Asia Deal Digest: March 7, 2013

 

 

Allen & Overy Hong Kong partner James Grandalfo has represented Bharti Airtel Inc., India’s largest mobile phone carrier, on a $1 billion bond issue. The New Delhi–based company sold 10-year, dollar-denominated notes on the Singapore Exchange in order to refinance existing foreign currency debt and for general corporate purposes, according to a statement. The company’s in-house team handled Indian law issues. Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy Singapore partner Naomi Ishikawa and Hong Kong–based Asia corporate practice head Anthony Root represented underwriters Barclays Plc., BNP Paribas, Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Group Corp., Standard Chartered Plc., and UBS AG. Indian firm Axon Partners advised the underwriters on local law. [Read full story] 

 

Herbert Smith Freehills is advising Sydney-based property developer Lend Lease Corp. Ltd. on its $1 billion Waterbank Precinct urban renewal project in Western Australia. The development will include residential apartments, commercial office space, and retail space. Construction of the development will begin in 2014 with the aim to complete by 2021. Brisbane partner Christopher Blue led the Herbert Smith Freehills team. Minter Ellison advised the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority, which picked Lend Lease for the project.

 

The founding family of Westfield Group, which owns more than 100 shopping malls in the world, has raised $681.6 million by selling its stake in a trust of properties in Australia and New Zealand. The Lowy family, advised by Clifford Chance Sydney partners Danny Simmons and Lance Sacks, has sold its entire 7.1 percent holding in the Westfield Retail Trust to institutional investors through a process run by UBS A.G.

 

Herbert Smith Freehills Melbourne partner Tim McEwen has advised the Australian private health care services provider Healthscope Group on a $150 million offering of subordinated notes on the Australia Securities Exchange. The underwriters—Credit Suisse Group A.G., Macquarie Capital, UBS A.G., Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Macquarie Capital, National Australia Bank, and Westpac Institutional Bank—were advised by Clayton Utz partner Brendan Groves in Melbourne.

 

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Kirkland & Ellis are advising a consortium led by the Carlyle Group on a $688 million deal to take Chinese budget hotel chain 7 Days Group Holdings Ltd. private. The deal calls for 7 Days, currently listed on the New York Stock Exchange, to delist and merge with Keystone Lodgings Holdings, a consortium comprising Carlyle Asia Partners, Sequoia Capital China Growth 2010 Fund, Actis LLP, and 7 Days cochairmen Boquan He and Nanyan Zheng. Skadden partners Peter Huang and Daniel Dusek in Beijing and Gregory Miao in Shanghai are acting on the deal, along with Kirkland Hong Kong partners David Zhang, Ashley Young, and Jesse Sheley. Offshore firm Conyers Dill & Pearman and Shanghai-based Han Yi Law Offices are also acting for the consortium. O’Melveny & Myers is acting for 7 Days Group itself while Baker & McKenzie and Maples and Calder are advising a special committee of the company’s board of directors. Latham & Watkins is representing He and Zheng. The deal will be funded in cash from existing shareholders and a loan of $120 million by a group of mainly Taiwanese banks advised by Linklaters. Shearman & Sterling advised J.P. Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited, financial adviser to 7 Days Group. [Read full story]

 

Baker & McKenzie is advising Chinese frozen seafood supplier Pacific Andes International Holdings Limited on a proposed $555.8 million acquisition of Copeinca ASA, the second-largest fishing company in Peru. The acquisition will be partly funded by a combination of a rights issue by China Fishery Group, a Singapore-listed subsidiary of Pacific Andes, which will raise net proceeds of approximately $277.5 million, and a loan facility of up to $295 million. DBS Bank Ltd. and Standard Chartered Securities (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. are acting as underwriters on the debt issue. Baker & McKenzie’s team is being led by Hong Kong–based partners Milton Cheng and Christina Lee. Singapore firm David Lim & Partners is acting for both Pacific Andes and China Fishery on Singapore law. Clifford Chance is advising the underwriters on the debt issue.

 

Proskauer Rose has advised Asian private equity fund RRJ Capital Ltd. on its $300 million investment in Cheniere Energy Partners, a subsidiary of Houston-based natural gas producer Cheniere Energy Inc. that operates the Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas terminal in Louisiania. The Proskauer team was led by partners Yuval Tal and Jay Tai in Hong Kong, Washington, D.C.–based Frank Zarb, and New York–based Stuart Bressman. Houston’s Andrews Kurth advised Cheniere Energy.

Mayer Brown JSM has advised China Overseas Holdings, a Hong Kong–based property development subsidiary of China State Construction Engineering Corp., on its $228 million acquisition of One Finsbury Circus, a City of London office building. The deal marked China Overseas Holdings’s debut acquisition outside of China. The seller was Dallas-based Invesco Real Estate. Mayer Brown JSM’s team was led by partners Chris Harvey and Jeremy Kenley in London and Jeckle Chiu in Hong Kong. SJ Berwin represented Invesco.

 

Paul Hastings has represented Glorious Property Holdings Ltd., a Shanghai-based, Hong Kong–listed property developer, on its $250 million issue of senior notes due 2018 on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Proceeds from the offering will be used to refinance debt and for general corporate purposes. The Paul Hastings team was led by partners Vivian Lam and David Grimm in Hong Kong. Deutsche Bank Ltd., Haitong International Securities Group Ltd., ICBC International, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc., and UBS A.G. were the underwriters on the deal, and they were advised by Linklaters Hong Kong partners David Ludwick and William Liu.

 

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom partners Michael Gisser and Peter Huang in Beijing are advising a consortium led by Morgan Stanley Private Equity that is taking Chinese food company Feihe International Inc. private in a deal valued at $147 million. Feihe, a Chinese producer and distributor of infant formula, milk powder, soybean, rice, and walnut products, is being advised by DLA Piper on a deal that will see it merge with affiliates of Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia and delist from the New York Stock Exchange. O’Melveny & Myers partner Paul Scrivano in San Francisco, counsel Nima Amini in Hong Kong, and partner Geng Ke in Beijing are representing Feihe’s board of directors. 

 

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Seoul-based Shin & Kim have advised on a $500 million debt offering by the Export-Import Bank of Korea. Proceeds from the issue of the 1.75 percent five-year notes will be used to extend loans in support of projects focused on low-carbon and climate-resilient growth. The offering marks the first offering of “green bonds” offering by an Asian private issuer. Davis Polk & Wardwell partners Eugene Gregor in Hong Kong and John Paton in London advised underwriters Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. and SEB Enskilda Inc. 

 

Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow has advised Temasek Holdings on a $300 million investment in PT Multipolar Tbk, an Indonesian investment holding company. The investment grants Temasek the right to a 26.1 percent stake in PT Matahari Putra Prima Tbk, a subsidiary of PT Multipolar that has interests in department stores. The Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow team was led by partner Ai Ai Wong in SIngpaore. Jakarta-based partner Indah Respati of Hadiputranto, Hadinoto & Partners advised on Indonesian law.

 

PT Steel Pipe Industry of Indonesia Tbk., one of the largest steel pipe manufacturer in Indonesia, has launched an $88.5 million initial public offering in Indonesia. The company issued 2.9 billion new shares, which represents 40 percent of its enlarged capital, for the offering. Proceeds will be used to fund capital expenditures. Clifford Chance acted as international counsel to the issuer, with Jakarta's SSU & Partners advising on Indonesian law. Ashurst Hong Kong–based partner Stuart Rubin advised underwriters Nomura and Andalan Artha Advisindo, with Hadiputranto, Hadinoto & Partners acting as Indonesian counsel.