2025.04.02
On April 2, 2025, China Business Law Journal (“CBLJ”) announced its 2024 "Deals of the Year". 22 deals and cases advised by JunHe were featured on the list.
The selected deals span various practice areas including cross-border M&As, capital markets, dispute resolution, and bankruptcy & restructuring, showcasing JunHe's full-cycle service capabilities in complex commercial scenarios. Each deal reflects JunHe's deep understanding of their clients' business needs as well as the firm‘s meticulous attention to detail and high-level cross-border coordination.
JunHe was recognized for the following deals:
*Click on certain project titles for more details
Equity Capital Markets
XtalPi Technology's Hong Kong IPO
Lead Partners: TAO, Xudong, LIN, Jiayu (Paul), ZHANG, Jianwei and ZHANG, Zhijin (Jean)
Project Highlights: JunHe provided legal services for the domestic legal matters under Chapter 18C of Hong Kong’s new listing rules for specialized technology companies, assisting XtalPi Technology to become the first company listed under Chapter 18C.
Hollysys’ USD 1.66 Billion Take-private from Nasdaq
Lead Partners: CUI, Jiakun (Kevin), YUAN, Yifeng (Vincent) and HE, Tingcai (Lawrence HO)
Project Highlights: Hollysys' privatization was one of the most influential and complex cross-border privatization transactions and the JunHe team delivered high-quality results within a very challenging timeline. This was another large-scale listed company privatization deal in recent years assisted by JunHe, following the privatization of Chindata, 51job, 58.com, Taibang Biologic and Sina.
Debt Capital Markets
BoCom Leasing Offers USD 1.6 Billion Green Bonds
Lead Partners: YU, Yongqiang (YY) and SHI, Libin
Handling Partners: SUN, Fengmin and Lee, Alex Jao Jang
Project Highlights: As the PRC and international legal counsel to the issuer, JunHe assisted the client in increasing the issuance quota of its MTN program from USD 6 billion to USD 10 billion, enabling a rapid and effective bond issuance with a greater worth.
China Overseas Development Issues USD 4 Billion Notes on HKEX
Lead Partner: SHAO, Chunyang
Project Highlights: This project was an update of previous issuance with notable changes in policies and regulations over many years. JunHe coordinated with multiple parties to finish the work within a short timeframe, successfully assisting the company in completing the project.
First Offshore Bond Dual-listed in Shenzhen and Hong Kong
Lead Partner: YU, Yongqiang (YY)
Project Highlights: This issuance set a new low for offshore RMB bonds issued by local state-owned enterprises. It was the first green sustainability cross-border bond issuance by a local state-owned enterprise to list on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange’s Greater Bay Area Bond Platform and the first cross-border bond to be dual-listed on exchanges in Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
HSBC Offers RMB 4.5 Billion Panda Bonds
Lead Partners: YU, Yongqiang (YY) and LEI, Tianxiao
Project Highlights: This was HSBC's second panda bond issuance since 2015, setting the lowest issuance interest rate for a three-year panda bond by a foreign commercial bank.
Meituan Issues USD 2.5 Billion Offshore Bonds
Lead Partner: YU, Yongqiang (YY)
Project Highlights: This was the largest offshore bond issuance by a Chinese company in the past three years and the first bond issuance under Rule 144A/Regulation S by a Chinese TMT company in the past two years.
Ping An Issues USD 3.5 Billion Convertible Bonds
Lead Partner: YU, Yongqiang (YY)
Project Highlights: This was the largest Reg S convertible bond issuance globally, the largest convertible bond issuance by an insurance company, and the first offshore convertible bond issuance by a Chinese insurance group.
M&A
Grifols Sells Shanghai RAAS Stake and Enters into Strategic Cooperation with Haier
Lead Partners: CHEN, Jiang (Joe), TAO, Xudong and YAO, Yunke
Project Highlights: This transaction set a new example for foreign investors restructuring their business in China by reshaping cooperation structures with leading Chinese companies through the sale of listed companies’ shares.
Genmab Acquires ProfoundBio for USD 1.8 Billion in Cash
Lead Partner: ZHANG, Jianwei
Handling Partners: AN, Ming, GONG, Mingfang, YANG, Jinwen and XING, Jingjing
Project Highlights: With a large transaction amount and a tight schedule, JunHe provided "one-stop" Chinese legal services for the seller. The firm leveraged its integrated management advantages and mobilized partners from different practice areas such as cross-border M&A, data export, national security review, anti-monopoly and labor to ensure an efficient and smooth transaction.
Quanyi Health and KKR Acquire Ruirentang
Lead Partners: ZHOU, Hui (Nelson) and ZHOU, Jingbo
Project Highlights: This was one of the largest controlling acquisitions in China's pharmaceutical distribution sector in recent years. JunHe acted as the legal counsel to the syndicate and provided comprehensive legal services for the acquisition financing.
KDDI's RMB 25 Billion Acquisition of Lawson’s Shares
Lead Partner: GONG, Mingfang
Project Highlights: JunHe assisted KDDI and Mitsubishi Corporation in completing the antitrust filing for the acquisition of a 50% stake of Lawson in China. Overcoming high data requirements and extreme time pressures, JunHe secured unconditional approval within a very limited timeframe.
Cross-Border Dispute Resolution
CFLD’s Investment Dispute with 1955 Capital
Lead Partner: ZHAO, Zhen
Project Highlights: This case involved complex cross-border litigation and arbitration procedures in the US, Hong Kong and China. By coordinating global legal strategies, JunHe successfully addressed difficult issues such as repetitive litigation and provided important references for similar disputes.
Alpha Advantage Global and Dynamic Fame v. ATA Creativity Global
Lead Partner: ZHAO, Zhen
Project Highlights: This case involved complex legal disputes related to offshore companies and red-chip structures and comprised the formation of judicial rules by Chinese courts regarding offshore company resolution disputes. This case filled domestic judicial gaps and has had a profound impact on similar subsequent cases.
Nam Tai Property Corporate Control Dispute
Lead Partner: ZOU, Weining
Project Highlights: This case highlighted how conflict between management and shareholders of wholly foreign-owned enterprises should be handled under Chinese law, emphasizing areas for improvement in China's company law, company registration regulations, and even Chinese criminal law.
PE/VC
PAG-led Consortium Acquires Zhuhai Wanda
Lead Partners: ZHOU, Hui (Nelson)
Handling Partner: YANG, Jianwei and ZHOU, Jingbo
Project Highlights: This was the largest private equity investment in China's history and the largest foreign investment project in China in 2024.
Lead Partners: ZHOU, Hui (Nelson), HE, Kan (Daniel), Phyllis Xu and SUN, Zhen (Lily)
Project Highlights: As Carlyle's sole Chinese legal counsel, JunHe leveraged its cross-jurisdictional expertise and deep understanding of McDonald's China business to help Carlyle successfully sell its 28% stake in McDonald's China in a challenging market environment.
Liquidation, Bankruptcy and Restructuring
Xiangguang Copper and Affiliates Restructuring
Lead and Handling Partner: LIAN, Jing
Project Highlights: The restructuring of Xiangguang Copper and 18 other companies involved liabilities of over RMB 60 billion and assets exceeding RMB 20 billion. It covered multiple business sectors with diverse debt types and a wide creditor base. This was a rare restructuring case in China due to the complexity of the affiliated enterprises and the enormous amount of debt.
General Corporate Matters
Regulator Approves Broadcom's Acquisition of VMware
Handling Partner: GONG, Mingfang
Project Highlights: US-listed semiconductor maker Broadcom acquired all shares of VMware, a US-listed virtualization software company, for USD 61 billion. This was the largest ever acquisition in the global semiconductor sector. The project faced significant antitrust scrutiny globally and in China, requiring extensive efforts and time from both parties' lawyers to resolve complex competition law issues and find suitable solutions. This case received global and Chinese antitrust approval after nearly two years.
Renault and Geely Form Venture
Lead Partner: WEI, Yingling
Handling Partner: YANG, Chen
Project Highlights: This project involved a large amount of money, complex transaction structures, and a wide range of products, requiring coordination and cooperation with lawyers from multiple jurisdictions for antitrust filings. With JunHe's efforts, the project obtained unconditional approval in all jurisdictions requiring prior filings.
Intellectual Property
Lead Partners: WANG, Zhaolin (Johnson) and WEI, Yuming
Project Highlights: This was one of the highest first-instance patent infringement compensation cases in China in recent years. JunHe won the final administrative lawsuit in the Supreme Court's Intellectual Property Court, completely reversing the unfavorable first-instance civil lawsuit. The case set an industry benchmark and provides guidance for future cases.
ImmuneOnco Licensing and Collaboration with Instil Bio
Lead Partner: ZHAO, Hao (Gerry)
Project Highlights: This transaction involved both bispecific and monoclonal antibodies, with a total transaction amount of USD 2 billion. It is a model for deep collaboration between a listed Chinese innovative drug company and a listed US innovative drug company.
