Below are the latest deals for the week of March 10th, 2021.
Allen & Gledhill has advised Agricultural Bank of China, through its Singapore branch, on the issue of US$300 million 0.75 percent notes due 2024 and US$300 million 1.25 percent notes due 2026, under its US$15 billion medium term note programme. Partner Glenn Foo led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Allen & Gledhill has also advised DBS Group Holdings on the issue of Rmb1.6 billion (US$245.6 million) 3.7 percent subordinated notes due 2031, first callable in 2026, under its US$30 billion global medium term note programme. DBS Bank and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation were appointed joint lead managers for the notes. Partner Glenn Foo also led the firm’s team in the transaction.
AZB & Partners has advised ICICI Securities, Edelweiss Financial Services and Jefferies India, as the book-running lead managers, on the qualified institutions placement of approximately 1.24 million equity shares, with face value of Rs10 (US$0.137) each, of IndiaMART InterMESH at Rs8,615.00 (US$118.11) per equity share, including a premium of Rs8,605.00 (US$117.97) per equity share, aggregating to approximately Rs10.7 billion (US$146.7m). Partners Varoon Chandra and Agnik Bhattacharyya led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was signed on February 17, 2021 and was completed on February 22, 2021.
AZB & Partners has also advised SC Johnson Products on the acquisition by Bansk Group of a controlling stake of more than 50 percent of the total issued and paid-up share capital of SC Johnson Products from SC Johnson & Son Investments and Johnson’s Wax International. Partners Ashwath Rau, Atreya Bhattacharya, Nandan Pendsey and Aditya Singh Chandel led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was signed on January 24, 2021 and was completed on February 5, 2021.
Clifford Chance has advised SciClone Pharmaceuticals (Holdings) on its US$281 million IPO and listing in Hong Kong. The Shanghai-based biopharmaceutical company is focused on some of the largest and fastest growing therapeutic areas, such as oncology and severe infection. The joint sponsors on the deal are Morgan Stanley, CICC and Credit Suisse. Partners Christine Xu and Liu Fang led the firm’s team in the transaction. Paul Hastings, led by global partner and chair of Greater China Raymond Li and corporate partners Vincent Wang and Chaobo Fan, has advised Morgan Stanley Asia, China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Securities and Credit Suisse (Hong Kong).
Clifford Chance has also advised on the proposed take private, via a scheme of arrangement for cash, of China Youzan by BetaCafe Holdings, and its proposed delisting in Hong Kong. Concurrently, China Youzan shareholders will receive approximately 52 percent of the shares of Youzan Technology, a major subsidiary of China Youzan, held by China Youzan via a distribution in specie, while Youzan Technology has applied for the listing of all of its shares in Hong Kong. Youzan Technology is China’s largest cloud-based commerce service provider. The proposal is subject to certain pre-conditions, while completion of the transaction is subject to, among others, regulatory and shareholder approvals. At the market closing on February 26, 2021, China Youzan’s market capitalization was approximately US$7 billion. Partners Fang Liu and Virginia Lee led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Davis Polk has advised the representatives of the underwriters on the US$177 million SEC-registered follow-on secondary offering of approximately 3.8 million American depositary shares, each 10 ADSs representing 23 ordinary shares, by certain I-Mab selling shareholders. On February 26, 2021, the underwriters exercised the option to purchase an additional 492,590 ADSs from certain selling shareholders. The ADSs are listed on the Nasdaq. I-Mab is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company committed to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel or highly differentiated biologics to treat diseases with significant unmet medical needs, particularly cancers and autoimmune disorders. Partners Li He and James Lin led the firm’s team in the transaction.
J Sagar Associates has advised Enel X on the proposed joint venture with Sterling and Wilson (S&W), a Shapoorji Pallonji group company. Enel develops, promotes and sells innovative products and services, including electric mobility charging infrastructure, network management applications, energy services through electric vehicles and commercial charging services in the e-mobility sector. S&W provides specialised EPC solutions to the energy sector in India and globally for solar, wind, hybrid energy, e-mobility solutions, battery storage segments. Enel and S&W executed an agreement to set up a 50-50 JV company in India, which will launch and create electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the Indian sub-continent, and provide products and software platforms. As part of the JV, Enel, through its affiliates, will license the necessary intellectual property for the business, while Sterling and Wilson will provide operation and maintenance services to the JV company. Partner Sidharrth Shankar, supported by partner Prakriti Jaiswal, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
J Sagar Associates has also advised CDK Global on the India leg of the sale of its international business segment CDKI to Francisco Partners. CDK is a leading provider of automotive retail software solutions in EMEA and Asia, while Francisco Partners is a leading global investment firm that specializes in partnering with technology businesses. Joint managing partner Vivek Chandy, supported by partner Rishabh Gupta, led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was valued at US$1.45 billion.
L&L Partners has advised Steadview on its primary investment via Series D equity round of funding in BharatPe (Resilient Innovations). Pursuant to Series D funding which occurred at a valuation of US$900 million, BharatPe raised US$90 million in primary fund raise and also ensured secondary exit for its angel investors and employees for a total amount of US$18 million. The round was led by the company’s existing investor Coatue Management. Further, all seven existing institutional investors, including Ribbit Capital, Insight Partners, Steadview Capital, Beenext, Amplo and Sequoia Capital, participated in the round. BharatPe is one of the largest B2B fintech lenders in the country, facilitating over Rs2 billion (US$27.4m) loans to its merchant partners every month. BharatPe has deployed more than 50,000 PoS machines, and enables transactions of more than Rs9 billion (US$123.4m) per month on its PoS machines. The company has presence in 75 cities in the country. Partners Vaibhav Kakkar and Snigdhaneel Satpathy led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Maples and Calder, the Maples Group’s law firm in Hong Kong, has acted as Cayman Islands counsel to Kuaishou Technology on its IPO of weighted voting Class B shares and listing in Hong Kong. The transaction which closed on February 5, 2021, raised approximately US$6.1 billion in total and represents the largest listing in Hong Kong this year, and the largest in the world since 2019.
Maples and Calder, the Maples Group’s law firm in Hong Kong, has also acted as Cayman Islands counsel to Catcha Investment on its IPO of 25 million units, each unit consisting of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant to purchase Class A ordinary shares of Catcha, and its listing in New York. Catcha Investment is a special purpose acquisition company formed for pursuing business combination targets, which focuses on completing combinations in the technology, digital media, financial technology, or digital services sectors across Asia Pacific, particularly in Southeast Asia and Australia. The offering, which closed on February 12, 2021, raised approximately US$250 million. Partner Matt Roberts led the firm’s team in the transaction, while Kirkland & Ellis acted as US counsel. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom acted as US counsel to JP Morgan Securities, the representative of the underwriters.
Rajah & Tann LCT Lawyers, a member firm of Rajah & Tann Asia, has acted for AURA Group on its Series B follow-on investment into Kim Health Care Group’s Series B financing round. This US$24 million Series B round is led by ABC World Asia, the Singapore-based and Temasek-affiliated private equity fund dedicated to impact investing across Asia. Partner Logan Leung led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Rajah & Tann Singapore, member firm of Rajah & Tann Asia, has acted for Next Gen Foods on its seed financing round, which raised net proceeds of approximately US$10 million. This is the largest seed financing round globally in the plant-based meat sector. Partner Terence Quek, supported by partner Lee Xin Mei, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Shearman & Sterling has represented the initial purchasers, including The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Morgan Stanley & Co International, China CITIC Bank International, China Securities (International) Corporate Finance Company, Citigroup Global Markets, Credit Suisse (Hong Kong) and Guotai Junan Securities (Hong Kong) on Sunac China Holdings’ dual-tranche tap offering of US$210 million 6.5 percent senior notes due 2025 and US$342 million 5.95 percent senior notes due 2024. Hong Kong capital markets partner Alan Yeung led the firm’s team in the transaction.
WongPartnership acted for Perennial Real Estate Holdings in the financing of its acquisition of a Caldecott site for S$280.9 million. Partners Christy Lim and Serene Soh led the firm’s team in the transaction.
YKVN has represented the shareholders of Duy Tan Plastics Manufacturing on the sale of 70 percent stake in Duy Tan to SCG Packaging, a subsidiary of Siam Cement. The transaction will be carried out through a newly established and wholly-owned subsidiary of SCG, and is expected to be completed in mid-2021. Duy Tan’s existing shareholders will continue to hold 30 percent stake, and to support and manage the company, with management from SCG. The investment in Duy Tan is an expansion of SCG’s rigid plastic packaging business. SCG can now provide its FMCG customers and consumers in Vietnam with a full range of packaging products, both polymer-based and paper-based. SCG is SE Asia’s largest fully integrated packaging solutions provider. Duy Tan is Vietnam’s top producer of rigid plastic packaging products, with its 2020 revenues reaching over US$200 million. It is a leading supplier to multinational companies and local brand owners of consumer and FMCG products. It also manufactures household plastic products, such as food containers, which are sold under the “Duy Tan” brand. Majority of Duy Tan’s products are sold in Vietnam, with 20 percent exported to the US and other markets. Partner Vu Dzung, supported by partner Le Thi Toc, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
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