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MAGAZINE FOR THE IN-HOUSE COMMUNITY ALONG THE NEW SILK ROAD
Deals OfThe Year
The Best From 2010
Volume 9 Issue 1, 2011
INTERACTIVE EDITION
Legal recruitment trendsSaudi’s construction laws
The dark side of Indonesian businessMalaysia’s new trade mark rules
Illustration: ww
w.ow
eiss.com
22 ASIAN-MENA COUNSEL www.inhousecommunity.com
ASIAN-MeNA CouNSel
Spurred by a sound, continuing recovery from the global financial crisis, the Asia-MENA region enjoyed stellar mergers and acquisitions activity in 2010 against a backdrop of record-breaking activity in the capital markets. According to Citigroup, outbound M&A for Asia
excluding Australia and Japan hit a record US$126 billion, up 166 percent on 2009. Total M&A volume, including inbound deals, climbed by almost 50 percent to a staggering US$470.5 billion.
The Financial Times, quoting Dealogic, reported that US$163.2 billion was raised through 768 Asian initial public offerings last year, a dramatic increase from just US$ 70.2 billion in 354 listings in 2009. Business analysts believe the impressive figures are a result of growing investor confidence. These trends are reflected in our winning deals, with M&A and capital markets transactions accounting for well over half (58 percent) of the total for the year.
The size of deals in the region has been steadily increasing too, with transactions worth more than US$1 billion up from 91 in 2009 to 144 last year, according to Citigroup’s figures. Of our 34 winning deals, 30 are valued at US$1 billion or above.
Activity increased in the latter half of the year, giving investment bankers high hopes that the high levels of activity would continue this year, the FT reported. There was a corresponding rise in our winning deals in October and November.
In our sixth annual Deals of the Year 2010, ASIAN-MENA COUNSEL is pleased to recognise the biggest and best deals from December 2009 to November 2010. The deals were selected on the basis of innovation, complexity, size and uniqueness, from more than 800 submissions received from firms across Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
As China’s economic influence continues to grow, it is no great shock that many of the winning transactions involve Chinese companies flexing their muscle. Their relentless appetite for overseas natural resources assets continues unabated, with several of our deals involving Chinese lenders financing various energy projects.
As ever, deals of an exceptional nature which did not make the final cut have been awarded honourable mentions for their overall excellence. For ease of reading, firms which participated in the recognised deals – which are listed chronologically by date of completion – have been grouped together by parties represented, and then listed alphabetically. Congratulations to all those, both in-house and external, who worked on our winning deals!
ASIAN-MeNA CouNSel
DeCeMBeR 2009
ATIC’s acquisition of Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing
Practice Areas: M&ADeal Value: US$4.26 billion
Firms and their clients: • Shearman & Sterling: representedAdvanced
TechnologyInvestmentCompany(ATIC)• WongPartnership: advisedATIC• Allen & Gledhill: representedChartered
SemiconductorandTemasekHoldings(Private)• Latham & Watkins: representedChartered
SemiconductorandTemasekHoldings(Private)• Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow:advised
DeutscheBankAG,Singaporebranch• Allen & Overy: representedCreditSuisse• Shook Lin & Bok:advisortoMorganStanley,the
financialadvisertoCharteredSemiconductor
Theendof2009sawthebiggestM&AdealoftheyearinSingapore in termsof value. It involved complex
regulatory issues inSingapore, theUnitedArabEmiratesandtheUnitedStates,asthetargetcompanywaslistedonboththeSingaporeExchangeandtheNasdaqGlobalSelectMarket. The acquisition was by way of a scheme ofarrangementunderSection210oftheSingapore CompaniesAct and the transaction involved debt and convertibleredeemable preference shares.ATIC iswholly owned bytheGovernment ofAbuDhabi, and the deal represents astrategicacquisition in thehighlycompetitiveandcapitalintensiveadvancedtechnologysector.
Hitachi’s global offering
Practice Areas: Equity, Capital MarketsDeal Value: US$3.88 billion
Firms and their clients: • Davis Polk & Wardwell: advisedHitachiastointerna-
tionallaw
• MoriHamada&Matsumoto:advisedHitachi as toJapaneselaw
• AndersonMo-ri&Tomotsune:Japanesecounseltotheunderwriters
• Sullivan&Cromwell:internationalcounseltotheunderwriters
Hitachi’sfirstofferingofcommonstockin27years,andoneof the largestbya Japanesenon-financial
institution, this deal raised almost US$4 billion despitegloomymarketconditions. Itcoveredan issuingofmorethanabillioncommonstocksharesinoffshoretransactionsoutside the United States pursuant to Regulation S, andinside the USA in a private placement. The technologygiant concurrently offered convertible bonds in a publicoffering in Japan. It isquite rare foran issuer tomakeadomesticofferingofconvertiblebondsaspartoftheover-all offering.The dealwas also uncommon in that itwasstructuredtotakeadvantageofaspecialSection4exemp-tion,whichallowedtheunderwriterstoconducttheprivateplacement of shares in the USA. It presented particularchallenges because of the scope of Hitachi’s businessactivitiesandthoseofitsmorethan1,000subsidiariesandaffiliates. The offering was also innovative in that theJapanese prospectus unconventionally contained detaileddescriptionsofpastacquisitions,strategiesandriskfactorssothatJapaneseinvestorshadaccesstothesamelevelofdisclosureastheirinternationalcounterparts.
Shape 2 Mumbai slum rehabilitation project
Practice Areas: Real Estate, Capital MarketsDeal Value: Approx. US$110 million
Firms and their clients: • White&Case:representedDeutscheBankasarranger,
DBTrusteesandoffshoreinvestors• Amarchand & Mangaldas:onshoreadviserto
DeutscheBank• DSK Legal:advisertoAckrutiCityLimited
Shape2isaslumrehabilitationprojectwhoseconstruc-tionwillprovidefreehousingandservicesfor30,000
www.inhousecommunity.com24 ASIAN-MENA COUNSEL
Cover Story
slumdwellerhouseholdsinMumbai,India.Thisdealwasamong the first significant post-financial crisis real estatefinancingtransactionsbyaninternationalfinancialinstitu-tion. The Slum Rehabilitation Scheme (SRS) was intro-ducedalmost20yearsagobythegovernmentofMaharashtra:in return for constructing residential buildings for slumdwellers,thedeveloperisgrantedtherighttodevelopapor-tion of former slum land for their own purpose, therebyimproving the lives of the poor in a commercially viablemanner.MorethanhalfofMumbai’s17millioninhabitantsliveinslumareas.Sinceitsformation,AckrutiCityLimited(ACL)hasdelivered12,000freehomesundertheSRSwithanother10,000underconstruction.Thefinancing transac-tion was particularly complex, involving offshore fixed,fully convertible, unsecured INRdenominateddebenturesandbespokeinter-creditorarrangements.
JANuARY 2010
GNPower Mariveles power plant project
Practice Areas: Project FinanceDeal Value: Approx. US$1 billion
Firms and their clients: • Abuda Asis & Associates: advised lenders as to
Philippineslaw• Century-Link&Xin JiYuan LawOffice: advised
lendersastoPRClaw• HoganLovells:advisedChinaDevelopmentBank,
ChinaExportandCreditInsuranceCorporation(Sinosure)andaconsortiumoflenders
• PicazoBuycoTanFiderSantos:advisedlendersastoPhilippinelaw
• Run Ming Law Office: advised the borrower as toPRClaw
• SyCipSalazarHernandez&Gatmaitan:advisedtheborrowerastoPhilippineslaw
• Latham&Watkins:advisedDenhamCapitalManagement,aprojectsponsor
• Puno&Puno:advisedDenhamCapitalastoPhilippineslaw
• MilbankTweedHadley&McCloy:advisedthe
borrower,GNPower,astoUSandEnglishlaw• Allen&Overy:advisedSitheGlobalPower,asponsor• Hunton&Williams:advisedPowerPartners,aspon-
sorastoNewYorklaw• SimpsonThacher&Bartlett: advisedBlackstone, a
sponsorastoNewYorklaw• Walkers:legaladvisorytosponsors(Cayman
Islandslaw)
TheendofJanuarysawthelargestPhilippinegreenfieldpowerprojectfinancinginoveradecadeasaconsor-
tiumoflendersputupUS$1billionfora600MWcoal-firedpower facility to be constructed by GNPowerMarivelesCoalPlantCo.onLuzonIsland.Thedealrepresentedthefirstlimitedrecourseoffshorepowerprojectfinancingledby China Development Bank and Sinosure, and the firstlarge-scale power project conducted under the ElectricPower Industry ReformAct of 2001. It involved highlycomplexsimultaneoussame-dayprojectandlanddebt,andequityclosings,andunlikemostPhilippinedeals,enjoyednogovernmentsupportorguarantees.Thetransactionhasaunique‘hybridmerchantpower’structurewithnosinglepower purchaser but numerous offtakers under multiplelong-termpowerpurchaseagreements.Theplantwillcon-sistoftwoidentical300MWpowerblocksusingPulverizedCoal Combustion technology and is expected to providesignificant benefits to the local community by reducingelectricitycosts,aswellasprovidingjobsandsubstantialeconomicstimulus.
United Company Rusal’s Hong Kong IPO
Practice Areas: Equity, Capital MarketsDeal Value: US$2.24 billion
Firms and their clients: • Ashurst:advisedRusalastoEnglishlaw• ClearyGottliebSteen&Hamilton:advisedRusalas
toEnglish,US,andFrenchlaw• Egorov,Puginsky,Afanasiev&Partners:advised
RusalastoRussianlaw• JunHeLawOffices:advisedRusalastoPRClaw• SidleyAustin:advisedRusalastoHongKonglaw
25 Volume 9 Issue 1, 2011
ASIAN-MeNA CouNSel
• Sullivan&Cromwell:advisedRusalastoUKandUSlaws
• Linklaters: advisedtheunderwriters• Dewey&LeBoeuf:advisedSual,aRusalshareholder
At the beginning of 2010, United Company Rusal(Rusal) issued its IPO on the Hong Kong Stock
Exchange main board with a concurrent listing on theParis-based Euronext. This marks the first ever HongKong-Parisduallistingforanycompany.BasedinRussia,Rusal is the world’s largest producer of aluminium. Thelisting also represents Hong Kong’s first ever primaryofferingbyaRussiancompany.
FeBRuARY 2010
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) joint equity offering and self-tender offers
Practice Areas: Capital Markets, M&ADeal Value: Approx. US$11.1 billion (equity offering)/US$3.8 billion (self-tender offers)
Firms and their clients:• Davis Polk & Wardwell:advisedSMFG• NagashimaOhno&Tsunematsu:advisedSMFGand
SumitomoMitsuiBankingCorporation (SMBC)as toJapaneselaw
• Linklaters: advisedthejointglobalcoordinatorsastoJapaneselaw
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett: advisedthejointglobalcoordinatorsandthedealermanagersastoUSlaw
• Maples&Calder:advisedSMFG’sCaymanIslandssubsidiaries
SMFG’sglobalcommonstockofferingwasnotonlythelargestnon-IPOequityofferingtodateinJapanlastyear,
itwaspartofalargercapitalrestructuringbySMFGwhichincluded simultaneous tenders for two series of perpetualpreferredsecuritiesandtwoseriesofperpetualsubordinatedbonds.Theofferingwasconductedasaninternationaloffer-ing and a domestic offering in Japan.The four concurrentself-tenderoffersmarkedthefirstinstanceofCaymansub-
sidiariesofaJapanesecompanytenderingforhybridsecuri-ties.Thetransactionwascomplexanddemandedinnovativesolutions. In particular, close coordination was requiredbetweenlegalteamsinJapan,theUS,theCaymanIslands,theUK,IrelandandSingaporeinordertonavigatetheinter-section of US securities laws and Cayman corporate law.Further, the structure of the Cayman Islands subsidiariesrequiredfundstopassthroughseveralintermediateentities,requiringcarefultaxanalysisinmultiplejurisdictions.
MARCH 2010
Interstate Hotels & Resorts acquisition
Practice Areas: M&ADeal Value: US$305 million
Firms and their clients:• Baker & McKenzie: advisedShanghaiJinJiang
InternationalHotelsGroup• King&Wood:PRCcounselforShanghaiJinJiang
InternationalHotels• HoganLovells:USCounselforThayerLodgingGroup• Paul,Weiss, Rifkind,Wharton&Garrison: repre-
sentedInterstateHotels&Resorts
Thislandmarkdealwasthefirstoverseasacquisitionbya Chinese hotel chain as Shanghai Jin Jiang
InternationalHotels,China’sbiggesthoteloperator,boughtNYSElistedInterstateHotels&ResortsforaboutUS$305million.Theacquisitionentailedtheformationofa50:50joint venture called Hotel Acquisition Company, withThayerLodgingGroup,anAmericanrealestateinvestmentfirm.HotelAcquisitionCompanyacquiredallof theout-standingcommonstockandoperatingpartnershipunitsofInterstatefor$2.25pershare.InterstateistheUS’slargestindependent hotel management company. The deal washeralded as a pioneering example of Chinese companiesacquiringdistressedUSbusinesses.Thedealbroughtwithit some unique challenges because of China’s outboundM&AlegislationandthelimitedabilityforChinesebidderstoobtainapprovalspriortoexecutionofadefinitiveacqui-sitionagreement.
www.inhousecommunity.com26 ASIAN-MENA COUNSEL
ASIAN-MeNA CouNSel
Salalah independent water and power project, Oman
Practice Areas: Project finance, infrastructureDeal Value: US$1 billion
Firms and their clients:• HoganLovells:advisedSembcorpUtilities• Shearman & Sterling: advisedtheChineselenders• Trowers & Hamlins: advised the local and interna-
tionallenders• SNRDenton:advisedtheawardingagency• Dewey&LeBoeuf:advisedDhofarPowerCompany
Targetedtobeginfullcommercialoperationsinthefirsthalfofnextyear, theSalalahIWPPwillconsistofa
gas-fired power plant which will have a net capacity of445MW and a seawater desalination plant which willemployreverseosmosistechnologytoproduce15millionimperialgallonsofwatereachday.Itissettobethelargestandmostenergy-efficientpowerandwaterplantinsouth-ernOmanand isSembcorpUtilities’ second such invest-mentintheMiddleEast.Theco-sponsorof theproject isOmanInvestmentCorporation.The funding isbeingpro-videdpredominantlybyChinese lenders, includingChinaDevelopment Bank and Bank of China, and local andregional financial institutions. It is an important dealbecauseitisthefirsttimethatChinesebankshaveprovidedthelargestshareoffundingcomparedtothelocalcurrencytranche and the international banks’ dollar tranche. ThisreflectsthegrowinginterestthatChinesefinancialinstitu-tionshaveintheMiddleEastregion–atrendmanyana-lysts expect to continue.The bidding and financing tookplaceduringthecreditcrunch,requiringaninnovativeandcomplexfundingsolution.
Paiton III power plant project
Practice Areas: Project financeDeal Value: US$1.3 billion
Firms and their clients:• Skadden,Arps,Slate,Meagher&Flom&Affiliates:
representedPTPaitonEnergyCorp(Indonesia)• Latham & Watkins:representedthelenders
• Shook Lin & Bok: SingaporecounseltoIPMAsiaPte,oneofthesponsorsofPaiton
• Baker & McKenzie. Wong & Leow: advised PLN(Stateownedelectricityutilitycompany)
• Hadiputranto,Hadinoto&Partners:advisedPLN
AtatotalcostofaroundUS$1.5billionfundedbydebtandequity inan80:20ratio, theprojectcomprisesa
single815MWcoal-firedunitwhichwillbelocatedintheexisting Paiton power generating complex in East Java,Indonesia.Itisexpectedtobefullyoperationalnextyear.ThelendersaretheJapanBankforInternationalCooperation(JBIC), which is providing direct loans totaling US$729million,andaconsortiumofcommercialbankscontribut-ingUS$486million.The financing isprovidedunder theJBICOverseasInvestmentLoanprogrammeandcomprises17-yearnon-recourseloans.PaitonIIIisbeingconstructedunder a fixed-price contract, with Mitsubishi HeavyIndustriesthemainequipmentsupplier.
APRIl 2010
Dai-ichi Life Insurance IPO
Practice Areas: Capital Markets Deal Value: US$11 billion
Firms and their clients:• SimpsonThacher&Bartlett:representedDai-ichiLife• Nishimura&Asahi:Japanesecounseltotheissuer• AndersonMo-ri&Tsunematsu: Japanese counsel to
theunderwriters• Sullivan&Cromwell:UScounseltotheunderwriters
ThisUS$11billionInitialPublicOfferingwasthelargestinJapansincetheUS$18.4billionIPOofNTTDoCoMo
in1998,andatthetimewasthelargestintheworldfortwoyears.ThedealsawDai-ichiLife–thesecondbiggestprivatesector life insurer inJapan in termsof totalassetsandpre-miumincome–demutualiseandissueanIPOontheTokyoStockExchangeandaglobalofferingtoinstitutionalinves-tors pursuant to Rule 144A and Regulation S. The stocksurgedby14percentonitsopeningdayoftradinginTokyo.Dai-ichiLifesaiditsswitchfrommutualtostock-basedown-ership was calculated to increase fundraising options for
www.inhousecommunity.com28 ASIAN-MENA COUNSEL
Blake Dawson is proud of its involvement on Asia’s best deals of 2010
www.blakedawson.com
We would like to thank our clients for the privilege of working with them on some of Asian-Counsel’s best deals of the past year. Our aim is to provide the highest quality legal advice and a seamless service across our offices in Australia and Asia to ensure our clients are successful in achieving their objectives.
adelaIde bRIsbanecanbeRRamelboURnePeRTHsYdneYPoRT moResbYsHanGHaIsInGaPoReTokYoassocIaTed oFFIce JakaRTa
awaRded asIan-coUnsel deal oF THe YeaR 2010 FOR:
• PetroChina’s joint venture bid with Royal Dutch Shell for Arrow Energy
• PNG LNG Project Financing
ASIAN-MeNA CouNSel
acquisitionsandpartnershipsduringatimeofstagnanteco-nomicgrowthinJapan.Thecompanysold7.2millionsharesat 140,000yeneach.The internationalofferingwas ledbyMerrill Lynch International,Nomura International,MizuhoInternationalandGoldmanSachsInternational.
Nippon Mining business integration with Nippon Oil
Practice Areas: M&ADeal Value: Approx. US$12 billion
Firms and their clients:• Davis Polk & Wardwell: advisedNipponMining• MoriHamada&Matsumoto:advisedNipponMining
astoJapaneselaw• Nishimura&Asahi:JapanesecounseltoNipponOil• Shearman & Sterling:UScounseltoNipponOil• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett:counseltoNippon
Mining’sfinancialadvisors• Morrison&Foerster:counseltoNipponOil’sfinan-
cialadvisors• Sullivan&Cromwell:counseltoNipponOil’sfinan-
cialadvisors• Ropes&Gray:representedfinancialadvisor,
NomuraSecurities
InApril,twoofthebiggestplayersinJapan’senergyandresourcessector,NipponMiningHoldingsandNippon
Oil Corporationmerged their businesses through a sharetransfer to form a holding company called JXHoldings.The shares of the joint holding companywere registeredwiththeUSSecuritiesandExchangeCommissionandarelistedontheTokyoStockExchange.Itwasoneofthelarg-estmergersofinJapanesehistory,andhadtobepostponedforanentireyearsolelyduetothecomplexitiesofUSlegalstructuring and SEC registration issues, according to aNippon Oil statement. The merger was designed to cutcosts of 100 billion yen (US$1.01 billion) annually as aslumpinfueldemandhasforcedrefinerstoreduceoutputandcloseplants.Thecompanieswereaimingtoimplementa shift from the refining business towards growth areassuch as fuel cells and solar panels,NipponOil chairmanFumiakiWatarisaidinaninterviewlastyear.
MAY 2010
Global air cargo surcharge cartel
Practice Areas: AntitrustDeal Value: US$104 million
Firms and their clients:• WilmerHale:representedLufthansa• Yulchon:representedLufthansa• Boies,Schiller&Flexner:representedNorthwestAirline• Kim&Chang:representedVietnamAirline,Northwest
AirlineandUPSSCS• Morrison&Foester:representedUPSSCS
InMay2010,theKoreaFairTradeCommission(KFTC)ruledagainst21majorinternationalcarriersinacaseof
globalcollusionoversurchargesforaircargo.Inwhatwasthe biggest global cartel case it has handled to date, theKFTCimposedfinestotallingaroundUS$104millioninacaseinvolvingnumerouscomplexantitrustlawissues.The21aircargotransportationcarrierswerefoundtohavecol-laboratedinordertoincreasethepriceofthefuelsurchargebetweenDecember 1999 and July 2007 on routes to andfromSouthKorea.The casewasmade particularly com-plex by the sheer number of defendants and witnessesinvolved.Accordingtomediareportsatthetime,morethan50airlineexecutivesfromaroundtheworldwereinvesti-gatedanditwasthefirsttimetheKFTChadconductedajointinvestigationwithforeignantitrustagencies.
Papua New Guinea Liquefied Natural Gas (PNG LNG) project financing
Practice Areas: Project Finance, EnergyDeal Value: US$13 billion
Firms and their clients:• Blake Dawson:advised the financiers,comprising34
commercialbanksandcreditagencies• Latham & Watkins:internationalcounseltothefinanciers• Baker McKenzie: advisortothecontractor,Saipem
www.inhousecommunity.com30 ASIAN-MENA COUNSEL
n AIG and AIA Group Limited (AIA) in AIA’s U.S.$20.5 billion initial public offering and listing in Hong Kong (Deal of the Year)
n Headland Capital Partners (formerly HSBC Private Equity (Asia) Limited) in its management buyout of HSBC’s Asian private equity fund management business (Honourable Mention)
Complex issues inspire us. We excel at crafting elegant solutions for our clients’ complex problems throughout the world.
Debevoise’s Asia team is committed to and understands the needs of our Asian and international clients. Our local knowledge and experience, together with our 700 lawyers throughout Asia, Europe and the United States, allows us to provide our clients with the right solutions to their challenging issues – from complex cross-border M&A and capital markets transactions to innovative insurance and reinsurance products.
Contacts:
Hong Kong+852 2160 9800
Thomas M. Britt III
Andrew M. Ostrognai
Shanghai+86 21 5047 1800
E. Drew Dutton
Niping Wu
London+44 20 7786 9000
Jeremy G. Hill
James C. Scoville
New York+1 212 909 6000
John M. Vasily
Nicholas F. Potter
We thank our clients for the opportunities that have made this honour possible.
“ Asian-Counsel Deal of the Year 2010 Award Winner ”
Photo: marin.tomic/Flickr/Getty Images
Asian Counsel Deals of the Year 2010.indd 1 2/23/2011 11:41:08 AM
ASIAN-MeNA CouNSel
• HoganLovells:EnglishlawcounseltoEssoAustralia• Allen & Overy: advisedtheIndependentStateof
PapuaNewGuinea• AllensArthurRobinson:actedascounseltolocalsponsor• Sullivan & Cromwell: counsel to the project and
itssponsors
AtastaggeringUS$13billion,thiswasthelargestgreen-fieldprojectfinancingintheworldatthetimeoffinan-
cialcloseandisthebiggestloanfacilityinhistoryforanoiland gas project. The PNG LNG project is an integrateddevelopmentthatwillincludegasproductionandprocess-ing facilities in the Southern Highlands and WesternProvincesofPapuaNewGuinea. It is expected tohave acapacityof6.6milliontonsperyear,withover700kilom-etersofpipelinesconnectingthefacilities,andisbyfarthebiggestresourcesdevelopmentPapuaNewGuineahaseverseen.Afterproductioncommencesin2014,it isestimatedthatoverthe30yearlifetimeofthefacility,morethanninetrillioncubicfeetofgaswillbeproduced.PNGLNGwillsupplyliquefiednaturalgastofourmajorAsiancustomersthrough long-term sales: Chinese Petroleum Corporation,Taiwan;OsakaGasCompany;TheTokyoElectric PowerCompany;andUnipecAsiaCompany,asubsidiaryofChinaPetroleumandChemicalCorporation(Sinopec).Theprojectis a key part of ExxonMobil’s strategy to tap growingdemandfornaturalgasmarketsglobally.Theenergygiantexpectsdemandfornaturalgastomorethandoubleby2030in theAsia Pacific region.Natural gas can helpmeet thegrowingneedforelectricityandithasfewercarbondioxideemissionsthanotherfuelsources.
Samsung Life Insurance’s IPO and Korean listing
Practice Areas: Capital MarketsDeal Value: US$4.4 billion
Firms and their clients:• Kim&Chang:KoreancounseltoSamsung
LifeInsurance• Shin & Kim: counseltotheunderwriters• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett:representedtheunderwriters• ClearyGottliebSteen&Hamilton:UScounseltothe
issuerandthesellingshareholders
ThelargestKoreanIPOatthetimeandoneofthelarg-estinthewholeofAsiasawSamsungLifeInsurance
launchanofferingofmorethan44millioncommonsharesinKoreaandasimultaneousinternationalplacement.ThisdealalsorepresentedthelargesteverIPObyaKoreanlifeinsurancecompany.SamsungLifeisaflagshipunitwithinSouthKorea’slargestconglomerate,SamsungGroup.Thecompanyprovidescoveragetomorethanaquarterof theKoreanpopulation.Asof the pricingdate,SamsungLiferankedsixthintermsofmarketcapitalisationamongcom-panieslistedontheKoreaExchange.
JuNe 2010
Bharti Airtel’s acquisition of Zain’s African operations
Practice Areas: M&ADeal Value: US$10.7 billion
Firms and their clients:• AZB & Partners:advisedBhartiAirtel• HerbertSmith:internationaladviserstoBhartiAirtel• Milbank,Tweed,Hadley&McCloy:advisedBharti
Airtelonfinancingarrangements• Linklaters: internationaladvisertoZain• Allen & Overy: advisertoStandardCharteredBankas
mandatedleadarranger
In June, BhartiAirtel, India’s biggest wireless carrier,purchased the 15-country African assets of Kuwait’s
MobileTelecommunicationsCo, also known asZain, forUS$10.7 billion.The acquisition of a 100 percent equitystakeinZainAfricaBVmadeBhartitheworld’sfifthlarg-est wireless communications company with operationsacross18 countries.Thedeal representedoneof the firstmajorinvestmentsinAfricabyanIndiancompany.ItwasalsothesecondlargestoutboundinvestmentanywherebyanIndiancompanyandthesinglebiggestbyanIndianfirmin the telecom sector. By enteringAfrica, Bharti gainedaccesstoapopulationofabout470millionpeoplefromtheAtlanticcoasttotheIndianOcean,withjustoverathirdofthemmobilephoneusers.Thedeal cameasBharti’swasstruggling in India with sliding profits and difficulty
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ASIAN-MeNA CouNSel
attractingnewcustomers,accordingtomediareportsatthetime.Thetransactionrequiredskillfulnegotiationsinmorethan15 jurisdictions, eachhavingcomplex regulations inthetelecomssector.
Karara iron ore project financing
Practice Areas: Project Finance, Energy and ResourcesDeal Value: US$1.2 billion
Firms and their clients:• CliffordChance:internationalcounselforthemandated
leadarrangers• JunHeLawOffices:PRCcounselforthemandated
leadarrangers• MallesonsStephenJaques:actedforChinaDevelopment
BankandBankofChinaasjointleadarrangers• ClaytonUtz:counselforGindalbieMetalsLtd(co-spon-
sorandguarantoroftheProject)• NortonRose: counsel forAnshan Iron andSteelGroup
Corporation(co-sponsorandguarantoroftheproject)
• Wright&Cooney: counsel forKararaMining Limited(theborrower)
This was the first and largest deal in the AustralianmarkettohavebeenarrangedexclusivelybyChinese
banks andwhere a Chinese bank acted as facility agent,security trustee and account bank. China DevelopmentBankandBankofChinawerethejointleadarrangersoftheUS$1.2billionsyndicatedprojectfinancefacilitytoKararaMining. The loans were to finance the development ofKarara’smagnetiteandhematiteironoreminesandassoci-ated rail infrastructure inWesternAustralia.At 12 years,the tenor of the facility is unusually long for a projectfinancing and the margin is highly competitive. TheapprovalgrantedbyAustralia’sForeignInvestmentReviewBoard(FIRB)markedthefirsttimeithasgrantedpermis-sionforforeignstate-ownedbankstobothparticipateinafinancingand,ifnecessary,enforcetheirsecurityovertheborrower’sAustralian assets.The project is owned 50:50byGindalbieMetalsandAngangGroupInvestment,asub-sidiaryofAnshanIronandSteelGroupCorporation.
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Cover Story
JulY 2010
Agricultural Bank of China’s dual listing
Practice Areas: Capital Markets Deal Value: US$22.1 billion
Firms and their clients:• Allen & Overy: acted for the international underwriting
syndicate• Herbert Smith: advised the underwriters as to Hong
KongLaw• King & Wood:advisedtheunderwritersastoPRCLaw• Anderson Mo-ri&Tomotsune:Japanesecounselfor
theissuer• Davis Polk & Wardwell: UScounseltoABC• DehengLawFirm:advisedABCastoPRCLaw• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer: advised ABC as to
HongKongLaw• Linklaters:counselastoJapaneselawforjoint
coordinators• Haiwen&Partners:PRCcounselfortheinitial
purchasers• Mallesons Stephen Jaques: acted for an investor in
theIPO
Theworld’ssecondlargestIPOatastaggeringUS$22.1billion,theAgriculturalBankofChina(ABC)issued
aglobalofferingofHsharesconsistingofanIPOandinter-nationalofferingontheHongKongStockExchangeandaconcurrentofferingofAshareslistedontheShanghaiStockExchange.Theinternationalofferingalsoincludedapublic
offeringwithoutalistingtoinvestorsinJapan.HeadquarteredinBeijing,ABCisoneofChina’slargestcommercialbanksintermsoftotalassets,loansanddeposits.
Bank of Communications (BoCom) share issue
Practice Areas: Securities Deal Value: US$4.9 billion
Firms and their clients:• Baker & McKenzie: HongKongcounseltoBoCom• King & Wood:PRCcounseltotheissuer• FreshfieldsBruckhausDeringer:HongKongcounsel
totheunderwriters• GrandallLegalGroup:PRCcounseltotheunderwriters
TheBankofCommunications(BoCom)sold3.89bil-lionRMBdenominatedAsharesinShanghaiand3.46
billionHKdollardenominatedHsharesinHongKong.Itwasthebank’slargesteverequityfundraisingandoneofthemostsizeableintheregionduring2010.Asthesecondlargestrightsofferingoftheyear,thedealreceivedwide-spreadmediaattention.BoComwasthefirstofthecoun-try’s banks to receive the final go-ahead from ChineseregulatorstolistbothA-andH-sharesduringthesummer.Thedealwascompletedwithinaverytightdeadlineduetothe increasing volatility in the market and the fact thatAgriculturalBankofChina’smegaIPO(anotherASIAN-MENACOUNSELDealoftheYearwinner)wasplannedtobelaunchedsoonafterwards.
Financing of Venezuelan infrastructure and social projects
Practice Areas: Project Finance Deal Value: US$20 billion
Firms and their clients:• HoganLovells:advisedPetroleosdeVenezuela(PDVSA)
andBandes(MinistryofFinanceofVenezuela)• White&Case:advisedChinaDevelopment
Bank(CDB)
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Thismammothloans-for-oildealsawChina,theworld’ssecond-biggestoiluser,lendVenezuelaUS$20billion
tocreateaventure topumpcrude from theOrinocoBelt.Thedeal,notableforitssizeandcomplexity,involvedtwoloanfacilitiesworthacombinedUS$20billionfromChinaDevelopment Bank (CDB) earmarked by the Venezuelangovernmentforinfrastructureandsocialprojects.Underthetermsofthedeal,PDVSAreceived60percentwhileChinaNational Petroleum Company (CNPC) got the remainingsharesinthe25-yearexplorationagreement.Itwasthebig-gestfinancingevermadebyCDBandthelargestChinesefinancinginLatinAmerica.ThefirstUS$10billionfacilityis governed by English law,while the second falls underChinese law.ThefinancingrequiredcomplexnegotiationsaroundthreesystemsoflawandinvolvedoilsalescontractsfromPDVSAtoCNPC.Theloansaretoberepaidwiththeproceeds from the sale of 200,000 barrels of oil per dayfromPDVSAtoSINOIL.Industryobserverssaid thedealwentsomewaytodilutingChina’srelianceonMiddleEastoil,whichaccountsforabouthalfofitsoilimports.
Hopewell Highway issuing of debt securities
Practice Areas: Banking, Finance Deal Value: US$204 million
Firms and their clients:• MaplesandCalder:advisedHopewellHighway
InfrastructureLtd• Linklaters: advisedBankofChina,thearranger
Hopewell Highway Infrastructure Limited (HHI), atoll-road infrastructure company, issued corporate
debt securitiesworthRMB1.38billion (US$204million)duein2012toinstitutionalinvestors.ThislandmarkdealrepresentedthefirsteverofferingofRMBcorporatebondsinHongKong.Thebondofferingwaswellreceivedbythemarket with 13 applications from institutional investorsanda total subscriptionofRMB2.19billion -2.19 timeshigherthantheoriginalRMB1billiontargetissuesize.Inresponsetotheoverwhelmingdemand,theissuerincreasedthe issue size to RMB1.38 billion. The bonds carry aninterest rateof2.98percentperannum,with the interestbeingpayablesemi-annually.Theproceedsfromtheoffer-ingareintendedtodevelopandexpandHopewell’sbusi-nessandfulfillgeneralfinancingpurposes.
AuGuST 2010
Geely’s acquisition of Volvo
Practice Areas: M&ADeal Value: Approx. US$1.8 billion
Firms and their clients:• HoganLovells:advisedFordMotorCompany• Cederquist:advisedGeelyonSwedishlaw• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer: advised Geely on
internationallaw• Haiwen&Partners:advisedGeelyonPRClaw• Orrick,Herrington&Sutcliffe:advisedonIPlaw
Inoneofthemostnotabletransactionsoftheyear,FordMotorCompanysolditsSwedishvehiclemanufacturer
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Volvo Cars to the Chinese car maker, Zhejiang GeelyHoldingGroupCompany(Geely)forUS$1.8billion.Thiswas one of the biggest outbound investmentsmade by aChinese companyafterChina’sAntimonopolyLawcameintoeffect,bringingwithitnumerouscomplicatedcompeti-tion compliance issues. China’s biggest acquisition of aforeign car maker was seen by many as reflecting thenation’srapidriseintheautoworld.
PetroChina’s joint bid with Royal Dutch Shell for Arrow Energy
Practice Areas: M&A, EnergyDeal Value: Approx. US$3.1 billion
Firms and their clients:• Blake Dawson: leadadvisertoPetroChina• AllensArthurRobinson:advisertoShell• Gilbert+Tobin:advisertoArrowEnergy
ThishighlycomplexdealinvolvedestablishingajointventurearrangementbetweenPetroChinaandShellto
acquireAustralia’sArrowEnergy.CSCSG(Australia),the50:50jointventurecompanyformed,agreedtobuyallofthe shares inArrow, representing a total consideration ofapproximatelyUS$3.1billion. Itwas thebiggestChinesejoint venture acquisition in Australian corporate history,andthecountry’ssecondlargesttakeoverintheoilandgassector. It also marked a Chinese firm’s first foray intoAustralia’sburgeoningcoal-seamgassector.Arrowhasthehighestreservesofcoal-seamgasinthecountry.ThedealalsoinvolvedthedemergerofDartEnergy,anewcompanythat will holdArrow’s overseas gas assets and stakes inAustralian-listed companies. The deal is seen by manyobserversasamodelforfutureSino-Westernjointventureinvestments,increasinglythepreferredmodelinAustralia.MalcolmBrinded,RoyalDutchShell’sexecutivedirectorofupstream international, saidat the time:“Thisacquisi-tion is underpinnedby risingglobal demand for gas as acleansourceofenergy.”
F&F Maltese Cross 188x110 ok 2/25/11 4:34 PM Page 1
Composite
C M Y CM MY CY CMY K
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Singapore Sports Hub
Practice Areas: Project FinanceDeal Value: Approx. US$1.3 billion
Firms and their clients:• HoganLovells:advisedSingaporeSportsCouncil• Norton Rose: advised the Singapore Sports
Hub Consortium, consisting of DragagesSingaporePte,HSBCInfrastructureFund,UnitedPREMASandGlobalSpectrumPicoPte
• Ashurst:advisedthelenders• WongPartnership:actedasSingapore
counselforthesyndicateoflenders• Allen & Gledhill: advised the Singapore
MinistryofFinance• Linklaters:advisedtheSingaporeMinistryofFinance• MallesonsStephenJaques:actedforWorld
SportGroup• Onside Law:advisedastosaleofcommercial
sportsrights
• Rajah&Tann:providedSingaporerealestateadvice
The world’s largest sports and leisure infrastructurepublicprivatepartnership(PPP),theprojectinvolves
thedesign,construction, financing,operationandmainte-nanceof a fully integrated sports, entertainment and life-stylehub inKallang,Singapore.Facilitieswill include:a55,000capacitynationalstadiumwithretractableroof;a6,000 capacity indoor aquatic centre; awater sportscentre and; a 3,000 capacity multi-purpose arena.
The Singapore Sports Hub Consortium wasappointed preferred bidder by the
SingaporeSportsCouncil inJanuary2008. This highly complex dealencompassed several unique fea-tures including a refinancing com-
mitment which kicks in early in thetermafterconstructionandthesharingof
thirdpartyrevenues.Thedealwasdescribedby Infrastructure Journal as “arguably one of the mostremarkable success stories in theproject financearena inadecade.”
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oCToBeR 2010
Global Logistic Properties IPO
Practice Areas: Equity, Capital MarketsDeal Value: US$3 billion
Firms and their clients:• Allen & Gledhill: legaladviserstoGLP,Schwartz-Mei
GroupandRecoPlatinumastoSingaporelaw• CliffordChance:legaladviserstoGLPandtoReco
PlatinumastoUSFederalSecuritiesLawandNewYorklaw
• Allen & Overy: US counsel to Citigroup and JPMorganas jointglobal coordinators andunderwriters,and China International Capital Corporation, DBSBank,NomuraandUBSAGasjointunderwriters
• WongPartnership:advisedCitigroupandJPMorganasjointglobalcoordinatorsandjointissuermanagers,and China International Capital Corporation, DBSBank,NomuraandUBSAGasjointbookrunnersandunderwriters
• Walkers: Cayman Islands counsel to GLP, CLH,Greenfields Properties,GoldenTulips Investment andVioletInvestment
• Anderson Mo-ri&Tomotsune:Foreignduediligencecounsel
• City-YuwaPartners:Foreignduediligencecounsel• Commerce&FinanceLawOffices:Foreignduedili-
gencecounsel• King & Wood: Foreignduediligencecounsel
GlobalLogisticsProperties,oneofthelargestprovid-ersofmodernlogisticsfacilitiesinChinaandJapan,
and a unit of the Government of Singapore InvestmentCorporation, undertook an offering which raised SG$3.9billion(US$3billion).Thisreportedlymadeittheworld’sbiggest real estate IPO and the largest listing on theSingapore Stock Exchange since Singtel in 1993. Thetransaction, which received substantial media attention,involvedanumberofcomplexissuesacrossvariousjuris-dictions.TheIPOwas12 timesoversubscribed,andGLPdebuted as one of the 30 largest companies listed on theSGX-STbymarketcapitalisation.
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Hongsa Mine-Mouth Power Project
Practice Areas: Project Finance, EnergyDeal Value: Approx. US$2.7 billion
Firms and their clients:• Chandler&Thong-ek:advisedlendersastoThailaw• DFDLMekong:representedthelenders(nine
Thaibanks)• Latham & Watkins:leadcounseltothelenders• LSHorizon:sponsors’LaosandThailawcounsel• Milbank,Tweed,Hadley&McCloy:sponsors’
leadcounsel
Considered to beThailand’s largest project financingsyndicationtodateandthefirstthermalpowerproject
for Laos PDR. NineThai financial institutions includingBangkokBankandTMBBankarefinancingtheconstruc-tionofthe1,878MWHongsaMine-MouthPowerPlantinthe Hongsa district of Xayaburi Province in Laos. Theprojectincludestheadjacentligniteminewhichwillsupplythefuelforthepowerplant.Thefinancingfortheproject
consists of a syndicated, multi-tranched, multi-currencyfacility.Themajorityof thepowergenerated at theplantwill supply Thailand under a 25-year power purchaseagreementsignedin2009betweentheElectricityGeneratingAuthorityofThailand(EGAT)andHongsaPower,ajointventurebetweenRatchaburiElectricityGeneratingHoldingPublic Company, Banpu Power and Laos Holding StateEnterprise.About100MWofthepowergeneratedwillbesoldtoElectriciteduLaosfordomesticconsumption,pro-vidingaboosttolocalsocio-economicdevelopment.Thisdeal was a complex, cross-border project that has beenunder development for more than a decade. The totalprojectcostisaboutUS$3.9billion.
Panasonic Corporation’s acquisition of Sanyo Electric Co.
Practice Areas: Equity, M&ADeal Value: Approx. US$4.6 billion
Firms and their clients:• MoriHamada&Matsumoto:advisedSanyoElectric
, founded in 1965,
and
2010
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• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett:internationalcounseltoSanyoElectric
• NagashimaOhno&Tsunematsu:counseltoPanasonic
• Sullivan&Cromwell:representedPanasonic• Baker & McKenzie:representedDaiwaSecurities
SMBCPrincipalInvestmentsCo,oneofSanyo’slarg-estinstitutionalinvestors
ThistransactionwaspartofthelargestM&AdealevermadebetweenJapaneseelectricalgoodsmanufactur-
ers and attracted mass media attention. Panasonic hadacquiredthemajorityvotingrightsinSanyothroughtenderin December 2009 and squeezed out theminority share-holders through a second tender offer in July 2010.Panasonic, Japan’s biggest consumer electronics maker,successfully acquired 81.02 percent of the total votingrights through the tender offer. The deal involved sometricky negotiations by legal counsel because of potentialconflictsofinterestamongminorshareholders.
Petrobras global offering
Practice Areas: Equity, Capital MarketsDeal Value: US$70 billion
Firms and their clients:• SidleyAustin:advisedtheissuerastoHong
Konglaw• ClearyGottliebSteen&Hamilton:advised
PetrobrasastoUSlaw• Machado,Meyer,SendaczeOpiceAdvogados:
advisedPetrobrasastoBrazilianlaw• Walkers:advisedPetrobrasastooffshorelaw• MattosFilhoVeigaFilhoMarreyJr.eQuiroga
Advogados:advisedtheunderwritersastoBrazilianlaw
• Shearman&Sterling:advisedtheunderwritersastoUSlaw
octobersawthelargestglobalofferingincapitalmar-ketshistoryasPetroleoBrasileiroSA(Petrobras),a
MEMBER FIRM OF BAKER & MCKENZIE INTERNATIONAL
Wong & Partners is a member of Baker & McKenzie International, a Swiss Verein with member law firms around the world. In accordance with the common terminology used in professional service organizations, reference to a “partner” means a person who is a partner, or equivalent, in such a law firm. Similarly, reference to an “office” means an office of any such law firm.
www.wongpartners.com
Passionately GlobalWong & Partners is a Malaysian law firm dedicated to providing quality and solution-oriented legal services to its clients. Since its establishment in 1998, Wong & Partners has grown steadily and now consists of 11 partners and 35 associates. They are supported by a full team of paralegals and other support staff.
Wong & Partners prides itself on being a progressive law firm with international standards of quality and experience. In this regard, the Firm has a solid commitment to training its lawyers, and invests in training, professional development and quality management programs. As a member firm of Baker & McKenzie International, we can tap into the unique strengths and resources of colleagues from all over the world. Baker& McKenzie’s global coverage minimises cost and time otherwise spent briefing multiple law firms. We are adept at multijurisdictional multi-language transactions and can provide consistently responsive service with ease and fluency. We are viewed as trusted advisors by domestic and multinational corporations for their needs in Malaysia and throughout Asia. Our lawyers are widely recognised as among the best in their fields, helping clients apply industry-specific, innovative and practical solutions.
Wong & Partners Level 21 - Suite 21.01 The Gardens South Tower Mid Valley City / Lingkaran Syed Putra 59200 Kuala Lumpur / Malaysia / Tel: +603 2298 7888 / Fax: +603 2282 2669
“Asian-Counsel Firm of the Year” for:• AlternativeInvestmentFund(2009)• Antitrust/Competition(2010)• Corporate/M&A(2007,2009&2010)• CapitalMarkets(2009)• IntellectualProperty(2009)• Regulatory/Compliance(2007,2009&2010)• Securities/Finances(2008)• Taxation(2009)• TelecommunicationMedia&Technology(2009&2010)
“Asian-Counsel Most Responsive Domestic Firm of the Year 2010” - Asian-Counsel Magazine 2010
“Asian-Counsel Most Responsive Firm of the Year 2009” - Asian-Counsel Magazine 2009
“Case of the Year 2010” and “Indirect Tax Firm of the Year 2008 & 2009” - Asia Tax Awards, International Tax Review
“Top 5 ALB Leading IP Firm 2008 & 2009” - Asian Legal Business
41 Volume 9 Issue 1, 2011
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stateownedoilcompanyinBrazil,offeredUS$70billionin common and preferred shares.More than four billionshareswereoffered in the formofCommonorPreferredAmericanDepositaryShares(ADSs)andwerelistedontheNewYorkStockExchange.TheIndustrial&CommercialBankofChinaInternational(ICBCI)actedasaplacementagent and joint bookrunner, making it the first ChineseinvestmentbanktoplayakeyroleinamajorshareissuanceoutsidemainlandChinaandHongKong.
Sri Lanka sovereign bond offering
Practice Areas: Equity, Capital MarketsDeal Value: US$1 billion
Firms and their clients:• Davis Polk &Wardwell: advised Bank ofAmerica
Securities,HSBCandtheRoyalBankofScotland• NithyaPartners:advisedtheinitialpurchasersasto
SriLankanlaw• FJ&GdeSaram:advisedtheissuerastoSri
Lankanlaw• MilbankTweedHadley&McCloy:advisedthe
issuerastoUSlaw
ThisofferingbythegovernmentofSriLankaofits6.25percentbondsdue2020wasthecountry’slargestever
internationalbondandoneoftheregion’smostsignificantsovereigndealsof2010.TheUS$1billionglobalbondsaleattracted more than US$6.3 billion of orders within 14hours, indicatingveryhigh investorconfidence.JustoverhalfofthebondswereallocatedtoinvestorsintheUnitedStates, the remaining half being divided almost equallybetweenEuropeanandAsianinvestors.Byinvestortype,85percent of thebondswere allocated to fund and assetmanagersandthebalancetopensionfunds,insurancecom-panies and banks. It was Sri Lanka’s third internationalbond offering, following issues in 2007 and 2009. Theofferingwascompletedinatighttimeframeandinvolvedsignificant interplaybetween localand international legalstructures. It was underwritten by BofA Merrill Lynch,HSBCandTheRoyalBankofScotland.
NoVeMBeR 2010
AIA Group IPO
Practice Areas: Equity, Capital MarketsDeal Value: US$20.5 billion
Firms and their clients:• Debevoise&Plimpton:advisedAmericanInternational
Group(AIG)andAIAGroup• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer: advised AIA on
HongKonglawissues• DavisPolk&Wardwell:advisedtheFederalReserve
BankofNewYork• HerbertSmith:legaladvisertoFederalReserveBank
ofNewYork• Linklaters:advisedtheunderwritersonHong
Konglaw• Sullivan&Cromwell:advisedtheunderwriterson
USlaw• NagashimaOhno&Tsunematsu:advisedasto
Japaneselaw
ThismammothIPOwas the largesteversingle listingontheHongKongStockExchange, thebiggestever
intheinsuranceindustryandamongthelargestinhistoryworldwide.ItsawAIAGroupissuemorethaneightbillionsharesinHongKongandinternationally,includingapublicofferingwithoutalistingtoinvestorsinJapan.Theshares
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weresoldbyAmericanInternationalGroup(AIG)andrep-resented thesaleof67.1percentof its stake inAIA.Theproceedsaretobeusedeventuallytorepayallorpartofacredit facility extended by the Federal Reserve Bank ofNewYork (FRBNY). Balancing numerous disparate andoften competing interests – local management, corporateheadquarters,theAmericangovernmentandglobalregula-tors– thedealdemandedculturalandpoliticalsensitivityfromcounsel.Thesheerscaleoftheofferingandscopeoftransactionalworkagainstabackdropofthefinancialcrisismadethisachallengingdealforallparties.
Coal India IPO
Practice Areas: Equity, Capital MarketsDeal Value: US$3.4 billion
Firms and their clients:• DLAPiper:advisedtheGovernmentofIndia• Luthra&LuthraLawOffice: domestic counsel on
thetransaction
• Amarchand&Mangaldas:advisedthejointleadmanagers
• Ashurst:advisedthejointleadmanagers
WithlistingsontheNationalStockExchangeofIndiaandtheBombayStockExchange,thisInitialPublic
OfferingbyCIL–theworld’sbiggestcoalcompany–raisedanimpressiveUS$3.4billion,makingitthelargestIPOinthehistoryofIndiancapitalmarketsandthethirdlargestintheworldduring2010.ThesheerscaleofthisofferingandthestrategicimportanceofCILastheholderoftheplanet’slargestcoalreserves,conspiredtomakethisahighlycom-plexdeal,executedundertheclosescrutinyoftheinterna-tionalmediaandbusinesscommunity.Theneedtobalancethe requirements of many interested parties (includingemployees, unions, suppliers, customers and politicians)andtonavigateIndianregulations,internationallawandUSsecurities advice brought considerable challenges from atransaction management perspective. And despite CoalIndia’s size and maturity, the company had never beforeprepared a disclosure document prior to the IPO, and itsmanagement team had little experience of the challengesassociatedwith becoming a public company.Towards the
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endofthedeal,theIPOhitan“11thhour”crisisinwhichtheSecuritiesandExchangeBoardofIndia(SEBI)requiredthecorrectionofanaccountingerrorinCIL’sfinancialstate-mentsafterthedealwasalreadybeingmarketed.Thecrisiswas quickly averted. The offeringwas part of the IndianGovernment’songoingdivestmentprogramme.
JAKS Resources Berhad’s Malaysia-China-Vietnam energy project
Practice Areas: Project financeDeal Value: US$2 billion
Firms and their clients:• Orrick,Herrington&Sutcliffe:advisedJAKS
ResourcesBerhad• DFDLMekong: represented theVietnamMinistry of
IndustryandTrade• Leadco:legalcounselastoVietnameselaw
one of the largest ever cross-border energy projectsbetweenChina,MalaysiaandVietnam,thisinvolves
the construction of and 25 year build-operate-transfer(BOT)concession for theHaiDuong2x600MWthermo-electricpowerplant.Withconstructionduetostartlaterthisyear,theUS$2billionplantshouldbeoperationalby2015.The deal involved some complex navigation of interna-tionalprojectstandardsincludingnegotiationofthepowerpurchaseagreement,theBOTcontractandthegovernmentguaranteeonbehalfofJAKS,theprojectdeveloper.
Liquidation of Lehman Brothers’ Asian entities
Practice Areas: Restructuring, Bankruptcy and InsolvencyDeal Value: Approx. US$2 billion
Firms and their clients:• MayerBrownJSM:advisedtheliquidatorsofLehman
BrothersCommercialCorporationAsia (LBCCA)andLehmanBrothersAsiaHoldings(LBAH)
• Linklaters:actedforthejointadministrators(PricewaterhouseCooperUK)
• HerbertSmith:actedforLehmanBrothersFinanceSA(PricewaterhouseCooperSwitzerland)
• NortonRose:actedforLehmanBrothersInc(Deloitte&Touche)
• Weil,Gotshal&Manges:actedforLehmanBrothersSpecialFinancingInc(Alvarez&Marsal)
By far the largest Asian insolvency in history, theLehman global bankruptcies continue to break new
groundandgive rise tosomeof themost importantcasesever heardbefore the courts of a number of jurisdictions.Followingtheglobalcollapseofthegroup,theliquidationof Lehman’s entities inAsia has entailed asset recoveriesrelating to pre-liquidation transactions involving assets inexcessofUS$10billionandthereconciliationofnumerousinter-companytradingaccounts(includingOTCderivativesand securities; both client andproprietary transactions). IthasalsoinvolvedtrustassetdisputesrunningtobillionsofUSdollarsinvalue.SomeextremelycomplexissuesaroserecentlyintheUKproceedingsinrespectoftheimplemen-tation within the Group of a local settlement policy forsecuritiestransactionsanditsimpactonthetrueownershipof securities traded by Lehman Brothers CommercialCorporation Asia (LBCCA) and Lehman Brothers AsiaHoldings(LBAH).Thecourtcasewassignificantnotleastduetotherestatementofsubstantialinter-companyclaimsresultingfromthedecisionandtheimpactsuchclaimswillhaveontheliquidationsoftheLehmanBrothersgroupenti-tiesworldwide.TheUKcourtproceedingstodeterminetheso-called “RASCALS” (Regulation andAdministration ofSafeCustodyandLocalSettlement) system related to theliquidatorsofLBCCAandLBAHseekingadeterminationinrespectofUS$2billioninassets.
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Shanghai Disney
Practice Areas: M&ADeal Value: Approx. US$3.5 billion
Firms and their clients:• Baker&McKenzie:counseltoDisney• Paul,Weiss,Rifkind,Wharton&Garrison:advised
thestate-ownedShanghaiShendiTourismandResortDevelopmentCompany
• ZhongLunLawFirm:PRCcounseltoShanghaiShendi
onNovember 5, TheWalt Disney Company signedjoint venture contracts with the PRC state-owned
Shanghai Shendi Tourism and Resort DevelopmentCompanytobuilditsfirstmainlandChinathemepark.OneofthelargestforeigninvestmentprojectsinChina,thejointventurewastenyearsinthemakingandwasahugelycom-plicated transaction.Beijing’sMinistryofCommercestillneedstosignofftheplan,butitisexpectedtobecompletedby2014.Disney,theworld’sbiggestthemeparkoperator,hashaditssightssetonShanghaiforsometimeduetoitsreputationastheChina’scommercialcentrewithapopula-tionofover20million.Althoughfewdetailshaveyetbeenmade public, Disney has said the Shanghai resort willincludea“MagicKingdom-stylethemeparkwithcharac-teristicstailoredtotheShanghairegion.”DisneyhasbeenexpandingitspresenceinmainlandChinaafteropeningitsHongKongthemeparkin2005.WithparksinParis,Tokyoand Hong Kong, Shanghai Disneyland will be Disney’sfourthoutsideoftheUSA.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group’s SEC registration and listing on the New York Stock Exchange
Practice Areas: Capital MarketsDeal Value: Approx. US$40.6 billion (market capitalisation)
Firms and their clients:• DavisPolk&Wardwell:advisedSMFG
• NagashimaOhno&Tsunematsu:advisedSMFGastoJapaneselaw
• PattersonBelknapWebb&Tyler:advisedCitibank,thedepositaryforSMFG’sAmericanDepositoryShares
oneofthelargestfinancialinstitutionsintheworldinterms of assets, SMFG made history with its
November2010listingontheNewYorkStockExchange.Itsmarket capitalisationof almostUS$41billionmade itthelargesteverlistingbyaJapaneseissuerandthelargestontheNYSEsince2002.ItwasalsothefirstJapaneselist-ing in theNewYork for four years.A colossal effort bySMFGanditsadvisers,thelistingprojectwastheculmina-tionoftheGroup’seffortstoincreaseitsglobalfootprint,coming on the heels of several business combinations,tender offers, equity an debt offerings during the year.These included its multi-billion dollar self-tender offersand joint equity offering closed in February (anotherASIAN-MENA COUNSEL Deal of the Year). The USSecurities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registrationandsimultaneous listingwascomplicatedby thefact thatno other Japanese bank had ever provided data based onInternationalFinancialReportingStandards(IFRS).
Top FirmS (by number of winning deals)Ranking Firm Tally
Equal 1st Baker & mcKenzie 8 (including its associated firms Baker & Mckenzie.Wong & Leow (2) and Hadiputranto, Hadinoto & Partners (1))
Linklaters 8
Equal 2nd Hogan Lovells 7 Sullivan & Cromwell 7
Equal 3rd Allen & overy 6 Latham & Watkins 6 Simpson Thacher & Bartlett 6
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GMR Infrastructure’s sale of its 50 percent stake in InterGen to China Huaneng Group Firms involved: White & Case; Skadden, Arps, Slate, meagher & Flom; De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek
Employee discrimination litigation against Equal Opportunities Commission in Hong KongFirms involved: Baker & mcKenzie; Chui & Lau; TK Cheng & Co
Restructuring of First Mobile Group Firms involved: mayer Brown JSm; Hammonds (now Squire Sanders & Dempsey); Troutman Sanders
Asian Genco’s financing by a consortium of global investorsFirms involved: Wongpartnership; Davis polk & Wardwell; Allen & Gledhill; Lexygen; General Law partners; paul, Weiss; J.Sagar & Associates; Shearman & Sterling
Hanwha Chemical’s equity investment in SolarfunFirms involved: paul Hastings, Janofsky & Walker; DLA piper; Shearman & Sterling; o’melveny & myers; Shin & Kim; maples & Calder; Walkers
Mongolian Mining Corp (MMC) IPOFirms involved: mallesons Stephen Jaques; Skadden, Arps, Slate, meagher & Flom; milbank Tweed Hadley & mcCloy; Conyers Dill & pearman; Economic & Legal Consultancy
Ma San Group’s acquisition of Nuiphao MiningFirms involved: YKVN Lawyers; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; milbank Tweed Hadley & mcCloy
Honourable MentionsThe following deals from 2010 also deserve mention
Hai Tong’s acquisition of Taifook Securities Firms involved: DLA piper; Clifford Chance
Bharti Airtel fund raising for inter alia 3G licencesFirms involved: AZB & partners; Trilegal; milbank Tweed Hadley & mcCloy
China Merchants Bank’s global rights offeringFirms involved: Davis polk & Wardwell; Herbert Smith; Jun He Law offices; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Commerce & Finance Law offices
Morgan Stanley/Mitsubishi UFJ securities joint venture in Japan Firms involved: Hogan Lovells; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Sullivan & Cromwell; mori Hamada & matsumoto; Davis polk
Indorama Ventures’ IPO and exchange offer Firms involved: White & Case; Weerawong C&p; Linklaters
Nomura’s US$100 million Sukuk Issuance Firms involved: White & Case; mori Hamada & matsumoto; Clifford Chance; Zaid ibrahim & Co; mori Hamada & matsumoto
Newcrest Mining’s merger with Lihir Gold Firms involved: Blake Dawson; Allens Arthur robinson; Sullivan & Cromwell; Sidley Austin
Japan’s first rights issue, by Takara Leben Firms involved: mori Hamada & matsumoto; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
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Thanachart Bank’s acquisition of shares in Siam City BankFirms involved: Baker & mcKenzie; Weerawong C&p
Headland Capital Partners, formerly HSBC Private Equity (Asia) (HPEA), management buyoutFirms involved: Debevoise & plimpton; Clifford Chance; maples and Calder; Walkers
Global IP cybercrime case involving Microsoft against the “Waledac” botnet in ChinaFirms involved: orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
Ground-breaking new structure for Prudential Mortgage JREIT debt financingFirms involved: orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
Korea Life Insurance’s IPO and listing on the Korea ExchangeFirms involved: Shin & Kim; Lee & Ko; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett; Davis polk & Wardwell Vietnam’s first coal-fired Build-operate-Transfer power project Firms involved: orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
Chi Mei Optoelectronics merger with Innolux Display CorporationFirms involved: Baker & mcKenzie; First international Law & ip offices
ON Semiconductor’s acquisition of SANYO Semiconductor Firms involved: Tsar & Tsai Law Firm; morrison & Foerster; Nagashima ohno & Tsunematsu
Listing of National Mineral Development Corporation Firms involved: Gide Loyrette Nouel; Crawford Bailey & Company Advocates
Financing of majority shareholding acquisition in PT Berau CoalFirms involved: Allen & overy; Latham & Watkins; Holman Fenwick & Willan; Hiswara Bunjamin & Tandjung; Assegaf Hamzah & partners; Ery Yunasri & partners; Appleby; Sprenger & Associates; Zaid ibrahim & Co; Fenech & Fenech Advocates; Ganado & Associates; Camilleri preziosi; Allen Byrans; Davis polk & Wardwell
Ecuador’s Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric projectFirms involved: Hogan Lovells; Allen & overy; Corral & rosales; Lexim Abogados
China’s Ministry of Finance Renminbi bond issueFirms involved: Simmons & Simmons; Linklaters
S$1.62 billion refinancing of the Farrer Court siteFirms involved: Wongpartnership; Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson; mayer Brown; Allen & Gledhill; morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell; madun Gujadhur Chambers
Mitsubishi UFJ’s US$11 billion global offeringFirms involved: mori Hamada & matsumoto; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett; Nagashima ohno & Tsunematsu; paul, Weiss, rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
Korea Finance Corporation’s $10 billion medium term note programmeFirms involved: Kim & Chang; Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
POSCO Power Corporation’s multi-currency financingFirms involved: Kim & Chang
… continued over …
47 Volume 9 Issue 1, 2011
ASIAN-MeNA CouNSel
Korea Housing Finance Corporation’s US$500 million covered bonds issuanceFirms involved: Kim & Chang; Ashurst; Shin & Kim; Sidley Austin
Samsung Engineering tax refund case involving employee stock optionsFirms involved: Yulchon
Honam Petrochemical’s acquisition of Titan Chemicals Firms involved: Yulchon; Zaid ibrahim & Co; roosdiono & partners
Lotte Shopping’s acquisition of GS Retail’s discount and department store businessFirms involved: Yulchon; Kim & Chang
Masterskill Education Group IPOFirms involved: Wong & partners; milbank Tweed Hadley & mcCloy
China Development Bank/Aircel Group financingFirms involved: White & Case; Baker & mcKenzie; J Sagar & Associates; Shearman & Sterling; Khaitan & Co
China Unicom bond offeringFirms involved: Davis polk & Wardwell; Herbert Smith; Fangda partners; Sullivan & Cromwell; Freshfields Bruckhaus; Commerce & Finance Law; Conyers Dill & pearman
Reliance Industries bond offeringFirms involved: Shearman & Sterling; Davis polk & Wardwell; AZB & partners; Wongpartnership; J Sagar & Associates; Vinson & Elkins
For information on how to contribute email: asian-counsel@inhousecommunity.com
Now the fastest-growing importer of oil on the planet, Asia’s ever increasing need for energy, be it old-fashioned natural resources such as coal, of which it has plenty, oil, of which it has little, or renewable ‘clean energy’, if not sated, has the potential to be a stumbling block to the region’s continued growth. The ASIAN-MENA COUNSEL Energy and Natural Resources Special Report will look at the issues - regulatory, geographic, environmental and other - as well as the incred-ible opportunities provided by the challenges in the sector. Leading legal practitioners from the sector will examine the industry from the perspectives of oil rich nations in the Mid-dle East and North Africa and large-scale Asian consumers like China and India.
In next month’s issue…
Note: Winning deals cited in this article are based on submissions made to AsiAn-MEnA CounsEL directly. We are not responsible for any omissions of firms active in these transactions who did not notify us of their roles.
www.inhousecommunity.com48 ASIAN-MENA COUNSEL
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