Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom has advised U.S. insurer MassMutual International on a $1.7 billion deal to sell its Hong Kong unit to an investor group led by Jack Ma-backed finance firm Yunfeng Financial Group, which turned to Simpson Thacher & Bartlett for counsel.
The cash and stock deal will add insurance products to Yunfeng's existing fintech-focused financial services, in what the company called a milestone in its ambitions to become a financial conglomerate, reported Reuters.
Yunfeng will hold 60 percent of MassMutual Asia, while the rest will be owned by other investors such as Ant Financial Services, an affiliate of Alibaba, as well as Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Private and Chinese Internet and telecoms firm SINA Corp.
The Skadden team includes Hong Kong-based partners Jonathan Stone, Edward Lam, Clive Rough, Rory McAlpine and Bradley Klein, as well as U.S. partners Robert Sullivan, Todd Freed, Cliff Gross, Jessica Hough and Moshe Spinowitz, plus London partner Alex Jupp.
Hong Kong-based partner Celia Lam, who heads STB’s China practice, handled the transaction for the firm.
