Asia Deal Digest: September 2019
• Slaughter and May, Cravath on HKEX's $37 billion bid for LSE. • Skadden, Sullivan & Cromwell on Japanese recruitment giant's $3.3 billion secondary offering. • Norton Rose Fulbright, Allens on $1 billion Australia baby formula deal.
September 27, 2019 at 03:30 AM
4 minute read
London Stock Exchange building in St Paul's.
Asia Deal Digest, published periodically, is a compilation of some of the largest deals carried out in Asia and Australia.
China/Hong Kong
• Slaughter and May corporate partners David Watkins and Victoria MacDuff in London, and Peter Brien and Jing Chen in Hong Kong, are advising the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. on a $36.6 billion bid for the London Stock Exchange Group Plc. Chen rejoined Slaughter and May this year as a partner after a two-year stint at the HKEX. The offer was rejected by the LSE on September 13, but, according to media reports, HKEX is appealing directly to LSE shareholders and has until October 9 to make a formal offer. The Slaughter and May team also includes London partners Jan Putnis advising on financial regulatory matters, Lisa Wright on competition and foreign investment issues, Ed Fife and Harry Bacon on financing matters, Gareth Miles on tax matters, Charles Cameron on pension matters and Padraig Cronin on employment matters. Cravath, Swaine & Moore partners Richard Hall in New York and Philip Boeckman in London are serving as U.S. counsel for the HKEX. They are assisted by New York partner Christine Varney on antitrust matters.
• Belgian beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV has revived its plans to list its Asia business, Budweiser Brewing Co. APAC Ltd., in Hong Kong. The issuer priced to raise $5 billion, half the amount it was aiming to raise in its first attempt in July, which it cancelled due to unfavourable market conditions. Since June, Hong Kong has been shaken by anti-government protests. The new listing excludes its Australian business, which is being sold to Japanese brewer Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. for $11.3 billion, and adds Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC as a cornerstone investor. Sullivan & Cromwell partners Francis Aquila in New York, John Horsfield-Bradbury in London and Kay Ian Ng in Hong Kong and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partners Teresa Ko in Hong Kong, David Ludwick in London, Valerie Ford Jacob in New York and Vincent Macq in Brussels are advising Budweiser Brewing, while Clifford Chance partners Virginia Lee and Amy Lo in Hong Kong and Jean Thio in Singapore are representing the joint sponsors.* [Read Full Story]
• Freshfields Hong Kong partner Grace Huang and Singapore partner Arun Balasubramanian advised Chinese drugmaker Shanghai Henlius Biotech Inc. on a $400 million listing in Hong Kong. Henlius was advised by Llinks Law Offices on Chinese law and Meridian Attorneys-at-Law on Taiwanese law. Henlius is a subsidiary of Shanghai-based conglomerate Fosun International and plans to use the majority of the proceeds to fund clinical trials. Sidley Austin Hong Kong partner Mengyu Lu and Singapore partner Matthew Sheridan advised CICC, Merrill Lynch, CMB, Fosun Hani Securities and Citigroup as the joint sponsors. Jia Yuan Law Offices Shanghai partner Chen Jie and Guangzhou partner Wu Jingqian advised the banks on Chinese law.
Japan
• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom Tokyo partner Kenji Taneda represented Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed Recruit Holdings Co. Ltd., one of the largest staffing agencies in the world, on a $3.3 billion secondary offering. Mori Hamada & Matsumoto served as Japanese counsel to the issuer. Sullivan & Cromwell Tokyo partner Keiji Hatano advised Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Nomura, Mizuho, Goldman Sachs and SMBC Nikko Capital Markets as the underwriters. Anderson Mori & Tomotsune advised the banks on Japanese law. [Read Full Story]
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett Tokyo partner Takahiro Saito advised Japanese bank Mizuho Financial Group Inc. on a $1.6 billion bond sale, which comprises $600 million in six-year-notes, $500 million in 11-year-notes and $500 million in four-year-notes, on the Singapore Exchange. Davis Polk & Wardwell Tokyo partner Jon Gray advised Mizuho Securities and Goldman Sachs as the underwriters.
Australia
• Norton Rose Fulbright partners John Elliott and Belinda Harvey in Sydney and Psyche Tai and Peter Haslam in Hong Kong are advising Chinese dairy group China Mengniu Dairy Co. on a $1 billion acquisition of Australian baby formula maker Bellamy's Australia Ltd. The deal is expected to close in December, subject to approval by Bellamy's shareholders, the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the Foreign Investment Review Board. Allens Sydney partners Guy Alexander and Tom Story are advising Bellamy's. [Read Full Story]
*Updated Sept. 30: This story has been updated with the names of the partners advising on Budweiser Brewing's Hong Kong listing from Clifford Chance.
Related Stories:
Ex-Hong Kong Slaughters Partner Bags Firm $37B Mandate
Sullivan & Cromwell, Freshfields on $5B Hong Kong Listing of AB InBev's Asia Unit
Skadden, Sullivan & Cromwell on Japanese Recruitment Giant's $3.3B Share Sale
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