Trail-blazing Temasek has hired Allen & Gledhill and Latham Watkins to act on a multi-jurisdiction a debt market deal worth US$1.1bn – in Temasek’s first foray into sterling-denominated securities.
The sterling-denominated issue by the Singapore state investor is part of its plan to diversify its funding sources. Thus far, Temasek has sold bonds worth $6 billion under its existing $10 billion medium-term note programme, mostly in Singapore and US dollars, according to its annual report released in July 2010.
Davis Polk & Wardwell advised Deutsche Bank AG, Singapore Branch, HSBC Bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS AG, Singapore Branch – the joint lead managers on the medium-term notes offering. Meanwhile, Latham & Watkins and Allen & Gledhill advised Temasek on UK law and Allen & Gledhill and Singapore law respectively.
The Davis Polk corporate team are led by William F. Baron and included partner James Lin and associate Stephen Takahashi of the Hong Kong office, partner John Paton and associate Alon Gurfinkel in London provided tax advice on the program and in New York, partner Danforth Townley and associate Catherine Martin, provided 1940 Act advice.
The Temasek Group, wholly owned by the Singapore government through the Ministry of Finance, has a portfolio of investments covering a wide range of countries and sectors – its diversified portfolio was worth SGD186bn as of March this year.
Last week, Temasek completed the sale of its entire stake (205 million shares or 14.7% of company) in Fraser and Neave – a leading food and beverage company in Singapore and Malaysia – to Kirin for US$987m. Allen & Gledhill also acted as counsel to Temasek in this deal.
On 22 July, Temasek sold $1 billion of bonds with a 40-year tenure, double the length of the longest dated Singapore government bond.ALB
| Firm | Client | Jurisdiction | Deal Name | Deal Value | Practice | Lead lawyer | Other law firms | Has deal been completed |
| Davis Polk & Wardwell | Deutsche Bank AG, Singapore Branch, HSBC Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS AG, Singapore Branch | US, UK, Singapore | Temasek Holdings Medium-Term Notes Offering | US$1.1bn | Capital Markets- Debt | William Barron (Hong Kong) | Latham & Watkins (Temasek; UK), Allen & Gledhill (Temasek; Singapore) | Yes |
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