Davis Polk and Skadden win roles as Uber China agrees $35bn merger with local rival
US firms land key mandates as San Francisco company strikes deal to merge its Chinese branch with local taxi app competitor
August 02, 2016 at 05:07 AM
3 minute read
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, and Davis Polk & Wardwell, have won the leading roles as Uber strikes a $35bn (£26bn) deal to merge its Chinese arm with local rival Didi Chuxing.
Skadden Hong Kong corporate partners Julie Gao and Will Cai are leading the team advising Beijing-headquartered Didi, with help from competition partners Steven Sunshine in Washington and Matthew Hendrickson in New York; enforcement partner Rory McAlpine in Hong Kong; and tax partners David Rievman in New York, and Nathan Giesselman in Palo Alto.
Last year, Gao and Cai also represented legacy Didi Dache on a $6bn (£4.5bn) merger with domestic rival Kuaidi Dache. The merged venture rebranded as Didi Chuxing later last year.
Fangda Partners is advising Didi on Chinese law with a team led by Beijing corporate partner Peng Tan. Cayman Islands firm Travers Thorp Alberga is also advising the company.
Legal Week understands Davis Polk & Wardwell is acting for Uber on the deal. Last year, Hong Kong partner Miranda So advised Uber on a $1.2bn investment by Chinese search engine Baidu Inc.
Han Kun Law Offices is serving as Chinese counsel to Uber. The team is led by corporate partners Charles Li and Gloria Xu; intellectual property partner Estella Chen and competition partner Ma Chen in Beijing; and employment law partner Will Huang in Shanghai.
Uber has also instructed Walkers, which is advising the business from its Cayman Islands' base with a team including partners Denise Wong, Amelia Hall and Joanne Collett.
As part of a deal announced on Monday, Uber China will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Didi. The Chinese company will in turn sell a 20% stake to the San Francisco-based company. Uber will become Didi's largest shareholder, with founder and chief executive Travis Kalanick joining Didi's board. Didi's chief executive Cheng Wei will also join Uber's board.
Didi was valued at $28bn (£21bn), while Uber China was valued at $7bn (£5bn).
The deal is subject to approval from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
It follows the official announcement to legalise online car-hailing business in China towards the end of the year. Last Thursday, the Ministry of Transport released a new regulation that detailed the process of how to lawfully operate an internet car-booking service in China.
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