International law firm Ashurst has represented Cabot China, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cabot Corporation (NYSE:CBT), to form a joint venture with Inner Mongolia Hengyecheng Silicone Co. Ltd (HYC), to manufacture fumed silica in China.

The joint venture will invest approximately US$60 million to build a fumed silica manufacturing facility to be located in Wuhai, China, which will have a manufacturing capacity of 8,000 metric tons of fumed silica per year.  Cabot will hold an 80 percent share in the joint venture and HYC will own the remaining 20 percent.

Michael Sheng, Shanghai Office Managing Partner and Head of the firm's Mainland China Corporate/M&A practice, commented: "We are delighted to have represented Cabot in entering into this strategic partnership with HYC.  This is a complex transaction which requires extensive negotiations of a number of industry-specific JV arrangements.  We are very pleased to have assisted Cabot in reaching an agreement with HYC on all of these arrangements under a very tight timeframe."

Tianfu Liu, Cabot's Asia General Counsel, commented: "The JV with HYC is a key to further strengthen our market leadership position for fumed silica and it also plays a significant role in driving our growth in China.  Ashurst has demonstrated its ability to advise on complex transactions and work under pressure to get things done under tight deadlines."

The Ashurst team was led by Michael Sheng, supported by Tian Zhou (Associate) and Frank Zhuang (Associate).