Back by popular demand, ALB magazine is delighted to announce the return of the annual SE Asia Deals of the Year Awards.
Now in its second year, the Awards provides a dedicated platform for recognition of legal work in the Southeast Asian region that over the past year or so has often reached a dazzling level of sophistication. And the story of 2005 for Southeast Asia has to be the continued surge of the Indian economy as well as the return of investor confidence in Indonesia.
Unfazed by rising energy prices and speculation of weaker US economic growth, global capital markets went about the business of raising a record amount of capital last year. According to figures released by Thomson Financial, worldwide global underwriting of debt, equity and equity-related securities climbed to a record US$6.5trn in 2005, compared to US$5.8trn the previous year.
And Indian issuers increased their contribution to the regional total in 2005, raising US$3.3bn from 35 issues, nearly a 57% increase on 2004 totals. Of course, more than half of that amount alone was raised by the country's newly crowned largest bank [in terms of total market capitalisation]. The US$1.75bn equity offering by ICICI Bank was the largest-ever equity offering by an Indian issuer and is quite rightly acknowledged in the Equity Market category this year.
Now the fourth largest economy in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, India will overtake Japan within the next decade to become the third major economic superpower. And by 2025, its economy is projected to be about 60% the size of the US economy.
In stark contrast, Indonesia has some catching up to do after years of political unrest. However, and with the exception of a handful of religious fanatics bent on depriving Indonesia of its newly won democracy through terrorism, the political climate over the last year or so has been comparatively benign. As such, it offers the best opportunity for the Indonesian Government to make progress on the economic front.
Indonesian firms made their entry into the regional debt, equity and equity-related securities tables in 2005 with two deals totaling US$255m. And, as reflected by our list of finalists for the SE Asia Deals of the Year Awards, the Indonesian economy and the new administration received a real vote of confidence from investors in 2005 with the following deals:
- the first cross-border securitisation and first investment-grade bond deal out of the country since 1997;
- the first exchangeable bond issue since the Asian financial crisis;
- the largest pre-IPO equity-linked offering out of Southeast Asia in 2005;
- the largest private sector equity deal since the financial crisis;
- by far the largest and most complex leveraged buyout ever in the country and one of the largest and most complex LBOs in the Asian market in recent history [also the first combined bank, mezzanine and high yield financing in Southeast Asia]; and,
- the largest ever acquisition transaction in the country and the largest foreign investment in the jurisdiction since 1997.
While these deals illustrate a significant turning point for corporate Indonesia, the other Southeast Asian nations of Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines also contributed a plethora of complex transactions in 2005 - all of which will be celebrated in some style at the fabulous Marina Mandarin in Singapore on 2 June.
ALB magazine is delighted to announce the official list of finalists for the second annual SE Asia Deals of the Year Awards.
Through a total of 37 award categories, the Awards aim to recognise the key transactions in Southeast Asia in 2005 and the firms that acted on them. We wish to thank the hundreds of legal and industry professionals who enthusiastically helped the Awards by assisting with our months of research into the industry.
The finalists in each deal category have been assessed against a range of criteria: deal value, complexity, number of parties involved, innovative deal structure, timeframe for completion and significance to the market. Finalists in the firm categories meanwhile have been recognised for their outstanding client service as well as their ability to combine rigorous analysis with astute judgment to give clients a competitive edge.
The following list of finalists is the result of ALB research. The omission of a firm from a transaction does not mean that the firm did not play a role on the transaction. ALB would like to congratulate all of the finalists for the 2006 SE Asia Deals of the Year Awards and we look forward to you joining us and welcoming back MC Gurmit Singh at the Marina Mandarin in Singapore on 2 June.
The full list of finalists and categories can be found at: http://www.asianlegalawards.com/se/