Asia Deal Digest, published periodically, is a compilation of some of the largest deals carried out in Asia and Australia.
Australia
• Allen & Overy corporate partners Aaron Kenavan in Sydney and Matthew Appleton and Richard Hough in London are advising Japanese brewer Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. on an $11.3 billion acquisition of the Australia business of Belgian beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV. They are supported by Sydney partner Peter McDonald on competition and regulatory issues, and London partner Jim Ford on intellectual property and information technology matters. The transaction is expected to close by the first quarter of next year, pending regulatory approvals in Australia. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer corporate partners Bruce Embley and Alison Smith in London are representing AB InBev. They are supported by tax partners Helen Lethaby and Murray Clayson, IP partner Giles Pratt, employment partner Alice Greenwell and finance partner Martin Hutchings, all in London; competition partners Helmut Bergmann in Berlin and Thomas Janssens in Brussels; and corporate partners Vincent Macq in Brussels and Omar Pringle in New York. Gilbert + Tobin Melbourne partners Neil Pathak and Craig Semple are serving as Australian counsel to AB InBev. They are supported by Melbourne partner Simon Lynch on financing matters and Sydney partners Deborah Johns on transactions matters, Elizabeth Avery and Gina Cass-Gottlieb on competition and regulatory issues, Muhunthan Kanagaratnam on tax matters, and Ben Fuller and Steven Mackay on real estate and projects matters. [Read Full Story]
Southeast Asia
• Slaughter and May Hong Kong partner Chris McGaffin is advising Hong Kong-based insurer FWD Group Financial Services Pte. Ltd. on a $3 billion acquisition of Thai lender Siam Commercial Bank Public Co. Ltd.’s life insurance business SCB Life Assurance Public Co. Ltd. The deal is expected to be completed in the second half of this year, subject to approvals by regulators and Siam Commercial Bank’s shareholders. Linklaters Hong Kong partner Matthew Middleditch is representing Siam Commercial Bank. [Read Full Story]
• Allen & Gledhill advised Singapore-based real estate investment trust manager KBS US Prime Property Management Pte. Ltd. on an $813 million initial public offering of Prime US REIT, a U.S.-focused REIT, in Singapore. Greenberg Traurig served as U.S. counsel to KBS, and DLA Piper advised on U.S. law for the offering. KBS plans to use the majority of the proceeds to acquire more properties. Clifford Chance Singapore partner Raymond Tong advised DBS Bank, Merrill Lynch, CICC, Credit Suisse, Maybank Kim Eng and OCBC as the joint bookrunners and underwriters. Shook Lin & Bok represented DBS as the trustee.
China/Hong Kong
• Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Tian Yuan Law Firm advised Shanghai-based Will Semiconductor Co. Ltd. on a $2.3 billion deal that saw the Chinese chipmaker acquire rivals Beijing OmniVision Technology Co Ltd. and Superpix Micro Technology Co. Ltd. Tian Yuan Beijing partners Zhou Shijun and Hua Xiulan led the team advising Will Semi on Chinese law; Beijing partner Yang Ke advised the company on competition matters in China. The deal was cleared by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States in April. White & Case also advised on U.S. regulatory issues.
