China/Hong Kong
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. filed for its highly anticipated U.S. initial public offering Wednesday. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is advising Alibaba, with Hong Kong partners Leiming Chen and Daniel Fertig and Palo Alto partner William Hinman leading the firm’s team on the listing. The prospectus additionally listed Fangda Partners as Chinese counsel to the issuer. Maples and Calder is advising on Cayman Islands law. Sullivan & Cromwell Hong Kong partner William Chua and Palo Alto partners Jay Clayton and Sarah Payne are acting for underwriters Credit Suisse Securities, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Goldman Sachs & Co., J.P. Morgan Securities, Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc. and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. King & Wood Mallesons is advising the banks on Chinese law. The IPO is one of the most highly anticipated of the year. Though Alibaba said in its prospectus it planned to raise $1 billion, that sum is regarded as a placeholder. The actual amount is widely expected to exceed $15 billion, potentially larger than the $16 billion Facebook Inc. raised in its 2012 Nasdaq listing. Morrison & Foerster Tokyo partners Ken Siegel and Ivan Smallwood and San Francisco partner Andrew Winden are advising Japan’s Softbank Corp., which is Alibaba’s largest shareholder. [Read full story]
