The big deals
East Asia: Bank bails out
Europe’s biggest bank is off-loading its general insurance businesses in Asia and Latin America in a round of deals worth more than $900 million that will see a range of law firms busy over the next few months.
HSBC and its Hong Kong subsidiary Hang Seng Bank are to flog their insurance arms in Hong Kong itself as well as in Singapore, Argentina and Mexico to French multi-national insurance company Axa and QBE in Australia.
Singapore-based newspaper The Business Times reports that the French are set to pay $494 million for HSBC’s general insurance business in the south-east Asian city state, as well as those in Hong Kong and Mexico. Meanwhile, Sydney-based QEB is paying another $420 million for HSBC’s businesses in Argentina, as well as for Hang Seng General Insurance.
According to The Lawyer newspaper, London-based global law firm giant Clifford Chance has bagged a large slice of the legal action around these deals. It reports that the firm’s Hong Kong-based head of corporate, Roger Denny, advised HSBC and Hang Seng on the sale. On the local Singapore law side, Selvan [name correct], which is the joint venture partner of US practice Duane Morris, advised.
Axa is reported to have instructed CC’s magic circle counterpart, Linklaters (with Hong Kong partner Robert Cleaver taking the lead role) as well as local Singaporean firm Rajah & Tann [name correct]. The Lawyer reports that London-based practice Kennedys is acting for QBE.
The deals are still awaiting regulatory approval, which, according to The Business Times, is expected to be granted in second half of this year. The paper also points out that the sales represent another step in HSBC’s on-going strategy of scaling down its operations in Asia.
Singapore: African expansion
Singapore plantation group GMG Global Ltd has taken on local law firm Rajah & Tann to advise on a $278 million purchase of approximately 35 per cent of Belgium agro-industrial company Siat [name correct].
The Siat group already has investments in Cote d’Ivorie, Ghana, Nigeria and Gabon, according to Asian Legal Business.
GMG Global is a subsidiary company of Chinese conglomerate Sinochem International Corporation, which will look to use Siat’s African connections as a way into the rapidly expanding rubber industry in the area, suggests the report.
Rajah & Tann’s head of banking and finance practice group and corporate services group, Abdul Jabbar [subs – name correct], will be the lead lawyer on the deal.
Indonesia: ready for take off
London-based international law firm Stephenson Harwood advised Indonesian airline Wings Air on a $610 million deal to purchase 27 ATR 72-600 aircraft, making the it the world’s largest ATR aircraft operator.
Legal Week newspaper reports that Paul Ng, an aviation expert from Stephenson Harwood’s Singapore office, advised Wings on the acquisition. French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR was advised by its in-house legal team.
Mr Ng told the newspaper’s website: ‘This deal represents a shift in the aviation industry. Manufacturers now look to Asia – and Southeast Asia in particular – for new clients. The future of new aircraft sales seems to be in this region and specifically Indonesia, and Wings is a very good example of this.’
France: driving ambition
Automotive giants General Motors has agreed a reported $335 million deal to acquire 7 per cent of PSA Peugeot Citroën, with three firms providing advice.
According to a report on US website AmLaw Daily, Ango-German magic circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised the Motown icons, while leading French independent law firm Bredin Prat [name correct] acted as Peugeot’s primary advisor. Another magic circle player, Linklaters, also provided advice to the French motor manufactures from its Paris office.
The deal will see the two car companies work together on the development and manufacture of new vehicles and also the purchasing of parts.
GM’s investment sees it become the second-largest shareholder in the French company, with only Paris-based Peugeot holding a bigger share.
The two companies expect that the increased focus on co-operation will cut costs by around $2 billion within five years.
Australia: extracting value
UK international law firm Ashurst has won a leading role for state-owned China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group’s £1.5 billion bid for Australian mining company Extract Resources.
A report in Legal Week suggests that Ashurst will serve as both US and UK counsel to CGNPC affiliate Taurus Mineral in their bid for the Perth-based company, who own the world’s fourth-largest uranium deposit.
Australian firm Minter Ellison is also providing advice to Hong Kong-based Taurus, while Extract has recruited fellow Aussie firm, Sydney’s Clayton Utz, with corporate partners Mark Paganin [name correct] and Matthew Johnson leading the team.
The report points out that the bid for Extract was required under Australian securities law after CGNCP and the China-Africa Development Fund took control of Extract's largest shareholder, London-based Kalahari Minerals, through a separate £624m deal earlier this year.
London: bidding war
Two London-based practices have joined the melee of law firms bagging work from the on-going attempts finally to sell banking software business Misys [name correct] after some six years on the block.
Ango-German magic circle player Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and UK top-10 firm Norton Rose have become the latest law firms to advise on the wrangling. According to The Lawyer newspaper, Freshfields wades into battle on behalf of longstanding client CVC Capital Partners. CVC has compiled a joint bid for Misys with ValueAct Capital Partners, which is being advised by Norton Rose.
It is the third bid in recent weeks in this saga, following Vista Equity Partners’ £1.2 billion offer for Misys, which has just agreed a merger deal with Swiss rival Temenos [name correct].
Already on the heavyweight list of firms billing on this matter are London-based global firms Allen & Overy and Herbert Smith, US practice Kirkland & Ellis and Switzerland-based Homburger.
East Asia: Bank bails out
Europe’s biggest bank is off-loading its general insurance businesses in Asia and Latin America in a round of deals worth more than $900 million that will see a range of law firms busy over the next few months.
HSBC and its Hong Kong subsidiary Hang Seng Bank are to flog their insurance arms in Hong Kong itself as well as in Singapore, Argentina and Mexico to French multi-national insurance company Axa and QBE in Australia.
Singapore-based newspaper The Business Times reports that the French are set to pay $494 million for HSBC’s general insurance business in the south-east Asian city state, as well as those in Hong Kong and Mexico. Meanwhile, Sydney-based QEB is paying another $420 million for HSBC’s businesses in Argentina, as well as for Hang Seng General Insurance.
According to The Lawyer newspaper, London-based global law firm giant Clifford Chance has bagged a large slice of the legal action around these deals. It reports that the firm’s Hong Kong-based head of corporate, Roger Denny, advised HSBC and Hang Seng on the sale. On the local Singapore law side, Selvan [name correct], which is the joint venture partner of US practice Duane Morris, advised.
Axa is reported to have instructed CC’s magic circle counterpart, Linklaters (with Hong Kong partner Robert Cleaver taking the lead role) as well as local Singaporean firm Rajah & Tann [name correct]. The Lawyer reports that London-based practice Kennedys is acting for QBE.
The deals are still awaiting regulatory approval, which, according to The Business Times, is expected to be granted in second half of this year. The paper also points out that the sales represent another step in HSBC’s on-going strategy of scaling down its operations in Asia.
Singapore: African expansion
Singapore plantation group GMG Global Ltd has taken on local law firm Rajah & Tann to advise on a $278 million purchase of approximately 35 per cent of Belgium agro-industrial company Siat [name correct].
The Siat group already has investments in Cote d’Ivorie, Ghana, Nigeria and Gabon, according to Asian Legal Business.
GMG Global is a subsidiary company of Chinese conglomerate Sinochem International Corporation, which will look to use Siat’s African connections as a way into the rapidly expanding rubber industry in the area, suggests the report.
Rajah & Tann’s head of banking and finance practice group and corporate services group, Abdul Jabbar [subs – name correct], will be the lead lawyer on the deal.
Indonesia: ready for take off
London-based international law firm Stephenson Harwood advised Indonesian airline Wings Air on a $610 million deal to purchase 27 ATR 72-600 aircraft, making the it the world’s largest ATR aircraft operator.
Legal Week newspaper reports that Paul Ng, an aviation expert from Stephenson Harwood’s Singapore office, advised Wings on the acquisition. French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR was advised by its in-house legal team.
Mr Ng told the newspaper’s website: ‘This deal represents a shift in the aviation industry. Manufacturers now look to Asia – and Southeast Asia in particular – for new clients. The future of new aircraft sales seems to be in this region and specifically Indonesia, and Wings is a very good example of this.’
France: driving ambition
Automotive giants General Motors has agreed a reported $335 million deal to acquire 7 per cent of PSA Peugeot Citroën, with three firms providing advice.
According to a report on US website AmLaw Daily, Ango-German magic circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised the Motown icons, while leading French independent law firm Bredin Prat [name correct] acted as Peugeot’s primary advisor. Another magic circle player, Linklaters, also provided advice to the French motor manufactures from its Paris office.
The deal will see the two car companies work together on the development and manufacture of new vehicles and also the purchasing of parts.
GM’s investment sees it become the second-largest shareholder in the French company, with only Paris-based Peugeot holding a bigger share.
The two companies expect that the increased focus on co-operation will cut costs by around $2 billion within five years.
Australia: extracting value
UK international law firm Ashurst has won a leading role for state-owned China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group’s £1.5 billion bid for Australian mining company Extract Resources.
A report in Legal Week suggests that Ashurst will serve as both US and UK counsel to CGNPC affiliate Taurus Mineral in their bid for the Perth-based company, who own the world’s fourth-largest uranium deposit.
Australian firm Minter Ellison is also providing advice to Hong Kong-based Taurus, while Extract has recruited fellow Aussie firm, Sydney’s Clayton Utz, with corporate partners Mark Paganin [name correct] and Matthew Johnson leading the team.
The report points out that the bid for Extract was required under Australian securities law after CGNCP and the China-Africa Development Fund took control of Extract's largest shareholder, London-based Kalahari Minerals, through a separate £624m deal earlier this year.
London: bidding war
Two London-based practices have joined the melee of law firms bagging work from the on-going attempts finally to sell banking software business Misys [name correct] after some six years on the block.
Ango-German magic circle player Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and UK top-10 firm Norton Rose have become the latest law firms to advise on the wrangling. According to The Lawyer newspaper, Freshfields wades into battle on behalf of longstanding client CVC Capital Partners. CVC has compiled a joint bid for Misys with ValueAct Capital Partners, which is being advised by Norton Rose.
It is the third bid in recent weeks in this saga, following Vista Equity Partners’ £1.2 billion offer for Misys, which has just agreed a merger deal with Swiss rival Temenos [name correct].
Already on the heavyweight list of firms billing on this matter are London-based global firms Allen & Overy and Herbert Smith, US practice Kirkland & Ellis and Switzerland-based Homburger.
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