.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher has represented Hutchison China MediTech (Chi-Med), a China-based health care group and one of the largest biotech companies in Asia, on its approximately US$301.3 million SEC-registered follow-on offering of American depositary shares. BofA Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank Securities acted as joint global coordinators and joint book-runners for the offering. Stifel, Canaccord Genuity, Panmure Gordon (UK) and CITIC CLSA acted as co-managers for the offering. Hong Kong partner Paul Boltz led the transaction.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher has also represented Singapore-listed Artivision Technologies on the proposed acquisition of the entire issued and paid-up share capital of Mobile Credit Payment (MC Payment) for a base consideration of S$80 million (US$58.6m). MC Payment is an integrated high-technology electronic payment total solutions provider and one of Singapore’s first home-grown Fintech companies that started 12 years ago. The proposed acquisition will result in a reverse take-over of Artivision, subject inter alia to regulatory approvals of the Singapore Securities Industry Council and the Singapore Exchange, and the approval of Artivision in general meeting. Singapore partner Robson Lee led the transaction.
Khaitan & Co has advised First Rand Bank on the sale of its microcredit business to Centrum Microcredit. FirstRand group is one of largest financial services providers in Africa and operates in 17 countries and three continents. FirstRand Bank India engages in corporate banking, investment banking, fixed income, currency and commodity products and structured products. Partner Niren Patel, supported by partner Kumar Saurabh Singh and associate partner Moin Ladha, led the transaction.
Khaitan & Co has also advised Torrent Pharmaceuticals on its Rs36 billion (US$554m) acquisition, through a business transfer arrangement, of the domestic formulations business of Unichem Laboratories. Torrent Pharma, the flagship company of Torrent Group, is ranked among the top pharma companies of India. It is a dominant player in the therapeutic areas of cardiovascular and central nervous system and has achieved significant presence in gastro-intestinal, diabetology, anti-infective and pain management segments. Partner Bhavik Narsana led the transaction.
Luthra & Luthra has advised Edelweiss Financial Services, as the book-running lead manager, on the filing of the draft red herring prospectus for the proposed IPO of Seven Islands Shipping (SIS) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Operating primarily along the Indian coast, Arabian Gulf and Southeast Asia, SIS is one of the largest liquid seaborne logistics companies in India, by deadweight tonnage. The offering consists of SIS equity shares, including a fresh issuance of up to Rs2 billion (US$30.7m) equity shares, and an offer for sale of up to Rs2.5 billion (US$38.4m) equity shares by SIS promoters and Wayzata III Indian Ocean, a fund managed by US-based private equity firm Wayzata Investment Partners. Partners Manan Lahoty and Manshoor Nazki led the transaction.
Luthra & Luthra is also advising Kotak, CLSA and JP Morgan, as the global coordinators and book-running lead managers, and YES Securities, as the book-running lead manager, on the proposed IPO of equity shares of Lemon Tree Hotels. The draft red herring prospectus has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Lemon Tree is India’s largest mid-priced hotel chain, and the third largest hotel chain overall, as of June 2017. Partner Vishal Yaduvanshi led the transaction.
Majmudar & Partners has represented New York-listed Halyard Health, a leading global provider of medical supplies and solutions, on the sale of its Indian subsidiary’s surgical and infection prevention business to the Indian subsidiary of New York-listed Owens & Minor, a leading healthcare logistics company. The transaction is part of Halyard Health’s global sale of its surgical and infection prevention business, valued at US$710 million, to Owens & Minor. Managing partner Akil Hirani led the transaction, while Alston & Bird acted as US counsel.
Majmudar & Partners has acted as Indian counsel to Pelliconi, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of crown corks, metal and plastic caps for the bottling industry, on its proposed acquisition of 51 percent in Oriental Containers subsidiary Oricon Packaging. Oriental Containers is owned by Oricon Enterprises, the listed flagship company of Parijat Enterprises, engaged in real estate, marine logistics, packaging, petrochemicals and automobile dealership. The proposed acquisition gives Oriental Containers an enterprise value of Rs4.2 billion (US$64.6m), and is subject to necessary approvals and fulfilment of conditions precedent. Incorporated in 1939 in Italy, Pelliconi has production plants in Italy, Egypt, the USA and China. Oriental Containers is a leading closure manufacturing company in India, and has plants at Murbad and Goa. Managing partner Akil Hirani and associate partner Amrit Mehta led the transaction, while Pedersoli Studio Legale acted as Italian counsel. Phoenix Legal represented Oriental Containers and Oricon Enterprises.
Maples and Calder (Hong Kong) has acted as Cayman Islands counsel to Crystal International Group, a global leader in the apparel manufacturing industry with a diversified product portfolio, on its listing of 509.3 million shares in Hong Kong. The shares were offered at HK$7.50 (US$0.96) each, raising approximately HK$3.8 billion (US$487m). Morgan Stanley Asia and HSBC Corporate Finance (Hong Kong) acted as joint sponsors. The issuer’s principal register of members will be maintained by Maples Fund Services (Cayman) in the Cayman Islands. Partner Richard Spooner led the transaction, while Simpson Thacher & Bartlett acted as Hong Kong and US counsel and Jingtian & Gongcheng acted as China counsel.
Maples and Calder (Hong Kong) has also acted as Cayman Islands counsel to Cayman Islands company Hexindai on its IPO of American depositary shares representing its ordinary shares, and the listing of such ADSs on the Nasdaq. The offering, which closed on November 3, 2017, raised approximately US$50 million. Hexindai operates a consumer lending marketplace in China, both through its online platform and the nationwide physical network of its offline cooperation partner Hexin Group. Partner Richard Spooner led the transaction, while Shearman & Sterling acted as US counsel. Mei & Mark advised the underwriters.
Rajah & Tann Singapore has acted for M17 Entertainment on its Series A US$40 million equity fundraising. The round was led by Japan’s Infinity Venture Partners, and participated by Vertex Asia Fund, Yahoo Japan, Majuven, Golden Summit Capital and Korean venture firm KTB Ventures. This new funding will be used to increase M17’s roster of streaming talent and expand into new genres. Partner Brian Ng led the transaction.
Rajah & Tann Singapore has also acted for STMicroelectronics on the acquisition and leaseback of the wafer fabrication facility along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 12 from US-based global semiconductor company Micron Semiconductor Asia for US$30 million. STMicroelectronics had also purchased tools located in the property from Micron, in connection with the acquisition and leaseback transaction. Partners Norman Ho and Tan Shijie led the transaction.
Shearman & Sterling has advised Hexindai on its approximately US$50 million IPO of American Depositary Shares on the Nasdaq. The transaction marks the first consumer lending marketplace in China to list on the Nasdaq and the fourth Chinese company of such type to list on the US to date. Hexindai’s ADS, priced at US$10 each in the IPO, rose 26.6 percent to US$12.66 on its debut on November 3, 2017. Network 1 Financial Securities acted as the underwriter. Founded in March 2014, Hexindai is a fast-growing consumer lending marketplace based in Beijing with a focus on facilitating loans to meet the increasing consumption demand of the emerging middle class in China. Hexindai provides borrowers with convenient and ready access to credit through its online marketplace. Hong Kong partners Matthew Bersani and Stephanie Tang led the transaction.
Simpson Thacher has represented the underwriters, led by Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and HSBC, on the offering of US$500 million principal amount of currency-linked zero coupon convertible bonds by Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known as FoxConn. Taiwan-headquartered Hon Hai is the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer. Its common shares are traded in Taiwan and listed in Singapore. Hong Kong partner Chris Lin led the transaction.
Vaish Associates Advocates has advised DigiCert on the completion of its acquisition of Symantec’s website security and related PKI solutions business globally. Symantec, the world’s leading cyber security company, and DigiCert, a leading provider of scalable identity and encryption solutions, signed the transaction documents on August 3, 2017, while the deal was completed on October 31, 2017. Symantec received approximately US$950 million in upfront cash proceeds and will retain approximately a 30 percent stake in DigiCert’s common stock equity. The transaction also involved restructuring and re-organisation in India. The Indian entities involved were Symantec Software India (SSI), Symantec Software Solutions (SSS) and Elastica Data Sciences India (E-India). DigiCert entered into a share purchase agreement with Elastica, a Symantec group entity situated in the USA and the beneficial owner, and acquired 100 percent of the equity capital of E-India. Post-acquisition, E-India executed a business transfer agreement with SSS and asset transfer agreement with SSI to acquire the website security and related PKI solutions business / assets and liabilities. Partner Bomi Daruwala led the transaction. J Sagar Associates represented Symantec Software Solutions and Symantec Software India.
WongPartnership has acted for Pacific International Lines, PSA International, YCH Holdings and Kerry Logistics on the formation of a Singapore consortium vehicle Connectivity Solutions for a joint project between Singapore and China known as “Sino-Singapore Chongqing Connectivity Solutions”. Partner Ong Sin Wei led the transaction.
WongPartnership has also acted for Pacific International Lines and PSA International on the formation of a Singapore consortium vehicle DC Multimodal Logistics for a joint project between Singapore and China known as Chongqing Connectivity Initiative. Partner Ong Sin Wei also led the transaction.