Deal News: The Hong Kong office of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker has recently witnessed a flurry of activity as a result of an increasing number of loan transactions in the region. Vivian Lam, a partner in the Hong Kong office of Paul Hastings, has been involved with both the US$700m loan to Sino-Ocean Land Holdings and the US$200m loan to China Everbright International.
Sino-Ocean Land Holdings, one of the largest real estate companies in Beijing, revived its balance sheet with an injection of US$700m in funds provided by a syndicate of 19 banks. Bank of China and China Construction Bank acted as the mandated coordinating arrangers.
“We are delighted to have advised Sino-Ocean Land on this transaction. The Facility will open up a new financing channel that will improve the long term debt structure of the company,” said Lam. The Paul Hastings team was led by Vivian Lam and assisted by Andrew Li and Erika Wan. Baker & McKenzie acted on behalf of Bank of China and China Construction Bank.
This particular transaction is seen as a reflection of the increasing confidence of banks in borrowers and their projects. “The syndication received overwhelming response from 19 lenders and was upsized from US$300m to US$700m, indicating that banks are still keen to lend to the right developers, notwithstanding the concern about inflated real estate prices in China,” said Lam.
China Everbright International’s boost in funding was provided by the Asian Development Bank. The company primarily focuses on the businesses of environmental protection, infrastructure and property investment. The US$200m will be used to finance waste-to-energy projects in various cities across China.
“The loan will enable China Everbright to make a significant contribution to clean energy production and is one of the first private-sector investors in waste-to-energy projects in China,” Lam said. Lam led the Paul Hastings team for China Everbright International with Raymond Li, assisted by Jenny Lau. Allen & Overy acted for the Asia Development Bank.
These significant loan transactions are a precursor to further activity on the horizon and law firms in the region stand to reap the benefits not only from the loan transactions but also from work generated as a result of an increase in funding by banks.
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