Allen & Gledhill has advised Temasek Financial (IV) on the establishment of a S$5 billion (US$3.6b) guaranteed medium term note programme, guaranteed by Temasek Holdings. The firm also advised DBS Bank as arranger of the programme and DBS Bank, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Singapore Branch, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Standard Chartered Bank, Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) and United Overseas Bank as dealers of the programme. The programme allows for notes to be offered to retail investors in Singapore, pursuant to the regulatory frameworks introduced by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading in May 2016, to facilitate retail access to debt securities. Partners Yeo Wico, Jeanne Ong, Wu Zhaoqi, Margaret Chin, Daselin Ang and Sunit Chhabra led the firm’s team in the transaction.
AZB & Partners is advising Tata Motors on the acquisition by Tata Advanced Systems of the defense business of Tata Motors for Rs1 billion (US$14m) and of 100 percent of Tata Motors’ shareholding in its wholly-owned subsidiary TAL Manufacturing Solutions for Rs6.25 billion (US$90.8m). Partners Ashwin Ramanathan and Rushabh Maniar are leading the firm’s team in the transaction, which was signed on May 3, 2018 and is yet to be completed.
AZB & Partners is also advising Gerdau on the acquisition by Blue Coral Investment Holdings and MountainPeak Investment Holdings, a special purpose vehicle of Asian PE fund ADV Partners, of 100 percent of the representative participation of Gerdau in Gerdau Hungria KFT Y CIA Sociedad Regular Colectiva, which owns 98.89 percent of Gerdau Steel India. The deal has an enterprise value of Rs8.45 billion (US$118m). Partners Sai Krishna Bharathan, Vivek Bajaj and Bhuvana Veeraragavan are leading the firm’s team in the transaction, which was signed on August 24, 2018 and is yet to be completed.
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has advised ConnectWise on the US$3 million sale by HashInclude Computech of its business division, as a going concern on a slump sale basis and on a debt free / cash free basis, to ConnectWise. New Delhi corporate partner Manishi Pathak, supported by New Delhi intellectual property partner Ranjan Negi and New Delhi tax partners SR Patnaik and Mekhla Anand, led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was signed on July 22, 2018. Holland & Knight advised HashInclude Computech.
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has also advised YES Bank as the lender on the financing of India’s first national highway project undertaken on toll, operate and transfer basis, comprising of nine national highway stretches in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Gujarat to be undertaken by nine SPVs, which are the borrowers promoted by Macquarie Asia Infrastructure Investments 2. The funding came thru three rupee term loan facilities aggregating to Rs61 billion (US$853m), for financing the upfront concession fees payable to the National Highways Authority of India, meeting the costs to be incurred for initial improvement works of the project highways, first major maintenance expenditure and for other transaction-related costs. The documents were executed on August 22, 2018, while the facility was disbursed on August 27, 2018. The project is one of the largest foreign direct investment in public infrastructure in India and the single largest in India’s road sector. Mumbai project financing partners Amey Pathak and Subhojit Sadhu led the firm’s team in the transaction, while Baker McKenzie acted as offshore counsel. Bharucha & Partners advised the Macquarie Group, while HSA Advocates advised the National Highways Authority of India.
J Sagar Associates has advised SaaSforce Consulting, a leading boutique Salesforce consulting company, on the sale of its entire shareholding to Cognisant Technology Solutions India, a company which provides IT services, including digital, technology, consulting and operations services. SaaSforce Consulting provides services on customer relationship management platform and product ecosystem, including the Salesforce ecosystem. Partners Upendra Nath Sharma and Pallavi Puri, supported by partner Kumarmanglam Vijay, led the firm’s team in the transaction, which is scheduled to close in early October. Cognisant Technology Solutions India was advised by Nishith Desai Associates.
J Sagar Associates has also advised Edelweiss Financial Services and IIFL Holdings as book-running lead managers on the proposed IPO of Studds Accessories. Studds filed a draft red herring prospectus on August 24, 2018 with the Securities and Exchange Board of India for an IPO comprising of a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating up to Rs980 million (US$13.7m) and an offer for sale of up to approximately four million equity shares by certain Studds existing shareholders. Studds is the largest manufacturer of two-wheeler helmets in the world, in terms of volume sold in fiscal year 2018. Its flagship brand “Studds” is the largest selling two-wheeler helmet brand in India and is marketed and sold in 21 countries. Partners Vikram Raghani and Arka Mookerjee led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Khaitan & Co has acted as sole counsel to ECL Finance on the public issue of secured redeemable non-convertible debentures aggregating to US$285 million. ECL Finance is a non-banking financial company which engages in lending and financing activities, primarily in India. Partner Manisha Shroff led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Khaitan & Co has also advised Lightbox Ventures, Lightbox Expansion Fund, Kieraya Furnishing Solution and Crescent Enterprises on the Series C2 funding in Kieraya Furnishing Solution by Crescent Enterprises, KA Enterprises and other angel investors. Kieraya Furnishing Solutions rents and leases furniture, furnishing solutions and home appliances. Partner Kartick Maheshwari led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Maples and Calder (Hong Kong) has acted as Cayman Islands counsel to China Mengniu Dairy on its issue of US$500 million 4.25 percent bonds due 2023. The deal closed on August 7, 2018. China Mengniu Dairy and its subsidiaries manufacture and distribute quality dairy products in China, with Mengniu as its core brand. Mengniu’s diversified products range includes liquid milk products, ice cream, milk formula and other dairy products. In March 2014, Mengniu was listed in Hong Kong, making it the first blue chip Chinese dairy product manufacturer. Partner Derrick Tan led the firm’s team in the transaction, while Sullivan & Cromwell (Hong Kong) acted as English and Hong Kong counsel and King & Wood Mallesons acted as China counsel. Linklaters acted as English and Hong Kong counsel, while Jingtian & Gongcheng acted as China counsel to Citigroup Global Markets, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Merrill Lynch (Asia Pacific), BOCI Asia, JP Morgan Securities, Coöperatieve Rabobank UA Hong Kong Branch and DBS Bank as the joint lead managers.
Maples and Calder (Hong Kong) has also acted as BVI counsel to Sino-Ocean Land Treasure IV on its offering of US$700 million floating rate notes due 2021, guaranteed by Sino-Ocean Group, a leading large-scale national property developer in China. The securities are listed in Hong Kong. The deal closed on July 31, 2018. Partner Lorraine Pao led the firm’s team in the transaction, while Paul Hastings acted as English and Hong Kong counsel. Linklaters acted as English counsel to HSBC, Goldman Sachs (Asia), UBS, China CITIC Bank International, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and Industrial Bank as the joint lead managers and to the trustee.
Rajah & Tann Singapore has acted for DeClout on its acquisition of shares in Beaqon and TJ Systems, coupled with a subsequent earn out consideration. DeClout is a global builder of next-generation information and communications technologies companies which invests in, incubates and scales companies to become global or regional market leaders. Its portfolio companies comprise of Procurri, Beaqon, vCargo Cloud and Corous360. Partner Danny Lim led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Weerawong C&P has advised Total Access Communication and its subsidiary DTAC TriNet, leading mobile service providers in Thailand, on the auction of the 1800 MHz spectrum licence held by the Office of The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission. DTAC won the auction for one licence of 2 x 5MHz spectrum bandwidth, covering 1745-1750MHz / 1840-1845MHz, at the final bid price of Bt12.5 billion (US$381.4m). The acquisition of the 1800MHz spectrum, as part of DTAC’s current portfolio, will not only allow DTAC to maintain 2G service for its large base of customers, but will also provide 4G network capacity to serve the massive growth of data usage in Thailand. Senior partner Veeranuch Thammavaranucupt and partner Warathorn Wongsawangsiri led the firm’s team in the transaction.
WongPartnership is acting for Clearbridge BioMedics on its S$6.6 million (US$4.8m) pre-IPO financing and the consolidation of its capital structure, by converting all preferred shares and convertible securities to ordinary shares of Clearbridge BioMedics, in preparation for the potential IPO. Partners Vivien Yui and Lydia Ong are leading the firm’s team in the transaction.