| Clifford Chance has advised Dubai Financial Group on a US$600 million investment in 15 percent of the share capital of Bank Muscat of Oman. The transaction will take place by way of private placement of new shares and is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval. The investment represents the single largest cross border investment in the GCC’s banking sector. Dubai Financial is part of the Dubai Holding group, which also owns Dubai International Capital and Jumeirah Hotels.
Clifford Chance has advised HSBC, which is the financial adviser to Dubai Financial Market (DFM). DFM commenced a 25 percent stakebuilding for OMX, a Swedish stock exchange company that operates markets in Scandinavia and the Baltic region. OMX is currently the subject of a recommended bid from NASDAQ. Khaitan & Co has advised Himatsingka Seide Limited (HSL), India, in relation to all aspects of the acquisition of 80 percent Interest in Divatex Home Fashions Inc, a company based in New York and engaged in the distribution of Textile Home Furnishing Products primarily in North America through various formats of retailers. Divatex is among the top three distributors of bed linen products in the US and had a total turnover of US$151 million as of December 2006. KCO advised HSL on all matters relating to the acquisition including structuring, due diligence, negotiations and documentation. The total consideration being US$53 million, the transaction was closed within 95 days of the execution of the LOI. This acquisition of a foreign company by HSL follows the acquisition of Giuseppe Bellora SpA of Italy in February 2007. These two companies have a combined revenue of INR800 billion which puts HSL in the top bracket in the branded home textile sector. Khaitan & Co is advising Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited in relation to all aspects of the Initial Public Offering. The total issue size is INR200 crores (approximately US$49 million). The scope of work includes conducting the due diligence, drafting and commenting on the draft prospectus, drafting the related agreements and documents and advising on various nuances of the transaction. Citigroup is the Book Running Lead Managers for the issue. Khaitan & Co is acting as the domestic legal counsel to the Book Running Lead Managers (BRLMs), Co-Book Running Lead Managers (Co-BRLMs) in relation to domestic add-on offer of equity shares and simultaneous ADS issue of ICICI Bank Limited. The total issue size of the combined add-on offer is INR175 billion (US$4.34 billion). The issue consists of domestic equity size of INR87.5 billion (US$2.16 billion) along with Greenshoe option of INR13.12 billion (US$0.324 billion) and simultaneous ADS issue of the identical value. The Red Herring Prospectus for the issue was filed on June 11, 2007. The scope of work includes conducting the due diligence, drafting and commenting on the draft prospectus and assisting the BRLMs in dealing with Security Exchange Board of India (SEBI) observations, drafting the related agreements and documents and advising the BRLMs on various nuances of the transaction, which is one of the biggest issue by an Indian company. Latham & Watkins LLP has represented Neo-China Group (Holdings) Limited in connection with its US$400 million sale of high yield senior notes and warrants. BOC International and Deutsche Bank Securities acted as the joint underwriters to the offering. Neo-China Group (Holdings) Limited’s principal activities are the development and selling of properties and investing in office and commercial premises for their rental income potential. Morrison & Foerster‘s China team has represented China International Marine Containers (Group) Ltd in its US$145 million (HK$1.13 billion) acquisition of a 42 percent controlling interest in a Hong Kong listed company, Enric Energy Equipment Holdings Limited (Enric), which was completed on August 7, 2007. The acquisition will also trigger a US$199 million (HK$1.55 billion) general offer under the Takeovers Code of Hong Kong to acquire the remaining 58 percent of Enric. Once completed, the transaction will be the first cross-border acquisition by an A-Share listed Chinese company of a red-chip or Hong Kong offshore-listed company with operations mainly in China. Mori Hamada & Matsumoto has advised and represented China Boqi Environmental Solutions Technology (Holding) Co., Ltd. (Code 1412) regarding their Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), that took place today. This is the first IPO by a mainland Chinese company on the main board (first section) of the TSE and the first sole listing on the main board of the TSE by any non-Japanese company. Mori Hamada & Matsumoto has advised and represented a Chinese company, Asia Media Co, regarding their IPO listing on the Mothers market (a section for start-up companies and distinct from the main board) of the Tokyo Stock Exchange this April. O’Melveny & Myers has represented Scientific Games Corporation (Nasdaq: SGMS) in connection with its agreement to acquire a 50 percent interest in the ownership of Guard Libang, a leading provider of instant lottery ticket cooperative services in China, for approximately US$27 million. Guard Libang, an indirect subsidiary of Rex Capital Financial Holdings Limited (stock code: 0555.HK), provides technical upgrade and construction services to the instant ticket management and sales system of the China Welfare Lottery in 17 provinces and distributes instant lottery tickets in more than 30 cities under a cooperative services approach. Sidley Austin has acted for China Development Bank (CDB), a government policy-oriented statutory financial institution in China and a long-standing client of the firm, in its recent renminbi bond offering in Hong Kong. The offering of 5.0 billion renminbi three percent bonds due 2009 by CDB consisted of a Hong Kong public subscription and Regulation S institutional placement. The transaction, the first offering of renminbi-denominated bonds by a PRC institution outside mainland China, was part of a PRC government initiative to introduce the country’s currency to the international financial markets in preparation for RMB’s eventual free convertibility In one of Asia’s most anticipated and successful hedge fund start-ups, Sidley Austin has represented Hong Kong-based hedge fund manager Abax Global Capital in the first globally offered hedge fund to launch in Hong Kong with investor demand exceeding US$1 billion. The Fund represents the first mega launch of the new special situations hybrid funds in Hong Kong and marks an important milestone in the development of the Asian hedge fund industry. The Weinstein Company has announced the launch of a US$285 million film fund, which will finance the development, production, acquisition, marketing and distribution of various Asian-themed films over the next six years. Paul, Weiss represented Goldman Sachs, which will be structuring the fund and acting as exclusive placement agent. WongPartnership has acted for Fujian Zhenyun Plastics Industry Co Ltd in its initial offering of New S Shares. This is only the third S share listing in Singapore, at the time of listing. |
