Latham Advises Sinochem Hong Kong and China Jinmao on Placing of Existing Shares and Subscription of New Shares
Latham & Watkins advised Sinochem Hong Kong (Group) Company Limited (Sinochem Hong Kong) and China Jinmao Holdings Group Limited (China Jinmao) on a placing of existing shares and subscription of new shares, respectively, with a total transaction size of HK$9.49 billion (US$1.21 billion).
According to China Jinmao’s announcement on July 26, 2019, China Jinmao and the vendor (Sinochem Hong Kong) have entered into agreements with Ping An Life Insurance Company of China, Ltd. (through Ping An of China Asset Management (Hong Kong) Company Limited) (China Ping An) and New China Life Insurance Company Ltd. respectively, pursuant to which the vendor agreed to sell approx. 1.8 billion shares to them at the placing price of HK$4.8106 per share; and China Jinmao conditionally agreed to issue and the vendor conditionally agreed to subscribe for approximately 170 million shares at the subscription price of HK$4.8106 per share. China Jinmao intends to use the net proceeds from the subscription of approximately HK$814.6 million as general working capital of the group.
China Jinmao is the real estate development business platform of the Sinochem Group, one of China’s central state-owned enterprises approved by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, with the development and investment of real estate projects as one of its core businesses. Latham & Watkins has been providing legal services to China Jinmao since its 2009 listing in Hong Kong and has advised on a number of major corporate financing transactions, including rights issue, placement of shares, and bond issue.
Cathy Yeung, Global Vice Chair of Latham & Watkins’ Capital Markets Practice and Chair of the firm’s Greater China Practice, commented: “We are delighted to be advising our long-term client, China Jinmao, in completing this significant strategic transaction, which raised general working capital and introduced China Ping An as a shareholder to bring in cooperation opportunities. The successful completion of this transaction once again demonstrates Latham’s strength in capital markets in Greater China.”
The Latham & Watkins team was led by Hong Kong partner Cathy Yeung, together with Hong Kong partners Terris Tang and Simon Cooke, Hong Kong counsel Simon Hawkins, Hong Kong associates Bonnie Tse and Kenneth Hui, and Beijing associate Ning Li.