Hong Kong – Paul Hastings, a leading global law firm, announced today that it represented Zhongyuan Bank, the largest city commercial bank in Henan province, China, as the issuer in its US$1.04 billion global offering and listing of H-Shares on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. CITIC CLSA, JP Morgan, CCB International and CMB International acted as the joint sponsors of the share offer.

Zhongyuan Bank intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to strengthen its capital base to support the ongoing growth of its business.

Clifford Chance advised Bank of China Group Investment Limited (BOCGI) as a member of a consortium (Consortium) on the proposed acquisition of all shares in, and the privatisation of, the Singapore Exchange-listed Global Logistic Properties Limited (GLP). GLP is Asia's biggest, and one of the world's largest warehouse operator and real estate fund managers. The deal was conducted by way of a scheme of arrangement in compliance with the Singapore Code on Take-overs and Mergers.

This transaction comes shortly after the team worked alongside FinnCap Ltd on the successful IPO of Velocity Composites plc in May. The net proceeds will be used to support Altitude's Channl.com ecommerce platform, which provides sites for personalised product distributors and their customers, in exchange for a percentage of supplier revenue. In particular it will fund the UK launch of the platform, via the purchase of assets of AdProducts.com Ltd for £800,000.

Lisa Stavropoulos in the Manchester Corporate team advised FinnCap Ltd

Gleiss Lutz advised BAWAG P.S.K., one of the largest Austrian banks, on its acquisition of all shares in Südwestbank AG. The transaction is expected to close in 2017 and is subject to the customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. The parties have agreed to keep the purchase price and the details of the agreement confidential.

Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised on four Italian deals to finance Atlantia, C.M.C. di Ravenna, Intesa Sanpaolo and Kedrion with a total value of more than €4 billion.

ATLANTIA'S €1 BILLION NOTES ISSUANCE

Simpson Thacher, acting as sole international counsel, represented Société Générale, as arranger and dealer, and BNP Paribas, Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, ING Bank N.V., Singapore Branch, J.P.

Gide advised the IFC (International Finance Corporation, World Bank group) on its investment in the share capital of Sigfox, a global communications services provider for the Internet of Things (IoT) for an aggregate amount of EUR 15 million (of which EUR 5 million has been contributed to date).

The Gide team comprised partner Jean-Gabriel Flandrois, and associate Hugo Nocerino.

Skadden Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP advised Sigfox.

Shearman & Sterling advised EFG Hermes UAE Limited (EFG Hermes), a wholly owned subsidiary of EFG Hermes Holding S.A.E, on its agreements to acquire a 50 percent stake in Frontier Investment Management (FIM).  Established in 2008, FIM has grown over the past few years to become one of the Middle East’s leading asset managers, with $1.6 billion of Assets under Management (AUM). The remaining 50 percent of FIM will continue to be held by FIM’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer.

Credit Suisse AG acted as joint-lead manager together with BNP Paribas (Suisse) SA. The bonds will be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.

Homburger acted as counsel to Credit Suisse AG. The Homburger team consisted of partner Jürg Frick and counsel Eduard De Zordi (both Financial Services).

Mayer Brown represented lead managers Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley on the issuance of EUR 300,000,000 callable and resettable subordinated notes of Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG. The notes have been issued under the EUR 50 billion debt issuance program of Deutsche Pfandbriefbank.

The so-called Tier 2 notes are due on 28 June 2027 and provide for an issuer call right. Initially, the rate of interest is set at 2.875 per cent and will be reset based on a swap rate on a reset date specified in the terms and conditions of the notes.