Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, led by firm partners Greg Miao, Peter Huang and Moshe Kushman, has advised Camelot Information Systems, Inc., a leading domestic Chinese provider of enterprise applicatino services and financial industry information technology services, in its US$150 million IPO of American depositary shares and listing on the New York Stock Exchange. The IPO is the largest U.S. IPO from China this year, as well as the biggest IPO of an outsourcing Chinese IT company ever. 

Shearman & Sterling LLP, led by firm partners Matthew Bersani and Russell Sacks, has been involved in a deal that represents the first U.S. IPO by an Indian company since 2006. The firm advised the underwriters, Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc, with regard to the NASDAQ listing and the US$70 million IPO of ordinary shares of MakeMyTrip Limited. MakeMyTrip Limited is a subsidiary of MakeMyTrip (India) Private Limited, which is India’s largest online travel agency. 

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Allens Arthur Robinson has acted for Rio Tinto in respect of its agreement with Chalco, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto’s largest shareholder, Chinalco, in relation to the Simandou iron ore project joint venture. The JV agreement will cover the development and operation of the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, including the planning, construction and management of the mine and associated rail and port infrastructure. Chalco will earn an effective 44.6 percent interest in the project, which is considered to be perhaps the best undeveloped iron ore prospect in the world, by sole funding expenditure of US$1.35 billion. Partner Scott Langford led the transaction, whilst Linklaters acted as UK and US advisers to Rio Tinto. Baker & McKenzie acted for Chinalco.

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King & Wood is helping China Everbright Bank prepare for its US$3bn IPO, after advising Agricultural Bank of China on its huge US$19.2bn IPO. Everbright recently received approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to raise approximately US$3bn on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The bank also plans to launch an IPO in Hong Kong (depending on market conditions) after its A-share listing.

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Hong Kong is presently the world’s largest IPO center. However, latest reports from Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) predict that China is well on its way towards leading the IPO market.

From 2000 to June 2010, companies in China’s mainland raised $188 billion in 495 deals on the leading bourses such as New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Nasdaq Stock Market, London Stock Exchange and Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Overall, there were 1,114 global deals raising $366 billion in the same period. Hong Kong Stock Exchange was ranked first with 409 deals raising $171.2 billion.

In the near future, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) predicts that domestic PRC companies are expected to raise US$55.7 billion on the Shanghai Stock Exchange this year, while in Hong Kong the figure is expected to be US$47.7 billion.

It can be deduced that the Chinese companies are recovering from the worldwide economic slump and have not been adversely affected by the Europe debt crisis. In terms of fund raising, more Chinese companies choose domestic capital markets as they have become increasingly attractive compared with foreign markets. Domestic companies have raised RMB213bn from 176 IPOs in the first half of the year, more than the RMB187bn raised in the whole of 2009. And according to PwC’s predictions, the total number of new listings on the country’s two bourses in Shanghai and Shenzhen may reach 300 in 2010, compared to 99 last year. Unlike other countries, China has high investor confidence due to increasing listing value and the strict regulations of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

Companies in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries constituted nearly 68 percent of the total funds raised in the past decade. London stock exchange, NYSE and NASDAQ were ranked second, third and fourth respectively in the report.

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson has represented China Liansu Group Holdings Limited, one of the largest manufacturers of plastic pipes and pipe fittings in China, in respect of its global offering of ordinary shares and the related listing of such shares on the HKSE. The global offering consisted of a Hong Kong public offering and a concurrent 144A/Reg S placement. JP Morgan and UBS acted as joint global coordinators for the transaction, which generated aggregate gross proceeds of approximately US$250 million (HK$1.95b). Hong Kong corporate partners Victoria Lloyd and Joshua Wechsler led the firm’s advisory team.

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Clifford Chance has advised Rabobank Group (Rabobank) in respect of its memorandum of understanding with Agricultural Bank of China. The aim of the MOU is to provide mutual assistance and sharing of experience in wholesale banking, rural finance, asset management and leasing, as well as exploring ways to unlock joint business opportunities. Under the MOU, Rabobank will provide technical support, training and expertise to Agricultural Bank of China to bolster its capabilities while Rabobank gains an opportunity to strengthen its position in China. Asia Head of M&A Roger Denny led the firm’s advisory team.

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Slaughter and May is advising Swire Pacific Limited (Swire Pacific) and Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Limited (HAECO) in respect of Swire Pacific’s unconditional purchase of approximately 15 percent of the issued shares in HAECO from Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (Cathay Pacific) for approximately HK$2.62 billion (US$336m). Upon completion of the transaction, Cathay Pacific will cease to hold any HAECO shares. HAECO will become a subsidiary of Swire Pacific, with its 60.96 percent stake in HAECO. As a result of the transaction, Swire Pacific will be required to make a mandatory unconditional general offer in cash for all other issued HAECO shares not already owned by Swire Pacific or its subsidiaries. Based on the offer price of HK$105 (US$13.48) and the number of HAECO shares issued as at 7 June 2010 (date the offer was announced), the entire issued share capital of HAECO is valued at approximately HK$17.5 billion (US$2.24b). Partners Richard Thornhill and Lisa Chung led the firm’s advisory team.

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According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), global foreign investment dropped 39% to around $1 trillion in 2009, against a high of $1.97 trillion in 2007.  During this time, China had foreign exchange reserves amounting to $2.4 trillion, accounting for 30.7 percent of the world total.  Amidst this backdrop, Chinese companies increased their overseas direct investments (ODI’s) and many of these investments were backed by the Chinese Government.

A particularly prominent ODI was Aluminum Corporation of China’s (Chinalco) acquistion of 12% of Rio Tinto in February 2008.  This purchase was featured in international headlines but its termination in 2009 inspired China to consider a broad overhaul of its rules governing how Chinese companies invest abroad.

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Clifford Chance has advised Barclays Capital, CIMB and HSBC as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners in respect of the Government of Malaysia’s US$1.25 billion 3.928 percent sukuk-al-ijara certificates, which were issued on 4 June 2010 and are due in 2015. The deal represents the lowest absolute yield achieved by an Asian sovereign over the past five years and is the largest global sovereign Islamic issuance to date. The sukuk certificates were issued outside of the US and to qualified institutional buyers within the US, and are to be listed on the HKSE, the Bursa Malaysia under an exempt regime, and the Labuan International Financial Exchange. The firm’s advisory team was led by partners Debashis Dey and Qudeer Latif in Dubai, while a separate team from the firm’s Hong Kong office, comprised of Anthony Oakes and Boon Teck Yeo, advised The Bank of New York Mellon in its capacity as delegate. Allen & Overy in Singapore acted for the Government of Malaysia as to English and US law, while the Malaysian office of Hisham, Sobri & Kadir advised 1Malaysia Sukuk Global Berhad as the issuer of the sukuk certificates and trustee on behalf of the sukuk certificate-holders. The Malaysian office of Zaid Ibrahim & Co advised the joint lead managers as to Malaysian law.

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Skadden has acted as US and Hong Kong counsel to Goldman Sachs and HSBC, as joint global coordinators and joint sponsors, in the US$197 million global offering of shares in NVC Lighting Holding Limited (NVC Lighting), the largest domestic lighting brand supplier and a leading supplier of energy-saving lighting products in China. The transaction involved a public offering in Hong Kong, an international private placement (including Rule 144A sales in the United States), and the listing of NVC Lighting’s shares on the HKSE. Dominic Tsun and Alec Tracy led the firm’s advisory team.

Clifford Chance has advised First Media Holdings Ltd – a new company established by funds advised by leading private equity firm Advantage Partners – in respect of its approximate HK$185 million (US$23.7m) investment in HKSE-listed Qin Jia Yuan Media Services Company Limited, one of the largest advertising companies with exclusive television advertising agency rights in China. The transaction, which is subject to satisfaction of a number of conditions, will be made through the issue of convertible bonds, warrants and ordinary shares. The deal is Advantage Partners’ first PIPE investment in Hong Kong. Partner Simon Cooke led the firm’s advisory team.

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