近日,贝恩资本以31.6亿美元对价完成了对中国数据中心运营商——秦淮数据集团的私有化收购,金杜律师事务所、海问律师事务所、美国吉布森律师事务所、威嘉律师事务所、凯易国际律师事务所、康德明律师事务所,以及迈普达律师事务所参与到了交易之中。
据悉,贝恩资本此前已经是秦淮数据最大的投资者,此次将以现金方式收购公司其余股份,此笔交易通过贝恩的两家亚洲子公司BCPE Chivalry Bidco和BCPE Chivalry Merger完成。
贝恩在2019年收购了秦淮数据,并在一年后将其运作上市。贝恩表述,秦淮数据取得了不俗的市场表现,2023年第一季度收入接近2亿美元。
“我们相信,对秦淮数据进行私有化能够最好地为现有持股者提供具有吸引力的回报,也能保障公司的长期成功。”贝恩资本合伙人兼亚洲私募股权联席主管竺稼在一份声明中说。
作为公司独立董事组成的特别委员会的代表,秦淮数据的董事会在财务顾问花旗集团亚洲公司的协助下完成了交易条款协商及最后批准。
特别委员会由吉布森、海问、迈普达提供服务。花旗集团的法律顾问是威嘉。
贝恩的法律顾问为凯易、金杜、康德明。其中凯易团队由香港合伙人李光、Pierre-Luc Arsenault 、陆旻,以及纽约合伙人Sarkis Jebejian牵头;
金杜团队的负责人为国际合伙人黄玲、北京办公室合伙人宁宣凤、韩粤、吴涵和顾问张若寒,以及上海办公室合伙人周昕、徐春龙。
Gibson Dunn, Kirkland lead on $3.16 bln Chindata take-private deal
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Kirkland & Ellis, King & Wood Mallesons, Conyers Dill & Pearman, Maples and Calder and Haiwen & Partners have acted on Bain Capital’s $3.16 billion deal to take Chinese data centre operator Chindata Group private.
Bain Capital, already the largest investor in Chindata, has finalised an all-cash deal to buy out the remaining shareholding in the company through its Asian subsidiaries, BCPE Chivalry Bidco and BCPE Chivalry Merger.
Bain took Chindata public in 2020 after acquiring it a year earlier. The data centre operator has performed well, making close to $200 million in revenue in Q1 of 2023, Bain said.
“We believe taking Chindata Group private is the best way to provide attractive returns to existing public shareholders and secure the long-term success of the company,” Jonathan Zhu, partner and co-head of Asia private equity for Bain Capital, said in a statement.
The company's board of directors, acting upon the unanimous recommendation of a committee of independent directors (Special Committee), negotiated terms and approved the deal with the assistance of its independent financial advisor, Citigroup Global Markets Asia.
Gibson Dunn advised the Special Committee, which was also advised by Haiwen & Partners on PRC law and by Maples and Calder on Cayman Islands regulations. Citigroup was advised by Weil.
The Bain parties were advised by a Kirkland & Ellis team led by transnational partners Gary Li, Sarkis Jebejian, Pierre-Luc Arsenault and Min Lu. The team also included debt finance partner Jacqueline Zheng, capital markets partners Joshua Korff, Michael Kim, Ann Becchina and Louis Rabinowitz, tax partner Mike Carew, litigation partners Matthew Solum and Paul Quinn, and government and internal investigations partners Cori Lable and Yue Qiu.
KWM and Conyers Dill acted as Bain’s advisors on legal issues in the PRC and the Cayman Islands respectively.