Weekly investor roundup: Temasek acquires Element Materials for more than $7 billion; new IPO rules will apply to China listings in Hong Kong

TOP NEWS OF THE WEEK
 

Singapore state-owned investor, Temasek has acquired Element Materials Technology from UK private equity company Bridgepoint Group for more than $7 billion.

The transaction was announced on January 25 shortly after news of the acquisition was leaked to Bloomberg by a source close to the matter.

Temasek, which already owns more than 20% in the business, acquired control at an enterprise value making it one of Temasek’s largest investments in Europe to date.

Bridgepoint began exploring a sale late last year, and interested parties include Canada’s CPP Investments and UK private equity firm Cinven.

Temasek had a net portfolio value of $283.31 billion as of end-March 2021.

Source: Bloomberg

China’s forthcoming rules on overseas IPOs will apply to Chinese companies that want to list in Hong Kong, the China Securities Regulatory Commission tells CNBC.

In an exclusive interview with CNBC, the commission’s director-general of the international affairs department, Shen Bing, spoke about what the draft rules will mean for Chinese companies that are planning to list in the US and other markets following last summer’s crackdown.

Shen said the rules will apply not only to Chinese companies wanting to offer H-shares in Hong Kong, but also a category called “red chips,” which previously did not need the CSRC’s approval.

H-shares refers to stocks issued by mainland China companies that trade in Hong Kong, and red chips are Hong Kong-trade shares of companies that conduct most of their business in the mainland but are incorporated outside mainland China.

Source: CNBC

MORE INVESTMENT NEWS:

AUSTRALIA

Allianz Real Estate, on behalf of National Pension Service of Korea (NPS) and Allianz group companies (Allianz), has entered into definitive agreements to acquire a 50% stake in Sydney’s Commonwealth Bank Place (Darling Quarter) asset at a gross valuation of approximately US$445 million.

The transaction, subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to close in Q1 2022.

The asset is strategically located on Harbour Street in Sydney, with the entire office component leased to Commonwealth Bank of Australia with WALE (weighted average lease expiry) of more than 12 years.

Completed in 2012, Darling Quarter comprises total net lettable area of around 61,000 square meters across two towers of campus style premium-grade office space alongside retail shops on the ground level.

Source: Allianz Real Estate

CHINA

Foreign banks to submit details of Chinese companies’ offshore listings to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) on January 31. 

The Commission proposed a rule change in which foreign banks working on offshore listings held by Chinese companies will need to submit an annual list of these activities.

Fees charged by banks in the US and Hong Kong for managing these listings were previously private information. Banking analysts are calling the move ‘unprecedented’.

The CSRC hopes to increase accountability overseas for its private companies by reporting wrongdoing or malpractice to the offshore regulatory authority of the offending bank.

The fees collected for public Chinese listings by banks in the United States have been lucrative, garnering over US$2 billion since 2016 - many banks believe this new rule will eat heavily into their profits.

Source: CSRC

Ping An Insurance announces that the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) has approved Ping An Life Insurance Company (Ping An Life) of China’s investment in New Founder Group.

The Group will promptly carry out the relevant work as agreed under the Restructuring Investment Agreement. It will execute the restructuring plan of the Founder Group Restructuring with the relevant parties, including the orderly carrying out of asset delivery, business development and asset disposal.

In accordance with the Restructuring Investment Agreement and the selection of the debt repayment plan by the creditors of the restructuring entities, Ping An Life will pay approximately RMB48.2 billion to acquire approximately 66.51% equity interest in New Founder Holding Development Company Limited (New Founder Group).

Source: Ping An

China selects 15 pilot zones and identifies several areas of application in which to "carry out the innovative application of blockchain" technology, according to a joint government statement on Janaury 30.

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) announced the commencement of an in-house effort to expedite blockchain development and innovation across 15 zones and 164 entities.

The initiative aims for the large-scale implementation of blockchain technology across businesses and government organisations in China.

Source: Reuters

HONG KONG

HKMA adds five more banks to wealth management connect. Shanghai Commercial Bank, Chong Hing Bank, Chiyu Banking Corporation have been approved to provide both “southbound” and “northbound” trading services.

Taiwan-based Fubon Bank (Hong Kong) is permitted to offer only southbound services, while China Everbright Bank will only provide northbound services.

The banks can start providing cross-boundary wealth management connect (WMC) services together with their mainland partner banks from Janaury 28.

So far, 19 banks in Hong Kong can provide northbound services, which allow eligible Hong Kong and Macau investors to access wealth management products distributed by mainland banks.

Source: Fund Selector Asia

INDONESIA

AllianzGI announced on January 31 that Allianz Global Investors Asia Pacific Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary within AllianzGI, has completed its acquisition of the entire equity interest in PT RHB Asset Management Indonesia (“RHBAMI”), an Indonesia-based asset manager.

With the approval of the OJK, this marks the completion of the acquisition proposed and announced by AllianzGI and RHB Banking Group on July 26, 2021.

As a result, RHBAMI will be renamed PT Allianz Global Investors Asset Management Indonesia upon approval of the change from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia.

Source: AllianzGI

INDIA

Kangra president of New Pension Scheme (NPS) Employees’ Association Rajinder Minhas has criticised the government for not constituting a committee to address demands and grievances of the NPS employees despite a notification.

He said in a statement that after a demonstration by around 30,000 NPS employees in Dharamsala on December 11, the state government had issued a notification the same day for constituting the committee but so far it had not made any headway.

He lamented that even after 40 days, the government had failed to constitute the committee by nominating its members.

Source: Tribune India

MALAYSIA

Bank Negara Malaysia has released a five-year financial sector blueprint with key targets that include accelerating green financing and improving financial literacy.

The targets fall under the five priorities that Malaysia’s central bank,has identified in the blueprint to promote a financial system that will secure long-term growth, global health and shared prosperity according to Governor Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus’ speech at a financial technology conference on January 24.

The priorities cover the timeframe of 2022 through 2026 and include funding Malaysia’s economic transformation; elevating financial well-being; advancing digitalisation; and positioning the financial system to facilitate an orderly transition to a greener economy.

Bank Negara aims to make sure that 50% of new financing go to green and transitioning activities. The central bank is also looking to raise electronic payments per capita, increase insurance penetration, and have a single licencing regime for financial advisors and planners.

Source: Bank Negara Malaysia

SINGAPORE

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and US digital infrastructure firm Equinix are forming a $525 million joint venture to develop and operate two data centres in Seoul, South Korea.

The data centres are expected to provide more than 45 megawatts of capacity to serve the core workload deployment needs of hyperscale companies which include the world’s largest cloud service providers according to Equinix in a statement on January 27.

GIC reportedly owns 80% of the joint venture, and the California-based Equinix owns 20%. This will be their third data centre joint venture since their $1 billion Europe-focused partnership in 2019, which was followed by another $1 billion joint venture in 2020, which focused on Japan.

Source: Equinix & Asia Asset Management