Latham & Watkins, Kirkland & Ellis, Fangda Partners are among seven law firms that have roles advising a consortium of six companies on the HKD55.2 billion privatisation of Hong Kong-listed ESR Group in the largest take-private move from the HKEX since 2021.
The consortium is led by private investment firms Starwood Capital Group, Sixth Street, and SSW Partners. Other consortium members include QIA, private equity firm Warburg Pincus and the founders of ESR Group – an Asia-Pacific real asset management group. They have appointed Latham, Kirkland, Fangda Partners and Sullivan & Cromwell as legal counsels.
Latham’s team is led by Hong Kong-based corporate partners Amy Beckingham and Simon Cooke. Kirkland’s team of 35 lawyers include partners Joey Chau, Dan Borg, Lloyd Robertson-Jones and Annette Baillie.
Fangda Partners is advising the consortium on PRC law, with its team led by corporate partners Grace Yu, Pan Siyuan and Sam Wang, as well as Hong Kong capital markets partners Colin Law and Edward Bong. Fangda is also counselling Laurels Capital, a subsidiary of ESR Group’s founders.
Sixth Street has engaged Cleary Gottlieb as its legal counsel.
ESR Group appointed Freshfields as its legal counsel, with Hong Kong-based partners Edward Freeman and Grace Huang leading the team.
Sullivan & Cromwell’s Hong Kong-based partner Ng Kay Ian is advising Morgan Stanley, the lead financial adviser and sole structuring adviser. Partners Frank Cui, Alessandro Nolet and Nick Syson from Linklaters are advising the deal’s lead arrangers.
ESR Group went public in Hong Kong in 2019. A statement released by the company and the consortium, said the ESR Group’s delisting would facilitate the company’s transformation into an asset-light platform and refocus on the new economy sector. The privatisation would allow the execution of the transition to be more flexible, without being constrained by the Listing Rules.
