• June 2, 2013 |

    Sullivan and Simpson Thacher advise on £3.1bn Japan listing of Suntory unit

    Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Sullivan & Cromwell have scored lead roles on the $4.7bn (£3.1bn) initial public offering (IPO) of Suntory Holdings's non-alcoholic drinks arm, Suntory Beverage & Food (SB&F). The Japanese drinks giant received approval for the listing the subsidiary business last week, which it plans to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in July with 125.2m shares up for sale at Y3,800 (£24.72) each.

    1 minute read

  • May 24, 2013 |

    Eight US firms close China's largest-ever leveraged buyout

    Seven US firms have come out on top this week after completing China's biggest ever management buyout - the $3.7bn (£2.2bn) take private of Chinese advertising display company Focus Media Holding. The deal, which finally closed last night, received shareholder approval in April for a buyer consortium to acquire the remaining shares in the Nasdaq-listed company for $27.50 per American Depositary Share.

    1 minute read

  • May 21, 2013 |

    CC and Latham advise on Singapore's second biggest IPO this year

    Clifford Chance (CC) and Latham & Watkins have acted alongside Allen & Gledhill (A&G) and Wong Partnership on the Singapore listing of Asian Pay Television Trust (APTT), the Asian city-state's second biggest IPO this year. The investment vehicle, which will own Taiwan's third-largest cable TV operator, Taiwan Broadband Communications (TBC) Group, has priced its IPO at S$0.97 (£0.51) per unit, in the hopes of raising S$1.4bn (£734m) from the listing.

    1 minute read

  • May 17, 2013 |

    Eversheds recruits ex-Dewey partner from Morgan Lewis in Beijing launch double hire

    Eversheds has recruited Morgan Lewis energy partner Ingrid Zhu-Clark to head up its new Beijing office ahead of its formal opening next week (20 May). Ex-Dewey & LeBoeuf partner Zhu-Clark, who moved to Morgan Lewis following the collapse of the US firm last year, will be joined at the new Beijing base by Uria Menendez special counsel Jay Ze.

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  • May 15, 2013 |

    Raft of US firms score roles on AsiaInfo-Linkage take private

    A raft of US law firms have acted on the take private of AsiaInfo-Linkage, the latest Chinese company to de-list from a US bourse through a management buyout. The Chinese telecom software provider this week said it had accepted an offer to be acquired by a private investor consortium led by CITIC Capital Partners and AsiaInfo-Linkage co-founder Edward Tian, which values the company at $890m and would see it removed from Nasdaq.

    1 minute read

  • May 7, 2013 |

    Sidley Austin bulks up in Singapore with Morgan Lewis & Bockius partner

    Sidley Austin has taken further steps to ramp up its Singapore practice this week with the hire of Morgan Lewis Bockius M&A partner Gregory Salathé. The US firm was one of the four international outfits granted a Qualifying Foreign Law Practice (QFLP) licence in the Asian city-state in February this year, allowing it to advise on local law.

    1 minute read

  • May 2, 2013 |

    DLA partner promotions fall 40% as firm makes up two London lawyers

    DLA Piper has made up 34 new partners across its offices around the world - including two London lawyers - marking a fall of more than 40% on the total of 58 promoted at the firm last year. A total of four new partners have been made up in the UK, down from 12 last year, with this year's quartet including City duo Lee McGuirk (intellectual property) and Julie Romer (finance) along with Kirsty Allerton (finance) in Leeds and Rob McKie (corporate) in Sheffield.

    1 minute read

  • April 18, 2013 |

    The way to Westminster – making the transition from law to politics

    Law and politics may be a potent mix, but it is surprising just how many lawyers have successfully made the transition to elected representative. According to research by strategic communications consultancy the Madano Partnership, 12% of the elected new MPs at the 2010 general election have a legal background. Jonathan Reynolds, Labour MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, was formerly a corporate lawyer at Addleshaw Goddard in Manchester. He believes there are a lot of "natural synergies" between the two professions. "Lawyers are skilled at absorbing large quantities of data and they can get to the crux of the argument very quickly," he says. "They also know how to critically analyse complex data and documents. All these skills are required of MPs."

    1 minute read

  • April 16, 2013 |

    CC and A&O among international quartet on key Hong Kong IPO double

    Clifford Chance (CC) and Allen & Overy (A&O) have landed lead roles on two key Hong Kong initial public offerings (IPOs), working opposite US outfits Davis Polk & Wardwell and Kirkland & Ellis respectively. The planned listings of state-owned brokerage China Galaxy Securities Co and Sinopec Engineering (Group) Co, a wholly owned subsidiary of Asia's biggest oil refiner, Beijing-based Sinopec Group, are said to be the biggest IPOs in Hong Kong so far this year.

    1 minute read

  • April 14, 2013 |

    DLA and MoFo act on Sinopharm's Hong Kong share sale

    DLA Piper and Morrison & Foerster have scored lead roles on the HK$4bn (£335m) sale of new shares by China's biggest drug distributor Sinopharm. The deal marks the second H share placement for Sinopharm since its $1.1bn (£714m) IPO in 2009, with 165.7 million shares being sold to between six and 10 non-retail investors at HK$24.60 (£2.06) each.

    1 minute read