Linklaters is advising Bank of East Asia (BEA) on the HK$6.5 billion ($838 million) sale of its share-registry arm Tricor Holdings to private equity firm Permira, represented by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
Walkers was also involved in the transaction, serving as Permira's BVI and Cayman Islands Counsel.
The all-cash deal marks the first major sale of any business by BEA, whose offerings include corporate and retail banking, wealth management and investment services. The bank, like several other financial firms, has been hit by regulatory challenges and a slowdown in the Chinese and Hong Kong economies.
The Linklaters team representing BEA included Hong Kong partner and head of corporate Robert Cleaver. The Freshfields team was led by corporate partner Simon Weller, together with finance partners Thomas Ng and Richard Perks. The Walkers team was led by partners Denise Wong and Amelia Hall.
Tricor provides corporate services and its stable and steady cash generation is attractive to private equity firms. BEA holds a 75.6 percent stake in Tricor. Hong Kong port operator NWS Holdings Ltd, backed by billionaire Cheng Yu-tung, owns the remaining stake and is also selling out.
