Squire Patton Boggs in Singapore has announced that it has advised on a brace of transactions; advising Fairfax Asia Limited on the US$160 million acquisition of an 80% stake in Indonesian insurer, PT Asuransi Multi Artha Guna Tbk (AMAG) from the Panin Group, and advising on the US$60 million IPO by Quess Corp, the most oversubscribed IPO in its subscription category in Indian history.
A wholly-owned subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, Fairfax Asia is a holding company which is engaged in property and casualty insurance, as well as reinsurance and investment management. AMAG is one of the leading general insurers in Indonesia.
On closing, AMAG will integrate with PT Fairfax Insurance Indonesia and become part of the Fairfax Asia group. As part of this transaction, AMAG will also enter into a long-term general insurance bancassurance partnership with PT Bank Pan Indonesia Tbk (Panin Bank), the 7th largest bank by total assets in Indonesia. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals, and is expected to close by the end of the fourth quarter of 2016.
Squire Patton Boggs and Suhardiman Kardono Swadiri Hazwar (SKSH) provided Indonesian legal advice to Fairfax Asia, with Goldman Sachs the company’s transaction advisor. Barclays represented Panin Group, with legal advice provided by Herbert Smith Freehills, and its affiliate HBT in Indonesia.
Squire Patton Boggs has also advised Axis Capital, ICICI Securities, IIFL Holdings and YES Securities on the US$60 million IPO of Quess Corp. The Fairfax group, through Thomas Cook India Limited, is the majority shareholder in Quess Corp.
Quess Corp is India’s largest integrated business services provider, offering services which include recruitment, temporary staffing, technology staffing, information technology products and solutions. The company has a pan-India presence with 47 offices across 26 cities, as well as operations in North America, the Middle East and South East Asia.
The US$60 million IPO received a US$8.8 billion subscription, and was oversubscribed more than 147 times. The stock price rose by 58.68% on the listing date, the largest listing gain of any company in 9 years.
J. Sagar Associates advised the underwriters on Indian law issues, while Quess Corp was advised by Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas.
“We are very pleased to advise Fairfax and the investment banks on these transactions, which are of great strategic importance to Fairfax, particularly as the group strengthens its presence in Indonesia and India,” commented corporate partner Biswajit Chatterjee, who led the transactions.
Mr. Chatterjee was assisted on both transactions by senior associates Salil Rajadhyaksha and Kaustubh George, with associates Isha Malhotra and Gowri Reghuvaran also advising on the Quess Corp IPO.
Stephen Chelberg, Asia Pacific Chair of the Global Corporate Practice at Squire Patton Boggs, said: “These transactions represent very credible wins for our Corporate Practice in India and South East Asia, particularly in Indonesia. Working with strategic clients such as Fairfax, and investment banks such as Goldman Sachs and Barclays, is a measure of the strength of our team’s reputation in this region.”
The firm’s capital markets practice in Singapore completed more than 35 Rule 144A and Regulation S securities offerings of more than US$4 billion in 2015, including the first Indian IPO by a small finance bank (US$380 million Equitas IPO; largest IPO in India in 2016); the first IPO by an e-commerce company (Infibeam); the first IPO of a dairy company (Prabhat), and the proposed first IPO of a real estate company in 5 years (Paranjape). In 2015 and 2016, the team also advised on some of the most subscribed IPOs in Indian stock market history, Quess Corp (oversubscribed 147 times) and VRL Logistics (oversubscribed 74 times). The India-focused team is highly ranked by various international directories including Chambers Global, IFLR and The Legal 500 Asia Pacific. The team has been ranked as a “Significant Player” by India Business Law Journal; and was awarded “International Capital Markets Law Firm of the Year 2015–2016” by Legal Era Awards.
