Linklaters

In China, our integrated China team is made up of nearly 200 lawyers, half of whom speak Chinese, working across three major business centres: Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Each of our lawyers has his or her own specialisation in M&A and strategic investment both in and out of China, competition and regulatory, private equity, banking and projects, capital markets and dispute resolution.

Our China team offers a compelling combination of technical skills, market expertise, cultural awareness, linguistic capabilities and commercial judgement.

China’s legal framework remains intertwined with various aspects of the social and political environment. This is evident in the speculation around the recent establishment of a formal national security review board to monitor foreign investment in sensitive sectors. It is this framework that requires careful navigation in order to complete a transaction in China, and this is where we can help. We have worked on more ‘firsts’ in this market than any other firm –this, above all else, has given us considerable insight in to China’s legal framework

Innovation is a key part of what we do and our strong track record in product development is demonstrated by a number of landmark ‘firsts’ in China including:

• the first ever RMB bond financing - Hopewell Highway Infrastructure Limited’s RMB bond issue
• the first PRC offering of RMB-denominated debt securities outside Mainland China –advising Bank of China and Bank of Communications on the RMB 6 billion RMB bond issue by The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China, acting through its Ministry of Finance
• the first A share listed PRC bank to list outside China –China Merchants Bank
• the first PRC commercial bank to list in Hong Kong –Bank of Communications IPO
• the first pre-IPO convertible bond –Greentown China
•  the first concurrent A share/H share rights issue –the US$2.7 billion issue by Angang Steel
• the first acquisition of shares in a PRC listed bank by a foreign bank −Citibank on the acquisition of a strategic interest in Shanghai Pudong Development Bank
• the first foreign bank investment in a new Chinese bank since 1949 −Standard Chartered Bank on its US$123 million investment in the new China Bohai Bank Ltd

Recent significant transactions include advising:

• Crédit Suisse (Hong Kong) Limited on Ping An Insurance (Group)’s acquisition of Shenzhen Development Bank -one of the largest banking restructuring transactions in mainland China
• China Mobile on its acquisition of an interest in Shanghai Pudong Development Bank
• sanofi-aventis on its acquisition of a controlling stake in a greenfield joint venture with Minsheng Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. in relation to the OTC vitamin and mineral supplements business
• Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited on its acquisition of 80% of each of Standard Bank Argentina S.A
• COFCO (Hong Kong) Limited and HOPU Investment Management Co., Ltd., on the HK$6.1 billion subscription of new shares and acquisition of existing shares in China Mengniu Dairy Company Limited, a Hong Kong listed company
• Baha Mar Resorts Ltd, the developer of what will become the largest hotel and casino resort in the Caribbean, on a US$2.5bn limited recourse project financing to be provided by ChinaExim where the construction contractor is China State Construction
• sanofi-aventis on Competition requirements in relation to its joint venture with Minsheng in China