Linklaters, Freshfields act on restructure of two of Hong Kong's biggest conglomerates
The magic circle firms took lead roles as Asia's richest man reshuffled his two main businesses.
January 13, 2015 at 10:39 PM
2 minute read
Linklaters and Freshfields have acted alongside Hong Kong firm Woo Kwan Lee & Lo on the restructuring of two of the city's biggest conglomerates, owned by local billionaire Li Ka Shing.
The $24bn deal sees Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa bring all of their non-property assets into a new company called CK Hutchison Holdings, while the real estate portfolio will now come under another newly formed business, Cheung Kong Property Holdings.
There were three core transactions as part of the restructure, namely: the reorganisation of Cheung Kong into a Cayman Islands-incorporated company, a merger between Hutchinson Whampoa and the newly formed CK Hutchison Holdings, and a spin-off of the merged group's property assets.
Woo Kwan Lee & Lo advised Cheung Kong across all three aspects of the deal, with a team led by Frank Yuen and Angelina Lee.
On the merger, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised Hutchinson Whampoa, headed up by Greater China head Teresa Ko alongside another Hong Kong corporate partner Grace Huang.
Linklaters meanwhile acted for the banks – which included HSBC as lead financial advisor on the reorganisation and also as joint sponsor with Bank of America Merrill Lynch on the spin off.
The magic circle firm's team was led by Hong Kong partner Craig Dally, alongside corporate finance partner Rob Cleaver and US capital markets lawyer Pam Shores.
In a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange, Cheung Kong said the expected drivers behind the deal included an increase in dividend payout ratios, the creation of shareholder value, and greater transparency and financing flexibility.
Shares in both companies have surged following the deal.
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