Commerce & Finance Law Offices has advised the buyer of telecommunication towers from China’s three top telecom operators in a deal worth almost $36 billion, with five other law firms acting for the sellers.
A Commerce & Finance team led by partner Wu Gang, with Stanley Wan assisting on antitrust matters, has represented the buyer China Tower Corp, a joint venture formed last year by China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom.
Under the terms of the deal, the three telcos will transfer towers and related assets, worth a total of $33.71 billion to China Tower Corp.
China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom are being represented by Zhong Lun, Haiwen, and Anjie respectively.
Two law firms are advising on the international law aspects. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is counseling both China Unicom and China Telecom, with partner Grace Huang acting for the former, and Teresa Ko and Philip Li advising the latter. Sullivan & Cromwell’s Hong Kong-based partner Kay Ng is advising China Mobile.
The efforts mark the country’s latest effort to overhaul the redundant state-controlled sector and reduce duplicate investments in the world’s largest mobile market.
China Mobile owns 38 percent of the joint venture, while China Unicom and China Telecom have 28.1 and 27.9 percent respectively. The remaining 6 percent is held by China Reform Corp., a state-owned assets holding company which focuses on corporate governance.
The deal is expected to close on Oct. 31.
