Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) acted for I Squared Capital Advisers on its US$1.86bn acquisition of a fixed-line telecoms business.
HSF mobilised lawyers and resources from its Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, London, and Melbourne offices to advise I Squared on its acquisition of Hutchison Global Communications (HGC), the fixed-line business of Hutchison Telecommunications that has operations in 134 countries and territories worldwide. HGC has 33 cable systems connecting five continents and three major hubs located in Hong Kong, Los Angeles, and London.
The HSF team was led by corporate partner Hilary Lau, in Hong Kong, and Asia head of TMT Mark Robinson, in Singapore. They were supported by partner Jason Sung in Hong Kong, and senior associates Sheena Loi, Calvin Ho, Peggy Chow, Sherry Lai and Jie Li. The team also included associates Don Chan, Helen Huang and Stella Loong.
Asia head of competition Mark Jephcott, senior associate Adelaide Luke, and associate Howard Chan – who are all in Hong Kong – gave competition advice. Senior associates Gillian McKenzie and Sarah Yazid assisted on employment matters as the firm used resources from Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, London, Singapore and Melbourne for due diligence.
“The deal reflects the changing shape of the telecoms market, where there has been significant activity recently in Hong Kong and across Asia Pacific. Telecoms companies are taking different strategies in order to invest in network upgrades and digital advances. Infrastructure funds and private equity are seeing increasing opportunities in network infrastructure,” a joint statement from Lau and Robinson said.
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