Freshfields leads on £1bn Chinese buyout of UK yacht maker and hotel
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, White & Case and Addleshaw Goddard have advised on Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group's acquisitions of UK luxury yacht company Sunseeker International and a hotel development site in London for a combined value of £1bn. The deals are among the largest UK acquisitions by Chinese private enterprises, and Dalian Wanda's first major investments in the country.
June 19, 2013 at 07:03 PM
2 minute read
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, White & Case and Addleshaw Goddard have advised on Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group's acquisitions of UK luxury yacht company Sunseeker International and a hotel development site in London for a combined value of £1bn.
The deals are among the largest UK acquisitions by Chinese private enterprises, and Dalian Wanda's first major investments in the country.
Dalian Wanda has purchased a 92% stake in Sunseeker worth £320m from FL Partners, a Dublin-based private equity firm, with the remaining 8% acquired by Sunseeker's management.
The group has also reached an agreement to develop a site on London's South Bank from Green Property Ventures (GPV) for £700m, with the intention of building one of the tallest luxury residential and five star hotel complexes in Western Europe. Dalian Wanda said the deal would create the first luxury hotel opened by a Chinese firm overseas.
Freshfields advised Dalian on both matters, with corporate partners Alan Wang in Beijing, Simon Weller in Hong Kong and Paddy Ko and Adrian Maguire in London leading on the Sunseeker deal. Additional advice was provided by London tax partner Murray Clayson and Hong Kong intellectual property partner Mark Parsons.
Wang said: "These deals highlight the increasing vigour and strength of the leading Chinese private enterprises on the global stage, and the support that they are able to receive from the Chinese regulators and banks in that process."
FL Partners and Sunseeker management turned to White & Case for the deal, with London corporate partner Gavin Weir leading a team that included corporate partner Philip Broke, employment partner Nicholas Greenacre and tax counsel Jeremy Reynolds.
On the hotel site acquisition, Freshfields advised Dalian fielding a team led by London real estate partner Emma Kendall and Beijing corporate partner Alan Wang, with Clayson also providing tax advice. Addleshaws real estate partner Mark Haywood advised GPV.
Other roles Freshfields has taken on acquisitions of European assets by Chinese corporates include advising China Guangdong Nuclear on its UK public takeover of Kalahari Minerals, and Zhejiang Geely on its $1.8bn (£1.2bn) agreement with Ford Motor Company to acquire 100% of Volvo Car Corporation.
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