Allen & Gledhill has acted as Singapore counsel to Mitsui & Co on the US$360 million acquisition of a 20 percent stake in the world’s largest shrimp farming company, Ecuador-based Industrial Pesquera Santa Priscila (IPSP), through a Singapore holding company owned by IPSP’s founders. Partners Gabriel Lee and Sunit Chhabra led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Allen & Gledhill has also advised Daiwa House Asset Management Asia, as manager of Daiwa House Logistics Trust, on the acquisition of 100 percent of capital contribution in a target company owning a cold storage logistics facility with a net lettable area of 18,465 sqm in Tan Duc Industrial Park, Long An Province, Vietnam. The agreed property value for the purpose of this acquisition is Vnd483 billion (US$19.4m). The transaction comprises multiple legal aspects under Singapore and Vietnam jurisdictions, including the property transfer through a share acquisition of a property holding company, the novation/transfer of shareholder loans extended to the target company from the seller to the buyer, capital market regulations and merger filing clearance. Singapore partners Foong Yuen Ping and Victoria Leong and Vietnam managing partner Oh Hsiu-Hau and partner Tran Thi Phuong Thao led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Moreover, Allen & Gledhill has advised Penguin Securities Holdings on a series seed financing round led by Daiwa Securities Group, a Japanese investment bank and one of the largest securities brokerages in Japan. A Singapore-headquartered financial services and digital assets startup co-founded by Yuya Kuratomi, Kentaro Kawabe and Sho Setoguchi, Penguin Securities Holdings offers institutional-grade cryptocurrency derivative investment products with innovative structures using cutting edge and the traditional finance. Partner Nicholas Soh led the firm’s team in the transaction.
AZB & Partners has advised Wondrlabs India on its acquisition of Webtalk. Partners Aarthi Sivanandh and Bhavana Alexander led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on January 16, 2024.
AZB & Partners has also advised ChampionX USA on its Rs664 million (US$8m) acquisition of OTS Consulting Services. Partners Aarthi Sivanandh and Bhavana Alexander led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on January 4, 2024.
Moreover, AZB & Partners has advised Matrix Clothing on the US$60 million acquisition by Gokaldas Exports of Matrix Design & Industries from Matrix Clothing. Partners Vinati Kastia and Daksh Trivedi led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on March 13, 2024.
Clifford Chance has advised Volkswagen Group on the international aspects of the technical collaboration agreements with electric vehicle manufacturer XPENG on platform and software collaboration for two mid-size Volkswagen-brand vehicles, following Volkswagen’s US$700 million strategic minority investment in XPENG representing 4.99 percent of its outstanding share capital in December 2023. Partners Ling Ho and Kelly Gregory, supported by partner Bai Yong, led the firm’s team in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing in the transaction.
Clifford Chance has also advised Australian private equity firm Allegro Funds on its acquisition of business process outsourcing provider Nutun Australia from Nutun and its South African parent company, Transaction Capital. With more than A$4 billion (US$2.62b) assets under management, Allegro Funds specialises in investing in turnaround, transformation and special situations. Nutun is a leading provider of BPO services to a blue-chip customer base, including the largest banks, insurers, utilities and telecommunication providers in Australia and New Zealand. Partner Mark Currell, supported by partner Elizabeth Hundt Russell, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Moreover, Clifford Chance has advised Bank of China Macau (BOC Macau), as mandated lead arranger, book-runner and underwriter, and the lender group on Isola Castle’s acquisition finance, via a pre-conditional voluntary conditional cash offer, for the privatisation of Hong Kong-listed tissue maker Vinda International Holdings. Isola Castle is a member of the Royal Golden Eagle Group. Partner Edith Leung, supported by partners Bryan Koo on the Hong Kong Takeovers Code aspects and Rocky Mui on the regulatory aspects, led the firm’s team in the transaction, which is one of the largest and most significant acquisition deals in the Asia Pacific consumer sector.
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has advised Tarsons Products (Tarsons India) on the acquisition, through Tarsons India’s wholly-owned subsidiary Tarsons Life Sciences, of two German entities, Nerbe R&D and Nerbe Plus, for a valuation of €10 million (US$10.85m), as a going concern basis. For the transaction, Tarsons India infused funds through provision of a loan for up to €13 million (US$14.1m) into Tarsons Singapore, where such funds would be utilized by Tarsons Singapore for the acquisition of the German entities. The deal was signed on January 8, 2024 and closed on January 11, 2024. Partner Soumya Srivastava led the firm’s team in the transaction, while Deloitte Germany acted as international counsel.
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has also advised Capital Small Finance Bank on the IPO of its approximately 11.2 million equity shares at face value of Rs10 (US$0.12) each for cash at a price of Rs468 (US$5.62) per equity share, including a share premium of Rs458 (US$5.50) per equity share, aggregating to approximately Rs5.23 billion (US$62,780). The IPO comprised of a fresh issue of approximately 9.6 million equity shares aggregating to Rs4.5 billion (US$54m) and an offer for sale of approximately 1.56 million equity shares aggregating to Rs730.7 million (US$8.8m), comprising 836,728 equity shares aggregating to Rs391.6 million (US$4.7m) by Oman India Joint Investment Fund II, 151,153 equity shares aggregating to Rs70.74 million (US$849,205) by Amicus Capital Private Equity I, 17,544 equity shares aggregating to Rs8.21 million (US$98,560) by Amicus Capital Partners India Fund I, and 555,904 equity shares aggregating to Rs260.16 million (US$3.12m) by certain persons listed in the prospectus. Nuvama Wealth Management, DAM Capital Advisors and Equirus Capital acted as book-running lead managers to the issue. Link Intime India acted as registrar. Northern region markets head partner Gokul Rajan, supported by partner Rutu Gandhi on the regulatory aspects, led the firm’s team in the transaction, which closed on February 12, 2024. Crawford Bayley & Co Advocates and Solicitors acted as Indian counsel for the selling shareholders, while Duane Morris acted as international counsel for the book-running lead managers.
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas has advised HDFC Bank on the term loan facility provided to Moon Beverages for its acquisition on a slump sale basis of manufacturing, distribution and marketing rights, along with related assets, of Coca Cola products in certain target territories in India from Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages. HDFC Bank has thereafter assigned part of the term loan facility to Axis Bank and ICICI Bank. Catalyst Trusteeship acted as the security trustee and the lenders’ agent. Partner Anurag Dwivedi, supported by partners Harman Singh Sandhu and Nitika Dwivedi, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co has also advised Pipeline Infrastructure (issuer) and India Infrastructure Trust (InvIT) on the issuance of fully paid up, secured, listed non-convertible debentures aggregating up to Rs64.52 billion (US$774.5m) to refinance the acquisition of one of India’s largest gas pipelines running across 1,480 kms from Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh to Bharuch in Gujarat. Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Barclays Bank and ICICI Bank were the arrangers and initial subscribers to the transaction. Partner Shubhangi Garg, supported by partners Abhishek Parekh and Neelam Pathak, led the firm’s team in the transaction, which closed on March 11, 2024. Trilegal advised the arrangers.
Skadden has represented Trial Holdings, a discount-store chain operator in Japan, on its ¥38.9 billion (U$258m) global IPO in Tokyo, which closed on March 19, 2024 and commenced trading on March 21, 2024. Tokyo partner Kenji Taneda led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was the largest IPO completed in Japan this year.
Trilegal has advised Signatureglobal (India) on its 100 percent acquisition of Gurugram Commercity. This acquisition will translate into an ownership of more than 25 acres of land on Southern Peripheral Road, Gurugram, Haryana, with a development potential of approximately 5.4 million square feet. Corporate partner Ankit Kejriwal, supported by partner Rahul Arora (real estate) led the firm’s team in the transaction.