Major multinational corporations move forward with blockbuster $7.1 billion ESR privatization agreement
In a significant move, a consortium led by Starwood Capital Group, Sixth Street, and SSW Partners has secured additional equity commitments from institutional investors, including Alpha Wave Global and a leading Asia public pension investor, for the privatization attempt of the Hong Kong-listed ESR Group.
The transaction, valued at $7.1 billion, has attracted the attention of some of the world's leading law firms. Freshfields, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, Kirkland & Ellis, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, and Latham & Watkins are part of the consortium advising on the deal.
The Freshfields team, led by partners Edward Freeman and Grace Huang, is providing legal advice on various aspects of the transaction. Partner Matthew O'Callaghan and associate Lu Feng are advising on regulatory issues, counsel Stephanie Chiu is advising on employment issues, and partners Christine Laciak and Aimen Mir are advising on U.S. law matters. Partner Alastair Mordaunt, counsel Laurent Bougard, and associate Ziqi Zhou are providing foreign investment and antitrust advice.
The Paul, Weiss team, advised by SSW Partners, was led by corporate partners Judie Ng Shortell and Bosco Yiu. Latham advised the consortium on the deal, with a team led by partner Amy Beckingham and Simon Cooke. The Cleary team advising Sixth Street was led by London partners Mike James and Dan Tierney. Kirkland's team advising the consortium was led by partners Joey Chau, Dan Borg, Lloyd Robertson-Jones, Annette Baillie, James Collins, Brian Ho, Andrew McAlpine, Nelson Ni, Tian Sun, Estelle Lu, Michelle Park, Art Ward, Paul Sampson, Matthew Jobson, Jonathan Schechter, Christopher Hartmann, Andrew Shiner, Sky Kim, and Satyen Dhana.
Besides the mentioned institutions, no other participants in the privatization attempt have been explicitly identified in the provided search results.
ESR shares have fallen in recent years amid China's property market slump, with the stock down more than 60 percent from a 2021 peak. The Hang Seng benchmark has also fallen about a third in the same period.
The consortium currently holds 39.91 percent of the company's issued shares, suggesting a potential takeover if the privatization attempt is successful. The news of the additional equity commitments from institutional investors indicates a strong confidence in the potential success of the deal.
As the transaction progresses, further updates are expected to be announced.
