Milbank’s Asia team received three “Deal of the Year” awards at the annual IFLR Asia Awards 2014 ceremony in Hong Kong. Milbank was awarded:
- High-Yield Deal of the Year, 2014 – Nord Anglia Holdings PIK Toggle Notes;
- M&A Deal of the Year, 2014 – Fraser & Neave contested takeover; and
- Project Finance Deal of the Year, 2014 – Banten IPP, Indonesia.
Milbank represented Nord Anglia Education, Inc., a global operator of premium schools in China, Thailand, Switzerland, Central Europe and the Middle East, on its US$150 million Payment-In-Kind (PIK) toggle notes issue. Goldman Sachs was sole bookrunner. The deal was a high yield offering pursuant to Regulation S, Rule 144A. This is one of the only notes of its kind issued in Asia. The issuer is one of Milbank’s long-term corporate relationships. The transaction was led by Joshua M. Zimmerman with Andrew Yang, Jessica Zhou and Jason Frank in our Hong Kong office and Rod Miller and Benjamin Miles in our New York office. The Nord Anglia PIK toggle notes issue was one of the key deals in which Andrew Yang was awarded the “High-Yield Rising Star” award for his work on. Andrew also worked on high yield offerings by Bharti Airtel and VietinBank, as well as several Nord Anglia financings.
For the “M&A Deal of the Year”, Milbank advised a private equity fund in connection with the proposed OUE/Fraser & Neave mandatory takeover offer for Fraser & Neave. Our team was led by Naomi Ishikawa, Jacqueline Chan, David Zemans and with Andrew Compton, Adrian Yeo and Nicholas Atwood.
In the project finance sector, Milbank advised Genting Power Holdings Limited on the US$730 million debt financing for the US$998 million 660 MW coal-fired power plant in Banten Province, West Java, Indonesia. This project sets a precedent having no Government of Indonesia letter of support guaranteeing PT PLN Persero’s obligations under the Power Purchase Agreement. This was also the first major regional Independent Power Producer (IPP) with a Chinese Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor, and the first time Genting has worked with Chinese group Harbin as equipment manufacturer and EPC contractor. The project was completed within record timing for an Indonesia project for the finance plan and setting the stage for future expansion. The Milbank team was led by special counsel, Melissa Lewis, with partner Gary Wigmore and associates Kristina Hokenberg and Andrew Gibb.
