China Deal of the Year 2009: China Netcom/Unicom/Telecom Restructure
By ALB
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Thursday, 27 August 2009
Behind the China Deal of the Year: China Netcom/Unicom/Telecom Restructure
Firms: Commerce & Finance, Freshfields, Jingtian & Gongcheng, Linklaters, Milbank, Shearman & Sterling, Skadden, Slaughter and May, Sullivan & Cromwell
Banks: CICC, Citi, JPMorgan, UBS
Why:
The US$23.8bn merger of China Netcom with China Unicom and China Telecom's US$15.8bn acquisition of China Unicom's CDMA business, were announced in June 2008. The two mega deals marked the commencement of a major restructuring in the telecom sector, designed to create more level playing field. Both transaction involved Hong Kong, US and PRC legal issues, with complex transfers of significant amount of businesses, shares and assets.
"These deals area significant because they signal a major restructuring in an industy that has shown exponential growth in the last 15 years. Change usually brings opportunity, and therefore it's an exicting time for us to be helping they key players redefine the boundaries," said Celia Lam, Linklaters' joint managing partner for Greater China, who advised China Netcom.
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