As China's middle class continues to grow, the demand for luxury cars will keep increasing. The shift in consumer trends has triggered many domestic companies in the robust auto sector to expand globally.

Zhongsheng, a leading national car dealer group focuses on luxury and mid-to-high end automobile, has recently completed its global offering in Hong Kong, raising US$370m. The auto dealer appointed King & Wood, Freshfields and Conyers Dill & Pearman as its PRC, Hong Kong and Cayman Island legal advisors respectively for the IPO.

King & Wood advised the issuer on all aspects of its restructuring and listing with respect to PRC law. It also provided responses on all PRC law-related questions to the Hong Kong regulators, resolving all legal issues for its client.

The Freshfields team was led by its Beijing managing partner Chris Wong and US partner Calvin Lai in Hong Kong. The same team was involved in the issuer's pre-IPO investment by General Atlantic.

Morgan Stanley, UBS and BOCI Asia were the joint bookrunners of the IPO. They were presented by Jingtian & Gongcheng and Clifford Chance.

"This is the first PRC owned and operated car distributor to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and it will be closely followed by other peers in the field," said partner Amy Lo, who led the Clifford Chance team (one counsel and five associates).

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