China/Hong Kong
Linklaters and Clifford Chance had the lead roles on Bank of China Ltd.’s $6.5 billion share sale in Hong Kong. China’s fourth-largest state-owned bank sold tier 1 preference shares in order to meet stricter Basel III global bank capital adequacy rules, which came into force last year. The preference shares act in ways like a convertible bond, paying a coupon of 6.75 percent and having the potential to convert to Bank of China common stock if its reserve capital falls below certain levels. Linklaters Hong Kong partners William Liu, Teresa Ma and Andrew Malcolm led the team advising Bank of China. Clifford Chance Hong Kong partner Liu Fang led a team, which also included Hong Kong partners Connie Heng and Matt Fairclough, acting for underwriters BOCI Asia Ltd., BNP Paribas, China Merchants Securities (HK) Co. Ltd., CITIC Securities Corporate Finance (HK) Ltd., Citigroup Global Markets Ltd., Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Ltd., Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp Ltd., Morgan Stanley & Co. International Plc. and Standard Chartered Bank. [Read full story]
