Asia Deal Digest: February 21, 2013

 

Herbert Smith Freehills, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Khaitan & Co., and Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co. advised on a recent $2.14 billion share sale by Indian state-owned power company NTPC Ltd. The sale by the Indian government amounted to 9.5 percent of the company. The deal is part of an effort to raise $6 billion to help close India’s budget deficit. Herbert Smith Freehills London partner Steven Theirbach and Singapore counsel Siddhartha Sivaramakrishnan served as international and U.S. advisers to NTPC, with Indian firm Khaitan partners Nikhilesh Panchal in Mumbai and Sharad Vaid in New Delhi advising on matters of local law. Cleary Gottlieb London partner Sebastian Sperber and Amarchand New Delhi partner Prashant Gupta represented transaction brokers including Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, and Goldman Sachs. [Read full story]

 

Allen & Gledhill and Paul Hastings are advising on the $1.3 billion Singapore initial public offering of state-owned Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust REIT, a China- and Hong Kong–focused property unit of Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings Pte. Cornerstone investors in the IPO include AIA Group Ltd. and Morgan Stanley. Funds raised will be used to pay for acquisitions as well as for working capital. Allen & Gledhill partners Jerry Koh, Chua Bor Jern, and Teh Hoe Yue are advising the issuer on Singapore law, while Paul Hastings partner Vivian Lam is serving as Hong Kong counsel. Shanghai’s Jin Mao Partners has been engaged for matters of Chinese law. WongPartnership partners Rachel Eng and Long Chee Shan are acting as Singapore counsel to underwriters. Allen & Overy Singapore partners Yin Mei Lock and Kenny Kwan are advising the banks on U.S. law, with Fangda Partners is acting as Chinese counsel. [Read full story]WongPartnership has acted for United Overseas Bank Ltd. as the lender of a $117 million revolving credit facility to Hotel Plaza Property (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., a subsidiary of Pan Pacific Hotels Group Ltd. The loan partly finances the acquisition and development of a property on Upper Pickering Street in Singapore. The property comprises a 363-room hotel and a 13-story office building. WongPartnership partners Christy Lim and Dorothy Ng led the firm’s team on the deal.

 

Ashurst has advised Singapore-based Concord Energy Pte. Ltd. on the sale of a 50 percent interest in its Fujairah Oil Terminal FZC to Hong Kong–based oil trader Sinomart KTS Development Ltd. The firm also advised Fujairah on $252 million in loans needed for its construction. The Ashurst team was led by Singapore partner Philip Thomson.

 

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft and its affiliated Hong Kong firm Joseph P.C. Lee & Associates has advised Hainan Airlines (Hong Kong) Co. Ltd. on a $500 million bond issue in Hong Kong. Proceeds will help the airlines support its overseas businesses and restructure existing debts. Cadwalader Hong Kong partners David Neuville and Joseph Lee advised the issuer on U.S. and Hong Kong law, while Grandall Law Firm advised on Chinese law. Underwriters BOC International (China) Ltd., Deutsche Bank Ltd., ICBC International, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. were advised by Beijing-based Commerce & Finance Law Offices and Clifford Chance Hong Kong partner Connie Heng.

 

Baker & McKenzie has advised Chinese state-owned investment company Citic Group on its acquisition of a 13 percent stake in Australia’s Alumina Ltd. for $468 millon. Alumina’s sole business is its minority joint venture partnership with Alcoa in Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals, the world’s largest producer of alumina, which is smelted into aluminum. Allens Melbourne partner Greg Bosmans advised Alumina.

 

White & Case Hong Kong partner Anna-Marie Slot and Beijing partner David Li have advised luxury property developer Greentown China Holdings Ltd. on a $400 million issue of senior notes in Hong Kong. The five-year notes bear an 8.5 percent interest rate and proceeds will be used to refinance debts and for general corporate purposes. T&C Law Firm advised the issuer on Chinese law. Maples and Calder Hong Kong partner John Trehey also advised the issuer on Cayman Islands law. Davis Polk & Wardwell and Beijing firm Jingtian & Gongcheng advised the underwriters on U.S. and Chinese law, respectively.

 

Hogan Lovells represented Kingdom Holding Co., the investment company chaired by Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud of Saudi Arabia, as leader of a consortium acquiring a $400 million stake in China’s largest Internet retailer, 360Buy Jingdong Inc. Hogan Lovells partners Mark Mazo in Washington, D.C., and Steven Robinson in Shanghai led the firm’s team in advising Prince Alwaleed and Kingdom Holding. Skadden, Arps, Slate Meagher & Flom Hong Kong partner Julie Gao advised 360Buy.

 

Chinese oil and gas producer MIE Holdings Corp. has issued $200 million worth of senior notes due 2018 on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Proceeds will be used to repay debts, for working capital, and for general corporate purposes. The issuer was advised by Latham & Watkins, Kazakhstan’s Grata Law Firm, offshore firm Maples and Calder partner Christine Chang, Zhong Lun Law Firm in Beijing, and Amsterdam-based De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek. White & Case and Beijing’s Jingtian & Gongcheng advised underwriters BofA Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd., Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley. Jones Day partner Joseph Bauerschmidt represented trustee Citicorp International Ltd.

 

Clifford Chance Bangkok partner Fergus Evans and counsel Joseph Tisuthiwongse advised B. Grimm BIP Power Ltd. and Bangkadi Clean Energy Ltd. on the $325 million financing of two gas-fired power projects located in Bangkadi Industrial Park, Pathumthani Province, in Thailand. The two projects will be developed by B. Grimm, a power generation developer that builds and operates power plants in Thailand and Vietnam. The two separate loans of $162 million to B. Grimm and Bangkadi Clean Energy were provided by Kasikornbank Public Company Ltd. and Bangkok Bank Public Co. Ltd., who were represented by Baker & McKenzie.

 

Seoul-based departmental store operator Lotte Shopping Co. Ltd. has issued $303 million worth of bonds convertible into shares of its subsidiary Lotte Himart, Korea’s largest electronics retailer. Paul Hastings represented the issuer with a team led by Seoul-based of counsel Dong Chul Kim, and including partner Daniel Kim in Seoul and David Grimm and Steven Winegar in Hong Kong.