Allen & Gledhill has advised CapitaLand Ascendas REIT Management, as manager of CapitaLand Ascendas REIT, on the issue of S$300 million (US$223m) green fixed rate notes due 2034 under the S$7 billion (US$5.2b) euro medium term securities programme established by HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Singapore), as trustee of CapitaLand Ascendas REIT. Partners Margaret Chin and Sunit Chhabra led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Allen & Gledhill has also advised Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation on the S$351 million (US$261m) revolving credit and bank guarantee facilities to The Seletar Mall. The facilities are aligned with the Green Loan Principles and will be used to, among other purposes, refinance existing borrowings and to fund asset enhancement works relating to The Seletar Mall. Partners Lim Wei Ting and Ernest Teo led the firm’s team in the transaction.
AZB & Partners has advised Warburg Pincus, through its portfolio company Shadow Point Investments, on its acquisition of stake in Appasamy Associates, AI Optics and Appasamy Ocular Devices. Partners Vaidhyanadhan Iyer and Sneha Nagvekar led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on April 5, 2024.
AZB & Partners has also advised Dahnay Logistics on its acquisition of 100 percent shareholding in Kailash Shipping Services and its wholly-owned subsidiary ALS Tuticorin Terminal from Apollo Logisolutions. Partners Hardeep Sachdeva, Priyamvada Shenoy and Gaurav Priyadarshi led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on January 3, 2024.
Clifford Chance has acted as English and US law counsel to Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) on its establishment of its US$5 billion global covered bond programme, unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed as to payments or interest and principal by Banzu Covered Bonds. The firm subsequently advised Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) on its inaugural drawdown under the programme, involving the €500 million (US$544m) three-year 3.324 percent covered bonds, which are 100 percent backed by a pool of Singapore residential mortgages. Covered bonds are debt securities issued by banks or financial institutions that are backed by a separate pool of assets, typically high-quality loans or mortgages. This programme was wholly arranged by Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) and established on April 12, 2024. The joint lead managers for the drawdown phase were DZ BANK Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank, Frankfurt am Main, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, Natixis, Société Générale and Standard Chartered Bank, with the co-manager being DBS Bank. The issuance was closed on May 28, 2024. Singapore partner Gareth Deiner, supported by London partners Christopher Walsh and Anne Drakeford and New York partners Jefferey LeMaster, Paul Koppel and Avrohom Gelber, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Clifford Chance is also advising Brookfield on its entry into exclusive negotiations with Impala and other shareholders to acquire a majority stake in Neoen and launch a mandatory tender offer for 100 percent of the company. Brookfield, together with its institutional partners, including Brookfield Renewable, acting alongside Temasek through a Brookfield-controlled vehicle, have entered into exclusive negotiations with Impala, the Fonds Stratégique de Participations, Cartusia and Xavier Barbaro (Chairman and CEO of Neoen) and other shareholders, for the acquisition of a majority stake in Neoen. Brookfield’s offer implies an equity value of €6.1 billion (US$6.6b) for 100 percent of Neoen. Completion of this block, which is subject to customary regulatory approvals, would result in the filing of a mandatory cash tender offer for the remaining Neoen shares and convertible bonds (OCEANEs) issued by Neoen. Should the tender offer be successful, Brookfield intends to implement a squeeze-out of Neoen. Brookfield sees the investment in Neoen as an opportunity to scale Neoen’s portfolio of diverse high-quality assets in a context of accelerating clean power demand. Neoen is a leading global renewables developer with an 8,000 MW high-quality portfolio of wind, solar and storage assets in operation or under construction, alongside 20,000 MW advanced pipeline of development projects, located in strategic markets, particularly in Australia, France and the Nordics. Neoen has significant expertise in battery storage technology, which will become an increasingly important part of the energy mix going forward. Operating across five continents and managing a diverse portfolio of hydro, wind, solar, distributed energy and sustainable solutions assets, Brookfield is one of the world’s largest investors in renewable power and transition assets, with almost 34,000 MW of generating capacity and a development pipeline of approximately 157,000 MW. Brookfield has been active in France since 2015 with over €23 billion (US$25b) invested across 15 different investments. Paris partners Benjamin de Blegiers and Gilles Lebreton, supported by partners David Tayar, Daniel Zerbib, Chloé Desreumaux, Florence Aubonnet, Anne Lemercier, Alexandre Lagarrigue, Alexandre Couturier and Véronique De Hemmer Gudme (regulatory affairs head), and Australia partners Nadia Kalic and Chad Bochan, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has advised a Japanese consortium comprising Osaka Gas, the second-largest city gas distributor in Japan, Sumitomo Corporation, one of Japan’s largest trading houses, and Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport & Urban Development (JOIN), a Japanese government-private sponsored infrastructure investment fund, on its primary investment into AG&P LNG Marketing. An important energy player in India, AG&P has a City Gas Distribution (CGD) network covering 28 districts across India, pursuant to authorisations granted by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board of India. AG&P has investments in THINK Gas, which holds seven GAs, mainly in north-central India, and AG&P Pratham, which holds 12 GAs mainly in southern India. Partners Ajay Sawhney and Aditi Misra, supported by partners Sreetama Sen, Ankita Ray, Kranti Mohan, Janhavi Seksaria, Vijay Chauhan and Kapil Arora, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has also advised Collective Newsroom, a new Indian-owned and controlled entity set up by senior employees of The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in India, on the acquisition of the digital news business of BBC’s subsidiary in India by Collective Newsroom, and continuing arrangements with the BBC for, inter alia, production and publication of content on BBC websites, social media and for production of TV news bulletin, translation and adaptation of BBC content into local languages, etc. Partners Akila Agrawal (M&A head), Preksha Malik and Ishita Khandelwal, supported by partners Aarushi Jain (media, education and gaming head), Bishen Jeswant, SR Patnaik and Swati Sharma (intellectual property head), led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on April 10, 2024, with the launch of Collective Newsroom as a new independent media organization, with BBC as its first client. Bharucha & Partners acted as Indian counsel for BBC.
JSA has advised Bengaluru-based Techno Sportswear on securing US$25 million in its first funding round from A91 Partners, aimed at expanding its performance wear brand Technosport. This investment will help Technosport enhance its market presence in India and internationally ,following its recent launch in South Africa and the UAE. Partner Siddharth Mody, supported by partners Anurag Shrivastav and Siddharth Mody, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
JSA has also advised ICICI Ventures on its investment in Zivore Apparel. Zivore manufactures and sells women’s ethnic apparel under its popular brands “Libas”, “Libas Art”, “Libas Kids” and “Gerua”. Zivore is a leading player in its segment, and has established its presence on all major e-commerce platforms, as well as in various multi-brand outlets and exclusive brand stores across India. Partners Vikram Raghani, Birbahadur Sachar and Varun Sehgal led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Maples and Calder has acted as Cayman Islands counsel to Autostreets Development on its IPO of 15 million shares and the listing in Hong Kong. Established in 2014, Autostreets is China’s largest used vehicle transaction service provider, in terms of transaction volume, and has been committed to transforming China’s used vehicle transaction process and driving China’s used vehicle industry toward standardization, efficiency and transparency. The offering, which closed on May 31, 2024, raised approximately HK$168 million (US$21.5m). Partner Derrick Kan led the firm’s team in the transaction, while Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton advised as to Hong Kong law and Zhong Lun Law Firm advised as to Chinese law. Paul Hastings acted as Hong Kong law counsel, while Jingtian & Gongcheng acted as Chinese law counsel to CITIC Securities (Hong Kong) and Haitong International Capital, as among the sponsors.
Maples and Calder has also acted as Cayman Islands counsel to Qunabox Group on its IPO and listing in Hong Kong on May 27, 2024. The offering size was approximately HK$490 million (US$63m). Qunabox is a marketing service provider in China, focusing on outdoor marketing for fast-moving consumer goods. Partner Derrick Kan also led the firm’s team in the transaction, while O’Melveny & Myers advised on Hong Kong and US laws and Merits & Tree Law Offices advised on Chinese laws. Cooley HK acted as Hong Kong and US laws counsel, while Jingtian & Gongcheng acted as Chinese laws counsel to Haitong International Capital, as the sole sponsor, and to the underwriters.
Moreover, Maples and Calder has acted as Cayman Islands counsel to Sunho Biologics on its IPO of approximately 34.15 million shares and the listing in Hong Kong. Sunho Biologics is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of biologics for the treatment of cancers and autoimmune diseases. The offering, which closed on May 24, 2024, raised approximately HK$461 million (US$59m). Partner Derrick Kan also led the firm’s team in the transaction, while O’Melveny & Myers advised on Hong Kong law and Jingtian & Gongcheng advised on Chinese law. The sole sponsor, China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Securities, was advised by Herbert Smith Freehills as to Hong Kong law, and by Jia Yuan Law Offices as to Chinese law.
Paul Hastings has advised CITIC Securities (Hong Kong) and Haitong International Capital, as the joint sponsors, CLSA and Haitong International Securities, as the overall coordinators, and underwriters on the global offering and listing of Autostreets Development in Hong Kong. Autostreets is China’s largest used vehicle transaction service provider, in terms of transaction volume in 2022. As an intermediary that connects used vehicle buyers and sellers, Autostreets facilitates used vehicle transactions through its transaction platform in two auction formats, namely online-offline integrated auction and online auction. Founding partner and chair of Greater China Raymond Li and corporate partners Peter Cheng and Steven Hsu led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Trilegal has advised Zivore Apparel, operating under the brand name ‘Libas’, and its promoters on its fundraise of Rs1.5 billion (US$18m). Libas is a direct-to-consumer (D2C) omnichannel brand that manufactures, sources, designs and sells women’s apparel through online marketplaces, its own website, exclusive brand outlets, modern trade channels and other offline/distribution channels, under brand names, inter alia, Libas, Gerua and Extra Love by Libas. Corporate partner Abhishek Dubey led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Trilegal has also advised Keystone Realtors (Rustomjee) on its qualified institutions placement of equity shares aggregating to Rs8 billion (US$96). A prominent Mumbai-based real estate developer, Rustomjee has developed properties, including various high-value projects. The proceeds from the QIP shall be utilised for debt repayment, partially funding the land acquisition, associated costs, considerations and general corporate purposes. This is the first ever QIP undertaken by a company subsequent to the notification of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 pertaining to the amendments regarding the pricing notification. This involved a detailed analysis from a regulatory perspective, keeping in mind the market practice for the approach towards this new change. The syndicate of merchant bankers comprised JM Financial, Axis Capital and Kotak Mahindra Capital. Partner Richa Choudhary led the firm’s team in the transaction.
TT&A has advised the United States International Development Finance Corporation on its secured loan facility (via external commercial borrowing) of up to US$50 million to Vistaar Financial Services, a non-banking financial company for on-lending to microenterprises and small and medium enterprises to improve or expand their businesses. Partners Gautam Saha and Pallavi Meena led the firm’s team in the transaction.
