Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has acted for a consortium led by private equity firms Hillhouse Capital Group and CDH Investments on its take-private offer for Belle International, valuing the Hong Kong-listed shoe retailer at $6.8 billion. 

The consortium’s financial adviser was Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which turned to Kirkland & Ellis For advice. 

The offer comes after a similar transaction in January, when e-commerce giant Alibaba Group led a $2.6 billion bid to privatise Intime Retail Group, a Chinese department store operator. The move highlights the difficulties that traditional retailers face from competition with online rivals, reported Reuters.  

The K&E team was led by corporate partners Nicholas Norris and Derek Poon, as well as debt finance partners David Irvine and Daniel Lindsey.