Jun He, Freshfields and Skadden have helped NVC Lighting launch its US$196m IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE) despite volatile market conditions. “We got the deal out during very difficult market conditions,” said Chris Wong, Freshfields’ Beijing managing partner.

Stock markets around Asia have been gloomy recently due to mounting fears over Europe’s debt crisis. The tough market has dampened several launches, including French skincare products retailer L’occitane’s US$708m IPO (advised by Zhong Lun, Freshfields, Arendt & Medernach and Linklaters).

NVC, however, sailed through the Hong Kong IPO and received enough interest to trigger a clawback.

Despite the slowdown, Wong remains optimistic about what is to come. “There is a very strong pipeline in the market, even stronger than 2007 and early 2008,” he said. “Unlike the last few years when deals were concentrated on a small number of sectors, there is currently a mixture of state-owned companies and privately owned companies, with a very diverse range of industry sectors.”

Over the past few months, companies from different industry sectors – China Hydroelectric Corporation (new energy) , Lansen Pharma (pharmaceutical), Zhongsheng Group (automobile distributor) – have all listed on the HKSE.

*NVC Lighting is based in Guangdong. It designs, develops, produces, markets and sells a variety of lighting products, with a strong focus on energy-saving products.

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