Allen & Gledhill has advised DBS Bank and Maybank Kim Eng Securities as arrangers on the US$257 million and S$350 million (US$255.2m) secured offshore term loan facilities to Swift Astute. DBS Bank, Malayan Banking Singapore Branch, China Merchants Bank Singapore Branch, China Minsheng Banking Corporation Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone Branch and Mega International Commercial Bank were appointed as original offshore lenders of the facilities. The proceeds of the facilities are to be applied towards financing up to 20 separate acquisitions in Hong Kong and China. Partners Lim Wei Ting and Goh Ping Ying led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Allen & Gledhill has also advised DBS Group Holdings on the issue of its S$1 billion (US$729m) 3.98 percent perpetual capital securities first callable in 2025, under its US$30 billion global medium term note programme. Partner Glenn Foo led the firm’s team in the transaction.
AZB & Partners has advised Client Rosehill on its acquisition of 5.3 percent equity stake of SPML Infra, increasing its stake in SPML to approximately 15 percent. Partner Vaidhyanadhan Iyer led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on August 21, 2018.
AZB & Partners has also advised Bharti Airtel, Nettle Infrastructure Investments, Bharti Telemedia and Bharti Enterprises on the Rs21 billion (US$288.4m) acquisition by Lion Meadow Investment, an affiliate of Warburg Pincus, of 20 percent of the share capital of Bharti Telemedia. Partner Gautam Saha led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on September 5, 2018.
Colin Ng & Partners has acted as Singapore law counsel to Eggriculture Foods on its listing on September 7, 2018 in Hong Kong, pursuant to which 125 million shares were offered at HK$0.50 (US$0.064) per share, raising approximately HK$33.9 million (US$4.3m) in net proceeds. Central China International Capital is the sole sponsor for the share offer. Eggriculture is a Singapore-based group which produces and sells egg products. Partner Tan Min-Li led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Conyers Dill & Pearman has acted as BVI and Cayman Islands counsel to Trade Horizon Global, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Beijing Capital Grand, on its issue of US$400 million floating rate guaranteed notes due 2021. The company provides real estate development services. Hong Kong partner Flora Wong, working alongside Clifford Chance, led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on September 13, 2018.
Conyers Dill & Pearman has also advised New York-listed Aircastle on the increase to US$800 million from US$675 million of its unsecured revolving credit facility with Citibank, Goldman Sachs Bank, JP Morgan Chase Bank and Royal Bank of Canada, as joint lead arrangers, which completed in June 2018. Citibank, Goldman Sachs Bank, JP Morgan Chase Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank, MUFG Bank and BNP Paribas are the lenders, with Citibank acting as agent of the revolving credit facility. The facility’s maturity was extended by one year to June 2022. The firm has advised Aircastle with the facility, since it was first announced in December 2012. Bermuda corporate director Jason Piney, working alongside Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, led the firm’s team in the transaction. Cahill Gordon & Reindel represented the lenders.
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has acted as Indian counsel to CDPQ Infrastructures Asia II, a subsidiary of Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, on the proposed acquisition of 40 percent equity stake in CLP India from CLP GPEC (Mauritius) Holdings, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed CLP Holdings, for Rs26.4 billion (US$363m). CLP India holds a broad generation portfolio in India, and recent focus on expanding its low-carbon business. Mumbai managing partner Cyril Shroffa and partners L Viswanathan (Mumbai-infrastructure) and Ruetveij Pandya (Mumbai-corporate), supported by partners Abhilash Pillai (New Delhi-real estate), Subhalakshmi Naskar (Mumbai-infrastructure), Avaantika Kakkar (Mumbai-competition law) and Anshuman Sakle (Mumbai-competition law) and S R Patnaik (New Delhi-tax), led the firm’s team in the transaction, while Shearman & Sterling acted as international counsel. King & Wood Mallesons acted as international counsel to CLP India and CLP Holdings, while Trilegal acted as Indian counsel.
Gide is advising Total on the sale of its polystyrene business in China to INEOS Styrolution, the leading global styrenics supplier. The sale includes two facilities with annual production capacities of 200,000 tons each, located in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, and Foshan, Guangdong Province. Partners Guo Min and David Boitout are leading the transaction, which is subject to the approval of regulatory authorities.
Gide has also advised Legrand on its purchase of Shenzhen Clever Electronic, the Chinese leader in intelligent PDUs4 for data centres. Shenzhen Clever Electronic thus rounds out Legrand’s product offerings in a high added-value segment, where it is already number one in the US with its Raritan and Server Technology brands. Partner David Boitout led the firm’s team in the transaction.
J Sagar Associates has advised Shriprop Properties and its promoters on a private equity investment of approximately Rs1.8 billion (US$24.7m) in SPPL by DRI India, Mitsubishi’s real estate investment arm. A Shriram Properties group company, SPPL is developing a residential project titled Shriram Park 63, comprising of 1,450 apartments situated on the GST Road in Chennai. Partners Gerald Manoharan and Mary Julie John led the firm’s team in the transaction.
J Sagar Associates has also advised Sistema Asia Fund, a Singapore-based venture capital fund which invests in high-tech companies in India and Southeast Asia, on its investment in Series C5 round of funding in Faaso’s Food Services. Faaso’s is an on-demand food delivery start-up, which also owns and operates an online food delivery platform. Faasos, which runs on a cloud-kitchen model, retails multiple in-house food brands, such as Behrouz Biryani and Oven Story Pizza, on its mobile application and other food-ordering platforms, including Swiggy and Zomato. The other investors who participated in this round included Sequoia Capital, Lightbox Ventures, Ru-Net South Asia and Evolvence India Fund. The proceeds of the investment will be used by Faasos for expansion. The total investment in this round was approximately US$12 million. Partner Sidharrth Shankar led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Khaitan & Co has advised RR Kabel (RRK), Ram Ratna Electricals (RRE) and their promoters on the acquisition by TPG Asia VII SF of a 21 percent stake in RRK and RRE, through a primary subscription of compulsorily convertible preference shares and secondary transfers from the promoters of RRK to TPG. RRK is the flagship company of RR Global, founded by the Kabra family. Headquartered in Mumbai, RRK has emerged as one of the leading and fastest-growing wires and cables manufacturers in India. RRE was recently launched as an adjacent consumer appliances business that includes fans, lighting equipment, switches, water heaters, and air coolers, and is one of the leading conglomerates in the electrical and copper industry. Partner Bhavik Narsana led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Khaitan & Co has also acted as Indian counsel to the book-running lead managers on the filing of the draft red herring prospectus for the proposed IPO by Angel Broking for up to Rs6 billion (US$82.5m). Angel Broking is one of the largest independent full-service retail broking house in India, in terms of active clients on NSE as of July 31, 2018. Partner Abhimanyu Bhattacharya led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Morrison & Foerster is advising GLP, the leading global provider of modern logistics facilities and technology-led solutions, on the establishment of a new US$2 billion fund in China with Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC. The US$-denominated value-add venture will focus on income-generating logistics facilities in China, in line with GLP’s fund management strategy. Singapore partners Eric Piesner and Shirin Tang, supported by Hong Kong tax partner Matthew Lau, Hong Kong corporate partner Marcia Ellis and Beijing corporate partner Sherry Yin, are leading the firm’s team in the transaction.
Rajah & Tann Singapore has advised MetLife Innovation Centre (also known as Lumenlab) on the development of its smart blockchain-enabled insurance system branded as “Vitana”. Vitana is Singapore’s first automated insurance solution using blockchain technology to offer pregnant women financial protection in case of gestational diabetes, without ever needing to make a claim. Partners Elaine Tay and Benjamin Cheong led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Sidley Austin is representing China Reinsurance on its agreement with The Hanover Insurance Group to purchase 100 percent equity interest of Chaucer. London insurance partner Martin Membery, supported by Beijing partner Henry Ding, is leading the transaction, which was announced on September 13, 2018.
Shearman & Sterling has advised Goldman Sachs (Asia), CLSA, UBS AG Hong Kong Branch and Guotai Junan Securities (Hong Kong) as underwriters on the US$110 million global offering and IPO of Hua Medicine in Hong Kong. The offering was one of the first biotech company deals admitted for listing under the Chapter 18A regime introduced by the Stock Exchange in April 2018. Hua Medicine priced its offering at HK$8.28 (US$1.05) per offer share and offered approximately 104.7 million global offering shares, subject to the overallotment option. Founded in 2011, Shanghai-based Hua Medicine is a leading, innovative development company, currently focused on developing a global first-in-class oral drug for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, and a potential novel drug candidate for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease levodopa-induced dyskinesia. Partners Matthew Bersani and Colin Law, supported by New York IP transactional partner Jordan Altman, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Skadden has advised NIO, China’s leading developer of high-performance electric vehicles, on its US$1 billion IPO of American Depositary Shares and listing in New York. NIO will use the proceeds to invest in technology, infrastructure and research and development. Trading commenced on September 12, 2018. Hong Kong partners Julie Gao and Will Cai led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Sullivan & Cromwell is representing Goldman Sachs as financial adviser to US-based MPM Holdings (Momentive) on its definitive merger agreement with SJL Partners (South Korea), KCC (South Korea) and Wonik QnC (South Korea), whereby the investor group will acquire Momentive in a transaction valued at approximately US$3.1 billion. New York corporate partner Stephen Kotran is leading the firm’s team in the transaction, which was announced on September 13, 2018.
WongPartnership has acted for Healthscope on its divestment of its pathology laboratories business in Singapore, by way of the sale of all the shares in Quest Laboratories, as part of Healthscope’s overall divestment of its Asian pathology businesses, for a total of A$279 million (US$201.3m). Partners Chan Sing Yee, Ameera Ashraf and Kylie Peh led the firm’s team in the transaction.
WongPartnership has also advised Big Bus Tours on the acquisition of Singapore Ducktours, Big Bus Singapore City Sightseeing and Tourist Information & Services, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Big Bus Tours SG. Partners Dawn Law and Jeffrey Lim led the firm’s team in the transaction.