Cleary, Freshfields on Chinese Sportswear Manufacturer's $1B Hong Kong IPO
The deal is the second billion-dollar Hong Kong listing after the worst summer for IPOs in the Asian financial centre in seven years.
October 04, 2019 at 01:34 PM
3 minute read
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Photo: Shutterstock.com
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have the lead roles on Chinese sportswear manufacturer Topsports International Holdings Ltd.'s upcoming initial public offering in Hong Kong.
Topsports, which is a subsidiary of Chinese shoe retailer Belle International Holdings Ltd., priced to raise more than $1 billion, according to media reports. According to a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the issuer plans to use the majority of the proceeds to repay debt.
In 2017, a consortium led by Chinese private equity firms Hillhouse Capital Group and CDH Investments took then-Hong Kong-listed Belle private in a deal valued at $6.8 billion. Belle said in a securities filing at the time that it experienced unprecedented challenges from e-commerce and shopping malls.
Cleary is advising Topsports on the IPO. JunHe is serving as Chinese counsel to the issuer.
Freshfields Hong Kong partner Grace Huang and Singapore partner Arun Balasubramanian are advising Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and CICC as the underwriters. Haiwen & Partners are advising the banks on Chinese law.
The deal is the second billion-dollar listing in Hong Kong after the worst summer for IPOs in the Asian financial centre since 2012. Since June, the city has been shaken by escalating anti-government protests, which caused Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to postpone a $15 billion Hong Kong listing.
Last month, Belgian beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV eventually listed its Asia business, Budweiser Brewing Co. APAC Ltd., raising $5 billion – half the amount it was aiming to raise in its first attempt in July. ESR Cayman Ltd., a logistics real estate developer backed by Warburg Pincus, has also revived plans for a Hong Kong listing worth more than $1 billion and refiled listing documents last month, after shelving it in June. Freshfields' Huang and Balasubramanian are also advising the underwriters on ESR's listing, alongside Singapore partner Stephen Revell; Latham & Watkins is representing the issuer.
Related stories:
Latham, Freshfields Advise on Warburg-Backed Logistics Real Estate Developer's $1BN Hong Kong IPO
Sullivan & Cromwell, Freshfields on $5B Hong Kong Listing of AB InBev's Asia Unit
As Hong Kong's IPO Market Stalls, Shearman & Sterling Revises Its Strategy
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