A raft of law firms have taken advisory roles as West China Cement became the first Chinese issuer to transfer its listing from London to Hong Kong earlier this week (23 August).

The deal handed roles to West End firm Memery Crystal, US firms Sidley Austin and Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, and offshore practice Carey Olsen.

The initial public offering (IPO) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange raised HK$1.39bn (£155m) on Monday, with the London Alternative Investment Market (AIM) delisting effective on the same day.

Memery Crystal, Sidley and Carey Olsen all advised West China Cement, while Orrick advised the sponsoring banks – ICBC International Capital and the Hong Kong branch of Deutsche Bank.

Carey Olsen corporate and finance partner Guy Coltman led the team providing Jersey legal advice on the deal.

Orrick's team, which was led by partners Edwin Luk, Mark Lee and Phoebus Chu in Hong Kong and European corporate head Hilary Winter in London, advised on both the London AIM delisting and global offering.

Winter said: "Whilst AIM has been a successful and popular venue for listing foreign companies, in recent times the relative lack of liquidity and lower valuations have resulted in mature companies, such as West China Cement, looking to other markets to raise capital. Hong Kong has a very active IPO market and was an obvious choice for a company whose operations are in China."

West China Cement first listed on AIM in 2006, raising £22m in the process, but the Shaanxi-based cement producer has said that it has targeted Hong Kong as a more natural fundraising venue given the proximity to its centre of operations.