Asia Deal Digest: January 17, 2013

 

Mayer Brown JSM partner Jeckle Chiu is advising Hong Kong Citic Telecom International Holdings Ltd., the telecommunications unit of Chinese state-owned investment firm Citic Group, on its $1.16 billion acquisition of an additional 79 percent stake in Companhia de Telecomunicações de Macau SARL (CTM). The transaction is subject to the approvals of Citic Telecom shareholders and Macanese and Chinese regulators. Slaughter and May partners Andrew Jolly in London and Neil Hyman in Hong Kong are advising U.K.–based Cable & Wireless Communications Plc. and Portugal Telecom SGPS SA, which are selling their stakes in CTM to Citic Telecom. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Asia managing partner Robert Ashworth is advising Barclays Capital as financial adviser on the deal. [Read full story]

 

Baker & McKenzie Hong Kong partners Milton Cheng and Andrew Lockhart are advising Regal Real Estate Investment Trust on the establishment of a $1 billion medium-term note program.The hospitality-focused REIT is raising money to finance call options purchased in relation to two Hong Kong hotels currently in development, according to a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, as well as for general corporate purposes. Appleby is advising the issuer on matters of British Virgin Islands law. The underwriters—Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd., J.P. Morgan Securities Plc and UBS AG.—are being advised by Clifford Chance partner Matthew Fairclough. [Read full story]

 

DLA Piper has advised on the establishment of reinsurer Peak Reinsurance Holdings. The company received an initial capital base of $550 million, provided jointly by Chinese investment firm Fosun International and the World Bank's private sector investment arm International Finance Corp. Fosun holds an 85 percent stake while International Finance Corp. holds the remaining 15 percent. Clifford Chance Hong Kong partner Simon Cooke represented International Finance Corp. Offshore firm Appleby advised both Peak Reinsurance and International Finance Corp. with a team led by Hong Kong partners Judy Lee and Jeffrey Kirk.

 

Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Ltd., part of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's Cheung Kong group of companies, has acquired New Zealand waste management company EnviroWaste Services Ltd. for $421 million. The seller—Sydney-based private equity firm Ironbridge Capital Holdings Pty. Ltd—was advised by Clayton Utz Sydney partner David Stammers and New Zealand firm Webb Henderson. Cheung Kong Infrastructure was advised by Auckland-based Russell McVeagh.

Linklaters and Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co. have advised Indian telecommunication infrastructure company Bharti Infratel Ltd., a subsidiary of leading wireless operater Bharti Airtel, on a $760 million initial public offering, India’s largest in two years. Amarchand Mumbai partner Yash Ashar led his firm’s work on the offering. Linklaters Singapore partner Arun Balasubramanian acted as the international counsel to Bharti Infratel. The underwriters—Barclays Securities (India) Pte. Ltd., Deutsche Equities India Pte. Ltd., Enam Securities Pte. Ltd., HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Pte. Ltd., Kotak Mahindra Capital Co. Ltd., BNP Paribas, DBS Bank Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., and ICICI Securities Ltd.—were advised by Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy partners Anthony Root in Hong Kong and Naomi Ishikawa in Singapore. Luthra & Luthra also advised the underwriters with a team led by partner Madhurima Mukherjee in New Delhi. [Read full story]

 

Mumbai Credit rating agency Credit Analysis & Research Ltd., advised by Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co., has raised $99 million via an initial public offering in India. Amarchand partner Yash Ashar led the firm’s team. Kotak Investment Banking, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Edelweiss, Karvy, ICICI Securities, IDBI Capital, and SBI Capital Markets Ltd. were underwriters to the issue, and they were represented by Jones Day Singapore partner Manoj Bhargava and Luthra & Luthra Mumbai partners Manan Lahoty and Madhurima Mukherjee.

 

 

Indonesia’s largest steel maker, Krakatau Steel Company Ltd., has entered into a $378 million joint venture with Japan’s Osaka Steel Co., a subsidiary of Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp., to produce steel for the Indonesian automotive industry. Krakatau Steel will own 49 percent of the joint venture, which will operate under the name Krakatau Nippon Steel Sumikin, while Osaka Steel will control 51 percent. Jakarta-based law firm Ali Budiardjo Nugroho Reksodiputro is advising Nippon Steel and Osaka Steel, with partner Luky Walalangi leading the firm’s team.

 

 

Allens and Linklaters have advised Australians pallet supplier Brambles Ltd. on the acquisition of CEVA Logistics's intermediate bulk container business, Pallecon, for $177 million. Pallecon provides containers for transporting liquids in the food, cosmetic, and chemical industries. CEVA Logistics is owned by private equity firm Apollo Management LP. Allens Sydney partner Vijay Cugati led the firm’s team on the deal.