Slaughter and May is advising Singapore’s Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) on its offer to buy Wing Hang Bank, one of Hong Kong’s last remaining family-owned banks, for $4.95 billion.
The deal to buy Wing Hang Bank, which is being represented by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, was preceded by months of negotiations, with the deadline for an agreement extended not once, but twice. OCBC formally made the offer to purchase the Hong Kong-based lender after reaching a deal with major shareholders including the bank’s founding family.
OCBC is offering HK$125 a share to buy all the stock of Wing Hang, according to a joint announcement on April 1.
OCBC, like other foreign lenders, are drawn to China’s economic clout and the growth of its offshore yuan markets. Wing Hang, headquartered in Hong Kong, has branches in Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Macau - major hubs in the prosperous and bustling Pearl River Delta.
The acquisition, OCBC’s biggest, would also help the Singapore lender narrow the gap with domestic rival DBS Group Holdings, which operates Hong Kong’s sixth-biggest bank by assets.
OCBC would also be entering a highly competitive space dominated by mainland banks and global lenders such as Standard Chartered and HSBC. OCBC said it would retain the name of Wing Hang, founded in 1937.
The Slaughter and May team advising OCBC is being led by Hong Kong corporate and commercial partners Neil Hyman and Clara Choi.
Freshfields’ Asia managing partner Robert Ashworth and corporate partner Edward Freeman are representing Wing Hang Bank on the transaction. Both partners are based in Hong Kong.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch is financial advisor to OCBC, while Goldman Sachs Group, Nomura Holdings and KPMG are advising Wing Hang Bank.
OCBC has received in-principle approval for the purchase from Hong Kong and Singapore regulators, with formal approval needed by June 30 for the deal to go through. The acquisition is not subject to the approval of OCBC’s shareholders.
If the deal goes through, there will be two family-owned banks left in Hong Kong - Bank of East Asia and Dah Sing Banking Group.
