Allen & Gledhill has advised Harmony Convention Holding on the facility agreement entered into with a group of lenders for the S$388 million (US$292.6m) loan facilities to be made available to Harmony Convention Holding. The proceeds of the facilities will be used, among other purposes, for the refinancing of Harmony Convention Holding’s existing loan facility. Partners Jafe Ng and Ong Kangxin led the firm’s team in the transaction.
AZB & Partners is advising IDFC FIRST Bank on its Rs196.91 billion (US$2.4b) acquisition of IDFC. Partners Zia Mody, Ashwath Rau, Vipul Jain and Aditya Alok are leading the firm’s team in the transaction, which was signed on July 3, 2023 and is yet to be completed.
AZB & Partners is also advising Air India on its approximately Rs5.8 trillion (US$70.6b) acquisition and purchase of 470 widebody and narrowbody aircraft from Airbus SAS and The Boeing Company. Partner Anand Shah is leading the firm’s team in the transaction, which was signed on June 20, 2023 and is yet to be completed.
Moreover, AZB & Partners has advised FIH Mauritius Investments (Fairfax) on its more than US$50 million sale of stake in 360 One WAM (erstwhile known as IIFL Wealth Management). Partners Darshika Kothari and Divya Mundra led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on May 18, 2023.
Baker McKenzie has advised Gaw Capital Partners on the structuring, formation and successful closing of its seventh Asia Pacific real estate fund, Gateway Real Estate Fund VII, which raised US$3 billion in total equity (including sidecar co-investments). Gateway Real Estate Fund VII focuses on real estate opportunities, including office, retail, hospitality, industrial, IDC and life science properties, as well as private credit and thematic platforms across the Asia Pacific region. Funds partner Jason Ng, supported by partner Grace Fung (Hong Kong), Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow principals Derek Kwan, Jens Carle and Eunice Tan in Singapore, and Chicago partners Addison Braendel and Maura Ann McBreen, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Baker McKenzie has also advised Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) on credit support, together with Export Finance Australia (EFA) and United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), for Telstra’s acquisition of Digicel Pacific. JBIC and DFC will each provide US$50 million in credit guarantees for EFA’s US$1.33 billion financing package, which was provided to support the acquisition of Digicel Pacific by Telstra. Telstra’s acquisition of Digicel Pacific is supporting the delivery of high-quality telecommunication services in the region. Digicel Pacific is the leading telecommunications service provider in the Pacific, holding more than 60 percent market share with over 2.5 million subscribers in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga and Nauru. The agreements deliver on a commitment made by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and US President Joe Biden at a Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) event at the G20 Summit on November 15, 2022 to work together with Indo-Pacific partners to meet their needs for high-quality, sustainable infrastructure. Since 2018, EFA, JBIC and DFC have worked closely together under the Trilateral Infrastructure Partnership (TIP) to deliver on their countries’ commitment to help build a stronger Pacific region through investment in sustainable infrastructure, which is critical to economic development and improving business environments. These agreements build on that strong history of cooperation. Tokyo partner Kosuke Suzuki and Sydney partner Alastair Gourlay, assisted by New York partner Mark Tibberts, led the firm’s teams in the transaction.
Baker & McKenzie (Gaikokuho Joint Enterprise) has advised Denkosha on its participation in a cooperative power generation project involving the installation of an additional wind power generation facility at its existing solar power plant in Aomori prefecture, Ene One Solar Park Rokkashomura (solar panel output: 2,293 kW; grid output: 1,920 kW), which has been in operation since 2013. The Rokkashomura Wind-Solar Co-Generation Power Plant has been in operation since March of this year, and is a joint venture by Denkosha, Saisan and Shinwa Energy. The project makes effective use of a previously unused portion of the power grid at Ene One by installing a German Enercon wind turbine (rated output of 1,920kW). The additional wind power plant transmits wind-generated power to grid-connected slots underutilized by solar power generation during cloudy weather and at night. This hybrid system developed by Hitachi Power Solutions enables the expansion of renewable energy generation capacity, without costly and time-consuming power grid expansion, and has increased the utilization rate of the grid system from 14 percent to 43 percent. With limited land available for solar and wind power generation, the project is expected to serve as a model for maximizing the use of interconnection slots in the future. The existing solar and new wind power facility generates sufficient power for approximately 2,000 average households, and is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 3,500 tons. The electricity generated will be sold to Tohoku Electric Power Network. Tokyo partner Naoaki “Nick” Eguchi led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has advised Nomura Capital India and Nomura Investment Singapore on their subscription to non-convertible debentures issued by P R Enerrgy Holding, a group company of Penna Cement Industries. P R Enerrgy issued unlisted, secured, redeemable non-convertible debentures in first tranche on a private placement basis to Nomura Capital India and Nomura Investment Singapore. Partner Ramanuj Kumar, supported by partner Abhilash Pillai, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Skadden has advised Keep on its listing and IPO in Hong Kong. Keep offered approximately 10.84 million shares at an offer price of HK$28.92 (US$3.70) per share for a total offer value of approximately HK$313 million (US$401m), exclusive of the over-allotment option. Trading commenced on July 12, 2023. Keep offers extensive and professional fitness content with AI-assisted personalized curriculums. It is the largest fitness platform in China, in terms of monthly active users and number of workout sessions completed by users in 2022. Partners Yuting Wu and Paloma Wang led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co has advised Monsanto before the Delhi High Court, which resulted in the quashing of proceedings initiated by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) against Monsanto for an alleged abuse of dominant position. A Division Bench of the High Court of Delhi has ruled that disputes relating to alleged anti-competitive conduct in the licensing of intellectual property rights, specifically patent rights, will be examined under the Patents Act 1970 and not under the Competition Act 2002. This has effectively barred the jurisdiction of the CCI in examining patent-related disputes. A few licensee seed companies and some other parties had filed complaints before the CCI, alleging that Monsanto (which was subsequently acquired by Bayer) was engaging in anticompetitive conduct in the licensing of its Bt cotton technology. These seed companies were separately in contractual and patent related disputes with Monsanto. Monsanto challenged the CCI’s jurisdiction in examining its commercial disputes and licensing practices before the High Court. A single judge of the High Court ruled in favour of the CCI exercising jurisdiction over such matters. Monsanto appealed the decision of the single judge before the Division Bench of the High Court. The Division Bench has set aside the orders of the single judge, as well as quashed the proceedings initiated by the CCI against Monsanto, for lack of jurisdiction. Partners Naval Satarawala Chopra, Harman Singh Sandhu, Aman Singh Sethi and Nitika Dwivedi led the firm’s team on the matter.
TT&A has advised DFC on its loan facility, via an external commercial borrowing, of up to US$50 million to IIFL Home Finance. The loan will be used for funding of loans to low-income borrowers in India to finance affordable housing projects and to micro, small and medium enterprises to finance the expansion of their businesses, and is expected to have a highly developmental impact on India’s economy by expanding access to housing and MSME finance. Partners Gautam Saha and Pallavi Meena led the firm’s team in the transaction.
WongPartnership is acting for Tower Capital Asia on its purchase of a 77.8 percent stake in electronic payment services provider AXS from DBS Bank. The bank will retain a minority stake of 9.9 percent in AXS. Partner Low Kah Keong is leading the firm’s team in the transaction, together with partner Lam Chung Nian.
WongPartnership has also acted as Singapore counsel to Omnicom Media Group, the media services division of New York-listed Omnicom, on its acquisition of Ptarmigan Media, a specialist agency that provides end-to-end media and marketing solutions to financial services brands. The combined capabilities from this acquisition will enable accelerated growth in the financial services industry and media buying scale, translating to better outcomes for their clients, and increased professional opportunities for their employees. Partner Kyle Lee led the firm’s team in the transaction, together with partners Kylie Peh, Tan Shao Tong and Chan Jia Hui.
