Allen & Gledhill has advised Maybank Singapore on the establishment of its US$10 billion global covered bond programme, unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed as to payments of interest and principal by Silver Fern Covered Bonds. The programme was jointly arranged by Maybank Singapore, DBS Bank and BNP Paribas. Partners Magdalene Leong, Andrew Chan, Jo Tay, Hoo Sheau Farn, Francis Mok, Alexander Yap and Sunit Chhabra led the firm’s team in the transaction, which is the first Singapore covered bond programme by a domestic systemically important bank (D-SIB) that is a Singapore subsidiary of a foreign bank group.
Allen & Gledhill has also advised Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore), as sole arranger, and Banzu Covered Bonds on the establishment of Standard Chartered Bank’s US$5 billion global covered bond programme, unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed as to payments of interest and principal by Banzu Covered Bonds. Partners Magdalene Leong, Andrew Chan, Jo Tay, Hoo Sheau Farn, Francis Mok, Alexander Yap, Sunit Chhabra and Glenn David Foo led the firm’s team in the transaction, which is the second Singapore covered bond programme by a domestic systemically important bank (D-SIB) that is a Singapore subsidiary of a foreign bank group.
Moreover, Allen & Gledhill has advised Great Eastern Holdings (GEH) and The Great Eastern Life Assurance Company (GEL) on the establishment of its S$2 billion (US$1.47b) euro medium term note securities programme and the issue of S$500 million (US$367m) 3.928 percent subordinated notes due 2039, first callable in 2034 under the programme. Under the programme, GEH and GEL may issue perpetual capital securities that constitute Additional Tier 1 capital securities or subordinated notes that constitute Tier 2 capital in each case, pursuant to the requirements of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Partners Margaret Chin, Glenn David Foo, Sunit Chhabra and Catherine Neo led the firm’s team in the transaction.
AZB & Partners has advised Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on the Rs60 billion (US$720m) sale by L&T and CPPIB of the 51 percent equity stake held in L&T Infrastructure Development Projects to Epic Concesiones, a portfolio company of Infrastructure Yield Plus II, an infrastructure fund managed by Edelweiss Alternatives. Partners Gautam Ganjawala, Qais Jamal, Bhargavy Ramesh and Bharat Budholia led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on April 10, 2024.
AZB & Partners has also advised Goldman Sachs Investments Holdings (Asia) on its Rs3.42 billion (US$41m) sale of equity shares of Samhi Hotels. Partners Varoon Chandra and Lionel D’Almeida led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on April 3, 2024.
Moreover, AZB & Partners is advising Nestlé India on its Rs15 billion (US$180m) acquisition of stake in Dr. Reddy’s Nutraceuticals. Both Nestle and Dr. Reddy’s Nutraceuticals will bring the well-known global range of nutritional health solutions, as well as vitamin, minerals, herbals and supplements of Nestlé Health Science and the strong and established commercial strengths of Dr. Reddy’s in India. Select brands will be licensed by Nestle and Dr. Reddy’s to Dr. Reddy’s Nutraceuticals. Partners Vinati Kastia and Siddharth Khanna are leading the firm’s team in the transaction, which was signed on April 25, 2024 and is yet to be completed.
Baker McKenzie has advised Harvest Global Investments (HGI) on the authorisation and successful listing of Harvest Bitcoin Spot ETF and Harvest Ether Spot ETF in Hong Kong on April 30, 2024. The firm also assisted HGI in securing approval from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) to provide Type 9 virtual asset (VA) asset management services. This development not only makes HGI among the first in Hong Kong to offer spot VA exchange traded funds (ETF) to retail investors, but also makes Hong Kong the first Asian city to allow retail spot virtual asset ETF tradings. The ground-breaking approvals came just a few months after the SFC released the circular on SFC-authorized funds with exposure to virtual assets on December 22, 2023. Financial services partners Karen Man and Sophia Man led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Christopher & Lee Ong, member firm of Rajah & Tann Asia, has advised Maybank Investment Bank, as the underwriter, on the IPO of Keyfield International in Malaysia. Partner Justin Chua led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Clifford Chance has advised the joint sponsors CICC and CMBI on the IPO and listing of generative AI and voice interaction technology company Mobvoi in Hong Kong, making it the first AI-generated content (AIGC) company listed in Hong Kong. Mobvoi provides AIGC solutions, AI enterprise solutions and consumer smart devices and accessories with generative AI and voice interaction technologies. Partners Tianning Xiang and Fang Liu led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has advised Apple South Asia on the Indian regulatory requirements of its investment in Clean Max Hyperion Power. As a part of this venture, Clean Max has installed 14.4 MW of rooftop solar projects in India. The capacity will provide local solution to power Apple’s operations in India, and address emissions from the Indian operations. Partner Ajay Sawhney, supported by partners Aditi Misra, Bhupendra Verma, Ritika Rathi and Sreetama Sen, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has also advised Aditya Birla Capital on the offer for sale of equity shares with face value of Rs5 (US$0.06) each of Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC. The offer for sale of equity shares is one of the methods to achieve minimum public shareholding in the company. The offer was opened on March 19, 2024 for non-retail investors, and on March 20, 2024 for retail investors. The offer comprised of an offer for sale by the company’s promoters, namely Aditya Birla Capital and Sun Life (India) AMC Investments. BofA Securities India, IIFL Securities, Jefferies India and Avendus Capital subsidiary Spark Institutional Equities acted as the brokers to the offer. The promoters have collectively sold approximately 32.15 million equity shares, representing 11.16 percent of the total issued and paid-up equity share capital of the company. Partners Yash Ashar (capital markets head) and Abhinav Kumar (western region markets practice head) led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Moreover, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has advised Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) on the Rs2.8 billion (US$33.5m) subscription of non-convertible commercial papers by T-Hills for meeting construction and development related expenses for the ongoing projects of its group companies. T-Hills is engaged in the construction, development, design, acquisition and alteration of all types of developmental and construction work. Puravankara acted as guarantor. Partner Lakshmi Prakash led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on March 13, 2024.
JSA has advised Gokaldas Exports and IIFL Securities in the qualified institutions placement of equity shares of Gokaldas Exports, one of the key India-based readymade garment manufacturers and exporters. Gokaldas Exports designs, manufactures and sells a wide range of readymade garments for all seasons for men, women and kids. Partner Madhurima Mukherjee Saha led the firm’s team in the transaction.
JSA has also advised Airgap Networks, a Delaware corporation which provides cybersecurity solutions for business-critical networks, on the India leg of the acquisition of Airgap by ZSC Holdings, a provider of cloud-based digital security services. The acquisition was structured through a merger of Airgap with Argus Merger Sub, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ZSC. Joint managing partner Vivek K Chandy and partner Ajay G Prasad, supported by partners Kumarmanglam Vijay, Surajkumar Shetty and Shareen Gupta, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Moreover, JSA has advised National Highways Authority of India on the successful award of concessions for Round 3 of its InVIT monetization initiative. The assignment involved assisting in preparing the concession agreements for each project bundle, which combined comprised ten stretches with an aggregate length of about 890 km. The firm also advised on satisfying the conditions precedent, and achieving the ‘appointed date’ in respect of each concession agreement. The monetization initiative raised approximately Rs156 billion (US$1.87b), the highest monetization value. Partner Vishnu Sudarsan, supported by partner Kartikeya GS, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Rajah & Tann Singapore has acted for DigiAsia Bios, a Singapore-incorporated embeddable ‘Fintech-as-a-Service’ (FaaS) company with main business in Indonesia, on its US$500 million business combination with StoneBridge Acquisition, a wholly-owned subsidiary of special purpose acquisition company StoneBridge Acquisition. This strategic merger aims to leverage US capital markets for growth, primarily targeting consumer technology, communications, SaaS, fintech and media sectors within the Asia Pacific region. Partners Hoon Chi Tern and Debbie Woo led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Rajah & Tann Singapore has also acted on the purchase of the JTC lease, via share purchase in Weng Hock Hardware, of 11 Tuas Avenue 10 in Singapore. The property houses a four-storey dormitory in the Tuas Planning Area, and has been held by the target company since 2010. Partners Norman Ho and Loh Chun Kiat led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas has advised Tata Technologies on its joint venture with BMW Holding Netherlands to provide automotive software, including software-defined vehicle solutions for BMW Group’s premium vehicles. The emphasis of the venture is on digitalization and automation of product development, production and sales. The joint venture arrangement marks the first venture between the two conglomerates, which will allow Tata Tech to leverage their digital engineering expertise and talent pool in India to contribute to the BMW Group’s strategic expansion of software coding capabilities across global IT hubs and 24/7 operations. The deal was signed on April 2, 2024, and closing is subject to receipt of approvals from anti-trust regulators in Germany, Poland and China, as well as completion of certain operational conditions precedent. Partner Iqbal Khan, supported by partners Gauri Chhabra and Mukul Baveja, led the firm’s team in the transaction, while Latham & Watkins (Germany) advised on German law aspects. Khaitan & Co advised the BMW Group.
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co has also advised BPEA Investment Managers on the issuance of non-convertible debentures aggregating to Rs5 billion (US$60m) by mPokket Financial Services. Partners Veena Sivaramakrishnan, Zubin Mehta and Mohit Bhatia, supported by partner Kirti Mahapatra, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Skadden is advising Cemex Asia on its sale of its operations and assets in the Philippines, including Cemex Holdings Philippines (Cemex Philippines), to Dacon Corporation, DMCI Holdings and Seminara Mining and Power Corporation. Philippine-listed Cemex Philippines is one of the leading cement producers in the Philippines, based on annual installed capacity. Cemex has signed an agreement to sell 100 percent of Cemex Asian South East Corporation, which owns approximately 89 percent of Cemex Philippines, based on an enterprise value for Cemex Philippines of approximately US$660 million, along with Cemex’s related 40 percent indirect equity interest in each of APO Land & Quarry and Island Quarry and Aggregates, based on an aggregate enterprise value of approximately US$140 million for APO and Island. Cemex expects to close the sale before year end 2024, subject to the satisfaction of closing conditions, including approval by the Philippine Competition Commission and the buyers’ fulfillment of any mandatory tender offer requirements to the shareholders of Cemex Philippines. Partners Jonathan Stone (Hong Kong) and Rajeev Duggal (Singapore), supported by Hong Kong antitrust/competition partner Andrew Foster and New York tax partners Gregory Fernicola, Nazmiye Gökçebay and Alec Jarvis, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
WongPartnership has acted for China Railway Tunnel Group (Singapore Branch), a China-headquartered company registered as a foreign company in Singapore and one of the largest tunneling contractors worldwide, on its successful defence against three corruption charges brought in relation to monies that had been lent to a former senior Land Transport Authority official, Foo Yung Thye Henry. Partner Paul Loy led the firm’s team in the matter.
WongPartnership is also acting for Eu Yan Sang International (EYSI) and its controlling shareholder Righteous Crane Holding (RCH) on the approximately S$687 million (US$504.6m) sale of RHC’s approximately 86 percent stake in EYSI to a consortium comprising Rohto Pharmaceutical and Mitsui & Co. Partners Low Kah Keong, Quak Fi Ling, Chiang Yuan Bo and Chan Sing Yee are leading the firm’s team in the acquisition.
