The recent flurry of activity in Greater China's aviation industry is keeping law firms busy. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughter and May, for example, has been involved in complex deals between CITIC Pacific, Cathay Pacific, Swire Pacific and Air China.
Swire Pacific, the controlling shareholder of Cathay, has acquired additional shares in Cathay from CITIC. Slaughter and May's Hong Kong-based partner Lisa Chung, has advised Swire in its HK$1,013m acquisition. Upon completion, Swire’s stake in Cathay will increase to almost 42%.
At the same time, in CITIC’s mass disposal of interest in Cathay, the company entered into another agreement for Air China to purchase Cathay shares for HK$6,335m. Freshfields was the legal advisor for Air China on its acquisition of an additional 12.5% stake. The deal will raise Air China’s stake in Cathay to 29.99%. CITIC was represented by its in-house counsel in both transactions.
Kay Ian Ng, Freshfields’ Hong Kong corporate partner who led the team, commented that it's a significant deal for Air China , as the deal would bring two of Asia's leading airlines closer together as well as strengthen the position of Beijing and Hong Kong as two of the key aviation hubs in the region. Ng was assisted by associates Ethan Zhao Jin and Sharon Chen, with partners Alan Ryan and Michael Han providing the competition law advice.
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