Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is advising Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi on its upcoming initial public offering in Hong Kong, while Clifford Chance is counselling the joint sponsors CLSA, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
Chinese firms JunHe and Jingtian & Gongcheng are acting as legal advisors to Xiaomi and the joint sponsors, respectively, on PRC law. Offshore firm Maples and Calder is also involved in the deal, advising the issuer on Cayman Islands law.
The IPO is expected to raise about $10 billion, making it the largest listing globally since Alibaba’s $25 billion New York listing in 2014. Xiaomi could list as early as the end of June, reported Reuters citing people close to the process who requested anonymity as the details were not yet public.
The Chinese smartphone maker said it would have a weighted voting rights (WVR) structure, or dual-class shares, and its listing will be the first in the city under new rules designed to attract tech listings, a major win for the bourse as competition heats up between Hong Kong, New York and the Chinese mainland.
Xiaomi is also likely to be among the first Chinese tech firms seeking a secondary listing in China, using the planned depositary receipts route, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The Skadden team is led by partners Julie Gao and Christopher Betts, while the Clifford Chance team includes partners Tim Wang, Amy Lo, Jean Thio and Liu Fang.
