Baker & McKenzie, Slaughter and May and Sullivan & Cromwell have scored roles in Yue Xiu Enterprise’s proposal to buy three quarters of Hong Kong’s Chong Hing Bank for about HK$11.64 billion ($1.5 billion).
The purchase of Chong Hing Bank by Guangzhou’s Yue Xiu will be the first takeover of a Hong Kong bank since the $4.7 billion deal for Wing Lung Bank by China Merchants Bank in June 2008, Reuters reported.
Baker & McKenzie is advising Yue Xiu on the transaction, headed by Hong Kong corporate partner Dorothea Koo, with support from Hong Kong partners Karen Man (Regulatory), Martin Tam (Insurance), Debbie Cheung (Property), Ruby Chan (IP), and Andrew Lockhart and Simon Leung (Banking & Finance).
Slaughter and May is advising Chong Hing Bank, while Sullivan & Cromwell is representing Nomura International (Hong Kong), the financial adviser to Yue Xiu.
Sullivan & Cromwell is also acting for for Nomura, Mega Bank, Bank of Taiwan and DBS Bank as the lead arrangers, and the Bank of Taiwan as the facility agent, for a $905 million bridge loan facility agreement to finance the purchase. Hong Kong partner Kay Ian Ng and Beijing-based partner Gwen Wong are leading the team on the M&A aspects of the deal, while Hong Kong partner William Chua is advising on the acquisition financing aspects.
In a statement, Yue Xie said the deal would help it “enhance its recognition in the market, and build its market position as an integrated financial service provider in the Pearl River Delta Region."
The deal would give Yue Xiu Group, which operates real estate, securities, and transportation infrastructure businesses, access to Chong Hing’s 53 branches.
Hong Kong’s Liu family owns about 60 percent of Chong Hing Bank, while Japan’s top lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc has a 9.7 percent stake.
Chong Hing Bank has also entered into a sale and lease back agreement for its head offices in the central business district for HK$2.23 billion, the statement added.
Kanishk Verghese is North Asia journalist at ALB. Follow us on Twitter: @ALB_Magazine.
