Deals – 19 March 2009

Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co acted as legal advisors to Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd in its acquisition of 76 percent shareholding of Apollo Sindhoori Capital Investments Ltd. 56 percent of the shareholding was acquired from the promoter group, with the remaining 20 percent being acquired through an open offer made to the public shareholders.

Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co acted as transaction counsel to Reliance Petroleum Ltd and Reliance Industries Ltd in the merger of Reliance Petroleum into Reliance Industries. The transaction marks the largest ever merger in India and is being consummated by way of a court sanctioned scheme of amalgamation.

Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co has advised Sodexo in relation to its acquisition of Radhakrishna Hospitality Services Ltd and its subsidiaries. Completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

Baker & McKenzie has advised IBA Health on the company’s A$124 million rights offer. The offer comprised an underwritten accelerated institutional offer and a separate retail offer. Steven Glanz, partner in the firm’s Sydney office, led the legal team.

Clifford Chance has advised Citigroup Global Markets Singapore Pte Ltd and Macquarie Capital Securities (Singapore) Pte Ltd as placing agents on the Section 4(2) private placement of new units in Singapore-listed Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust (A-Reit), raising approximately US$299.3 million. Singapore-based capital markets partner Crawford Brickley led the transaction.

Clifford Chance has advised Fuji Film Medical on its acquisition of a medical business by way of distressed sale. Tokyo corporate partner Tatsuhiko Kamiyama led the advisory team on the transaction.

Clifford Chance has advised Kerry Media Ltd on the placing down and sale of its shares in SCMP Group Ltd to Deutsche Bank AG. The HK$382,500,000 transaction was led by Hong Kong corporate partner Roger Denny.

Drew & Napier LLC acted as counsel to the establishment and listing of the Investment Beverage Business Fund which was successfully listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd. The total size of fund is approximately €50 million at inception. The advisory team was led by Petrus Huang.

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP represented Merrill Lynch & Co as dealer manager in a fixed price all cash tender offer by Nine Dragons Paper (Holdings) Ltd for any and all of its outstanding US$283,750,000 7.875 percent senior notes due 2013. Approximately 58 percent of the notes outstanding were validly tendered and accepted for purchase as of the expiration of the offer. The team was led by corporate partners Joshua Wechsler and Victoria Lloyd.

Khaitan & Co acted as advisors to Krishnapatnam Port Co Ltd in the Investment by Strategic Port Investments KPC Ltd into Krishnapatnam. Haigreve Khaitan led the advisory team on the US$161 million transaction.

Khaitan & Co advised Torsteel Research Foundation in India and TRFI Investment Private Ltd as investment firms of the promoters of Orissa Sponge Iron & Steel. The US$ 82 million transaction was led by partners Haigreve Khaitanl and Rabindra Jhunjhunwala.

Kim & Chang advised Tomato Mutual Savings Bank in its purchase of the majority of the outstanding shares of Yangpoong Mutual Savings Bank. The ₩ 480 billion transaction was led by partners Jin-Seok Lim and Kwan-Young Kim.

Shearman & Sterling LLP represented IPIC on its purchase of a five year AUD$1.68 billion (US$1.1 billion) exchangeable bond issued by the Government of Papua New Guinea through its investment vehicle, the Independent Public Business Corp. Shanghai managing partner Andrew Ruff led the team advising on this transaction.

Stamford Law has advised China Sonangol International (S) Pte Ltd in its acquisition of a US$200 million participating interest in CEPU oil and gas field in Indonesia operated by PT Pertamina and Exxon Mobil. The transaction was led by partner Yap Wai Ming.

Vinson & Elkins LLP advised Century Bridge Capital on its US$19 million investment in a middle-income residential estate project in Xi’an, China. The total deal size was US$41.4 million. The team was led by partners David Blumental in Shanghai, Alan Bogdanow in Dallas and Jay Hebert in Washington, DC.

WongPartnership LLP acted for Allgreen Properties Ltd in its successful joint bid through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Jetson Investments Pte Ltd, together with subsidiaries of Kerry Properties Ltd, Shangri-la Asia Ltd and Kuok Brothers Sdn Bhd, for two sites in Tangshan City, Hebei Province, PRC. Partners Vivien Yui and Tay Liam Kheng led the transaction, valued at close to S$83 million.

WongPartnership LLP acted for CapitaLand Ltd in a 1-for-2 rights issue that will raise gross proceeds of approximately S$1.84 billion. The rights issue will be underwritten in full by the joint lead managers and joint underwriters, namely, DBS Bank Ltd, JP Morgan (SEA) Ltd and Merrill Lynch (Singapore) Pte Ltd. Partners Rachel Eng and Chong Hong Chiang led the transaction.

WongPartnership LLP acted for UOL Equity Investments Pte Ltd and UOL Group Ltd in the mandatory conditional cash offer for all the issued ordinary shares in the capital of United Industrial Corp Ltd for approximately S$1.156 billion. Managing partner Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, and partners Andrew Ang and Linda Wee led the transaction.

WongPartnership LLP acted for Yellow Pages (Singapore) Ltd in its acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Singapore Information Services Pte Ltd. Partners Ng Wai King and Vivien Yui led the transaction.

Zul Rafique and Partners advised Teratai Sanjung Holdings (M) Sdn Bhd in the US$750 million financing of the acquisition of 20 vessels under construction by Korean and Chinese shipyards from a Middle Eastern national shipowning company. The firm was involved in the structuring the acquisition and the financing as well as negotiating the transaction documents. The team was led by Nik Azli Abu Zahar and Fuzet Farid.

Zul Rafique and Partners advised a subsidiary of Tenaga Nasional Berhad in the development of its standard form spot contracts for the purchase of steam coal to be supplied to Malaysian coal-powered power plants. The team was led by Fuzet Farid.