Deals – 25 September 2008

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP acted for AllianceBernstein LP on the disposal of its stake in China Netcom Group Corp (Hong Kong) Ltd to Telefonica Internacional SAU. The transaction was led by head of corporate Asia, Robert Ashworth.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP acted for China Huiyuan Juice, Zhu Xinli, Danone and Warburg Pincus as the majority shareholders on the proposed US$2.5 billion public takeover by Coca Cola. This is the largest ever takeover by a foreign firm of a mainland company. The transaction was led by head of corporate Asia, Robert Ashworth and Beijing-based partners, Chris Wong and Alex Potter.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP has acted as legal counsel to La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild (LCFR) and its controlling shareholder, Compagnie Financière Saint Honoré (CFSH) in connection with the agreement concerning the activities of private banking and asset management carried out by Bank of China (BOC) and LCFR in their respective markets and signed by LCFR and CFSH with BOC. The team acting on this matter was led by corporate partners Patrick Bonvarlet and David Revcolevschi (Paris) and included partners Teresa Ko (corporate, Hong Kong) and Alex Potter (competition, Beijing).

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP advised PetroChina on its acquisition of a 51.89 percent stake in China National Petroleum Corp for a total of US$972 million. The team was led by Hong Kong-based partner Teresa Ko.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP represented Sky Gain Holdings Ltd (HK) in its reverse takeover of Dynasty Gaming Inc (Canada), whereby Dynasty agreed to acquire all of the issued and outstanding securities of Silva Ford Technology Ltd and BaiYou Digital Technology Co Ltd, two wholly-owned subsidiaries of Sky Gain, in exchange for Sky Gain receiving Dynasty shares with a value of up to $105 million. The transaction was led by Hong Kong-based partner Calvin Lai.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP advised Zhuzhou CSR Times Electric, a PRC company listed in Hong Kong, on its proposed acquisition of a 75 percent stake in Dynex Power Inc, a Canadian company listed on TSX-V. The transaction was led by Shanghai-based partner Alan Wang.

JSM has advised Li & Fung Ltd, the export trading arm of Li & Fung Group, in the subscription of 168 million shares by Dunearn Investments (Mauritius) Pte Ltd. Lead partner in the transaction was Jeckle Chiu.

JSM has advised Dah Chong Hong Holdings Ltd on the acquisition of half of the stakes in a group of companies engaging in 4S business (vehicles sales, spare parts, maintenance services and customer survey services) in respect of the FAW Toyota and Lexus brands in the greater Guangzhou area, PRC, for a consideration of approximately HK$143 million. Lead partner in the transaction was Jeckle Chiu.

Kim & Company recently represented Korea Development Bank (KDB) in a ₩830,000 million project financing deal for the construction of Gangnam City Belt Highway in Seoul, Korea. This is a BTO type of private investment project where KDB participated as lead arranger and the largest senior lender. Advisory work for project was led by partners Soo Chang Kim and Jonathan Hackcheon Hwang.

King & Wood represented Credit Suisse in New City Corp’s US$120 Million refinancing of a 2.1 million square metre. facility in Shanghai. Jack Wang, partner in the Shanghai office, led the transaction.

Nishith Desai Associates acted as legal counsel to MGM Networks Inc in connection with their five-year distribution deal with Star Den Media Services to expand broadcasting and distribution of the MGM Channel in India.

Nishith Desai Associates acted as legal counsel to Reliance Big Entertainment in their acquisition of a controlling stake in US based Willow TV, a leading portal for live Internet streaming of major global cricket events.

Rajah & Tann LP acted as counsel to The Lion Power Consortium (comprising Marubeni Corp, GDF SUEZ SA, The Kansai Electric Power Co Inc, Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc and Japan Bank for International Cooperation) in its winning bid of Temasek’s Senoko Power Ltd for S$3.65 billion. Lion Power Consortium will assume S$323 million of net debt of Senoko Power. Key partners to the transaction included: Soh Lip San; Kala Anandarajah; Rajesh Sreenivasan; Soon Choo Hock; Regina Liew Mei Yen; and Tracy-Anne Ang.

Shook Lin & Bok Kuala Lumpur advised the lender, ABN AMRO, on the financing side of the Actis LLP acquisition of Teknicast Sdn Bhd in relation to Malaysian laws.

The Singapore office of Watson, Farley & Williams LLP acted for Citibank NA as lease arranger and for a syndicate of international banks led by Mega International Commercial Bank Co Ltd as agent and loan arranger in relation to the US$286,000,000 sale and leaseback of four 6,000 TEU containerships by Wan Hai Lines. The team was led by partner Chris Lowe.

White & Case has advised long-term client, Chubu Electric Power Co Inc on its acquisition from Mitsui & Co Ltd of a five percent equity interest in the Ras Laffan C Independent Water and Power Project in Qatar. The team working on the transactions included partners Mark Goodrich, Hendrik Gordenker, and Toshio Dokei (advising on Japanese law matters).

WongPartnership LLP acted as Singapore counsel to Norske Skog PanAsia Co Pte Ltd in its sale of all the shares in Norkse Skog Korea Co Ltd to Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia and Shinan Private Equity for a consideration of 4.2 billion Norwegian krone. The transaction was led by partner Andrew Ang.

WongPartnership LLP advised Yellow Pages (Singapore) Ltd on the acquisition of 350,000 ordinary shares in the issued share capital of Global Magazines Pte Ltd representing 100 percent of its total issued share capital. Upon completion of the acquisition, Global Magazines Pte Ltd will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yellow Pages (Singapore) Ltd. The transaction was led by partner Vivien Yui.

WongPartnership LLP acted for CapitaLand China Holdings Pte Ltd as sponsor and manager of CapitaLand China Development Fund II, which raised US$237 million for investment in residential development opportunities in the PRC. The transaction was led by partner Low Kah Keong.