Sullivan & Cromwell client Bank of China has every reason to be grateful to its US counsel, with the Wall Street firm guiding the second largest commercial bank in China through two strategic investment agreements in August worth US$6.2bn.

On 31 August, Bank of China entered into a strategic investment agreement with Asia Financial Holdings - a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore-based investment holding company Temasek Holdings - pursuant to which AFH will acquire a 10% equity interest in Bank of China for a total consideration of US$3.1bn.

The core Sullcrom team advising Bank of China consisted of Chun Wei, William Chua, Robert Chu, Weiheng Chen, Sami Farhad and Henry Li in Hong Kong and Liu Fang in Beijing.

Shanghai-based partner Ting Ting Tan led the Clifford Chance team advising Temasek on the acquisition, which included a commitment to subscribe for a further US$500m shares at IPO.

The strategic investment by AFH - which is subject to, among other things, the receipt of relevant government and other regulatory approvals - follows the signing of the US$3.1bn strategic investment agreement with The Royal Bank of Scotland Group on 18 August.

The same Sullcrom core team advised Bank of China on the RBS agreement. Both strategic investment agreements are part of Bank of China's efforts to improve its overall corporate governance and risk management structure.

Meanwhile CC's Ting Ting Tan, together with fellow Shanghai-based partner Stephen Harder and Hong Kong-based partner Amy Lo, also advised Temasek on its US$1.4bn acquisition of a 5.1% stake in China Construction Bank. The CCB acquisition, which was again through wholly owned subsidiary AFH, involved a commitment to subscribe for a further US$1bn shares at IPO.