Allen & Gledhill has acted as transaction counsel for Astrea 7 on the issue of S$526 million (US$383m) Class A-1 secured fixed rate bonds due 2032, US$175 million Class A-2 secured fixed rate bonds due 2032, and US$200 million Class B secured fixed rate bonds due 2032. All three classes of bonds are listed in Singapore. The bonds are the fourth issuance of retail bonds in Singapore backed by cash flows from private equity funds. Partners Yeo Wico, Jeanne Ong, Andrew Chan, Jo Tay and Lim Pek Bur led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Allen & Gledhill has also acted as transaction counsel to Sequoia Capital India’s Surge, as the lead investor, on the US$3 million seed financing of Grupin, an Indonesia-based social commerce platform. Surge is a biannual scale-up programme for start-ups in Southeast Asia and India. Partner Julian Ho led the firm’s team in the transaction, while Soemadipradja & Taher, led by partner Emalia Achmadi advised on Indonesian law.
AZB & Partners is advising Bundl Technologies (Swiggy) on its acquisition of Dineout from Times Internet. Partners Ashwath Rau and Atreya Bhattacharya are leading the firm’s team in the transaction, which was signed on May 12, 2022 and is yet to be completed.
AZB & Partners is also advising Voltas on its acquisition of 40 percent equity stake in the joint venture, for setting up an inverter compressor manufacturing facility in India, formed with Highly International (Hong Kong), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shanghai Highly (Group). Partners Bahram Vakil and Qais Jamal are leading the firm’s team in the transaction, which was valued at Rs2.5 billion (US$32m) and is yet to be completed.
Baker McKenzie has advised Orient Capital (Hong Kong), as the sole financial adviser, and Orient Securities (Hong Kong), a joint stock company incorporated in China and carrying on business in Hong Kong as “DFZQ”, as the sole global coordinator, sole book-runner and sole lead manager, on DFZQ’s H share rights issue. DFZQ offers comprehensive one-stop professional integrated financial services. The aggregate net proceeds raised under the A+H share rights issue amounted to approximately Rmb12.6 billion (US$1.9b). Partner Christina Lee led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has advised Adani Enterprises on the acquisition, by Adani’s wholly-owned media arm AMG Media Networks, of 49 percent stake in Quintillion Business Media from Quintillion Media. Quintillion Business owns and operates an exclusive business and financial news digital media platform, such as www.bqprime.com (formerly known as www.bloombergquint.com). This investment marks the foray of the Adani Group into the media business. Partners Smruti Shah and Paridhi Adani led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was signed on May 13, 2022.
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has also advised Plus Health Tech Ventures (Ayu Health) and Vertex Ventures, an existing investor in Ayu Health, on the Series B round of funding of Ayu Health. As part of the transaction, Ayu Health issued and allotted, via preferential allotment on a private placement basis, compulsorily convertible preference shares and equity shares for approximately Rs1.6 billion (US$20.6m). Simultaneously, Ayu Health’s existing shareholders transferred certain equity shares for an aggregate consideration of Rs30.4 million (US$391,000). Partner Nagavalli G led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was signed on April 12, 2022 and closed on April 30, 2022.
JSA has advised A91 on its Series D investment in Vellvettee Lifestyle. Doing business as ‘Sugar’ Cosmetics, Vellvette Lifestyle operates as a well-positioned online cosmetics company at the intersection of two major trends – a fast-growing beauty industry and rapidly increasing online penetration. Manufactured in state-of-the-art facilities across Germany, Italy, India, USA and Korea, the brand offers its bestselling products across various categories, such as Lips, Eyes, Face and Nails, to the global market. Partner Probir Roy Chowdhury led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was valued at US$50 million.
JSA has also represented the State Bank of India (SBI) on a Civil Appeal filed in the Supreme Court of India against the order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) dated November 17, 2020 and of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) dated September 16, 2020. SBI had filed an application under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code for initiation of CIRP proceedings for of more than of Rs1 billion (US$13m) with interest, which was classified as a Non-Performing Asset on June 10, 2014. However, NCLT and then NCLAT denied SBI’s right as a financial creditor of Krishidhan Seeds. However, in its letters dated January 19, 2016 and September 18, 2017, Krishidhan Seeds accepted its liability, while offering a one-time settlement to SBI in lieu of its debts. The Supreme Court held that SBI was entitled to the recourse under Section 18 of the Limitation Act, and it restored the proceedings before the NCLT for expeditious disposal within three months from the date of its order. Partner Varghese Thomas, supported by partners Divyam Agarwal and Fatema Kachwalla, led the firm’s team on the matter.
Mayer Brown has represented the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA), as borrower, on its inaugural HK$4 billion (US$510m) syndicated sustainability-linked loan (SLL) facilities. WKCDA is a statutory body established by the Hong Kong government to develop the West Kowloon Cultural District, a 40-hectare land dedicated for arts and cultural venues. The SLL, which consists of term and revolving credit facilities, is the first of its kind among statutory bodies and arts and cultural institutions in Hong Kong. Under the terms of the SLL, WKCDA will receive a tiered discount rate on the interest margin throughout the loan tenure, if it achieves pre-determined ESG targets. Hong Kong banking and finance partner Francis Chen, supported by Hong Kong partner Alvin Yeung, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
O’Melveny has advised Global Infrastructure Solutions Inc (GISI) on a strategic merger to bring Asia-based professional engineering consultancy J Roger Preston Holdings (JRP) into the GISI group of companies. GISI is the largest privately-owned construction manager in the commercial building, industrial and healthcare markets, and a leading project/construction manager in the environmental and public infrastructure sectors. The company generates annual revenues in excess of US$8.8 billion. Established in Hong Kong in 1962, JRP is a leading design and consulting firm with a renowned reputation in mechanical, electrical and building services engineering in Asia, with offices in Hong Kong, China, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. Hong Kong managing partner Nima Amini led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was announced on May 23, 2022 as having been completed.
Rajah & Tann Singapore has acted for the Trusting Social Group on its US$65 million Series C fund raising round from The Sherpa Company, a subsidiary of Masan Group. Partner Tracy Ang led the firm’s team in the transaction.
R&T Asia (Thailand) has acted for Krung Thai Bank on a US$130 million committed credit facility agreement, whereby Krung Thai Bank will provide financial support to SCG-Dow Group, a JV chemicals group of companies. Partner Piroon Saengpakdee led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Shearman & Sterling has advised Osaka Gas and its US subsidiary Osaka Gas USA (OGUSA) on the agreement with US-based renewable project developer Oriden to jointly develop a portfolio of more than 700 MWdc (600 MWac) of utility-scale solar and storage projects throughout certain US markets. This follows OGUSA’s acquisition of the 15.7 MWdc Brighter Future Solar Farm project in North Carolina from Oriden, in partnership with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group. OGUSA focuses on power generation, shale gas development, natural gas liquefaction at Freeport LNG and future energy development/innovation. Tokyo M&A partner Karl Pires led the firm’s team in the transaction.
S&R Associates has represented United Parcel Service (UPS), the global leader in logistics, on the creation of a joint venture in India with InterGlobe Enterprises, an Indian travel and hospitality conglomerate. The joint venture will provide logistics services and solutions in India under the brand MOVIN. Partners Rajat Sethi and Dhruv Nath led the firm’s team in the transaction, along with King & Spalding, led by partners Rahul Patel and John Hyman.
Wong & Partners and Baker McKenzie have advised Petronas Chemicals Group on the acquisition of Perstorp. Partner Munir Abdul Aziz of Wong & Partners and Baker McKenzie partners Anders Fast (Stockholm) and Susannah Davies (London) led their respective firm’s team in the transaction, which was valued at R$10.5 billion (US$2.4b).
WongPartnership is acting for KitaLulus, an Indonesia-based career platform, on its series A funding round led by Tiger Global. KitaLulus plans to use the funding for hiring, product development, and expansion purposes. Partner Kyle Lee led the firm’s team in the transaction.