Tag: almaty
Written by John on 09 September 2013.
♦ Recent Deals ♦ Almaty, Kazakhstan, Moscow, Russia
The Kazakhstan, Moscow and Brussels offices of global legal practice Norton Rose Fulbright have advised Yildirim Group, a Turkish diverse holding group, on its planned $425 million acquisition of ferroalloy assets from OAO Mechel. The transaction was announced by Yildirim and Mechel on 1 August 2013. Subject to certain conditions, Yildirim Group will acquire the Voskhod Mining Plant in Kazakhstan, a modern chrome ore mine, and Tikhvin Ferroalloy Plant in Russia. The Plant produces up to 120,000 tons per annum of high-carbon ferrochrome that is used to produce stainless steel. With the addition of Mechel's ferroalloys assets, Yildirim Group will solidify its position as the world’s second largest producer of high-quality high carbon ferrochrome. The acquisition will boost Yildirim Group's production capacity to 2.5 million tons per annum. The deal was led by relationship partner Yerzhan Kumarov from the Kazakhstan office, with support in Kazakhstan from associates Yelena Manayenko and Avaskhan Asanaliyev. In Russia, relationship partner Anatoly Andriash and Dinara Dorizo led on the Russian aspects of the transaction. Partner Nick Dingemans led the English law aspects of the transaction with associate William Stroll. Christian Filippitsch and Cora Wadsworth of the Brussels office provided competition advice. Yerzhan Kumarov, managing partner of Norton Rose Fulbright Kazakhstan practice commented: “This was a complex multi-jurisdictional transaction that called on our experience throughout Kazakhstan and Russia as well as a number of other jurisdictions. Together with Turkish firm Erdem & Erdem, our multi disciplined team advised Yildirim on Kazakh and Russian due diligence, European, Russian and Kazakh competition issues and on the successful negotiation of complex English law transaction documents.” The deal is subject to receipt by the parties of certain governmental approvals in Russia and Kazakhstan, including the approval of the Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service and the Kazakhstan Anti-Monopoly Agency. The Kazakhstan and Russian offices of Norton Rose Fulbright are currently advising on applying for these approvals.
Written by John on 01 August 2013.
♦ Recent Deals ♦ Almaty, Kazakhstan, Moscow, Russia
A cross-border team of Dechert lawyers is advising Russia’s Mechel OAO (NYSE:MTL; “Mechel”) on its planned disposal of several ferroalloy assets to Turkey’s Yildirim Group. According to the agreement, which was announced today, Yildirim Group will acquire Mechel’s Voskhod Mining Plant (in Khromtau, Kazakhstan) and Tikhvin Ferroalloy Plant (in Tikhvin, Leningrad Region, Russia) for a total of U.S.$425 million. Yildrim Group was the winning bidder in a tender process to acquire the assets. The deal is subject to receipt by the parties of certain governmental approvals in Russia and Kazakhstan, including the waiver of the Kazakhstan state pre-emptive right, on which Dechert is also currently advising. Société Générale Corporate and Investment Bank and ING Bank are also advising Mechel on this transaction. The Dechert corporate team advising Mechel is being led by Moscow partner Laura Brank, head of Dechert’s Russia Practice, assisted by national partner Evgenia Korotkova, counsel Olga Watson, and associates Irina Kulyba and Kirill Skopchevskiy. Almaty national partner Victor Mokrousov and associates Nadezhda Oparina and Yelena Pestereva are advising on various Kazakhstan law matters, including regulatory issues. Additional counsel is being provided by London partners Corinna Mitchell and Mark Stapleton, and London associate Liselot Ronz. Mechel is an international mining and steel company that employs over 80,000 people. Its products are marketed in Europe, Asia, North and South America, and Africa. Mechel’s business includes producers of coal, iron ore concentrate, steel, rolled products, ferroalloys, heat and electric power. All of its enterprises work in a single production chain, from raw materials to high value-added products. Yildirim Group is a Turkey-based private diversified industrial group comprising enterprises from ten different industries in various countries. It owns ETI KROM INC., Turkey’s largest producer of chrome ore as well as high-quality high-carbon ferrochrome, and Vargön Alloys AB, one of the oldest ferrochrome plants in Sweden. Yildirim Group is the world’s largest hard lumpy chrome ore producer as well as the world’s second largest high-quality high-carbon ferrochrome producer.
Written by John on 19 February 2013.
♦ Recent Deals ♦ Almaty, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Singapore
Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised on two successful high yield bond offerings out of Greater China, one out of China's oil and gas sector and one out of Macau’s gaming and entertainment sector, representing the underwriter banks of each transaction. White & Case advised Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as joint lead managers of MIE Holdings Corporation’s high yield issue of US$200 million 6.875 percent Senior Notes due 2018. This offering closed on February 6, 2013. MIE Holdings Corporation is an independent oil and gas company engaged in the exploration and production of oil and gas in China, Kazakhstan and the United States. White & Case also advised Deutsche Bank, ANZ, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citigroup as joint lead managers of the high yield offering of US$1 billion 5.0 percent Senior Notes due 2021 issued by Melco Crown Entertainment Limited’s subsidiary, MCE Finance Limited. Melco Crown Entertainment, through its subsidiaries, is a developer, owner and operator of casino gaming and entertainment resort facilities in Macau. The proceeds are being used to repurchase in full MCE Finances US$600 million 10.25 percent Senior Notes due 2018, through an ongoing tender offer and for the partial repayment of RMB 2.3 billion 3.75 percent bonds due 2013. Together with the Chinese property high yield bond on which the firm recently advised, White & Case's Asia capital markets team has closed high yield bonds offerings valued in aggregate at US$1.6 billion in the week before Chinese New Year. "We have had a strong start to 2013, showing market appetite among high yield investors looking to key sectors in Asia – natural resources, entertainment and gaming, and property. We expect that many companies will be able to benefit from the high yield markets this year, and Asia will be again be a major destination for international investment," said White & Case partner Anna-Marie Slot. The White & Case deal teams were led by Hong Kong-based partner Anna-Marie Slot. The team advising the underwriters on the Kazakh law elements of MIE Holdings’ offering was led by Almaty-based partner Maxim Telemtayev.
Written by John on 12 February 2013.
♦ Recent Deals ♦ Almaty, Kazakhstan, Moscow, Russia
Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised Kazakhstan's "BTA Bank" JSC (the "Bank") on the restructuring of approximately US$11.1 billion of its financial indebtedness. The restructuring involved the holders of various classes of Eurobonds issued in connection with the Bank's first restructuring in 2010 and the lenders under the Bank's revolving committed trade finance facility, all of whom were represented in negotiations by a 10-member steering committee, and also involved JSC "Sovereign Wealth Fund "Samruk-Kazyna". The Bank's restructuring plan was approved on 5 December 2012 by creditors holding 93.8 per cent of the total financial indebtedness subject to the restructuring, having previously been approved by the Bank's shareholders on 3 December 2012. The Specialised Financial Court of Almaty approved the restructuring plan on 13 December 2012 and declared the restructuring completed on 28 December 2012. As a result of the restructuring, the Bank's existing Eurobonds were cancelled and the creditors were paid US$1,618 million of cash and issued US$750,000,000 of new senior notes, as well as new equity in the Bank. Further, the Bank's revolving committed trade finance facility was amended and restated to, among other things, extend its maturity and US$1,189 million of Samruk-Kazyna's deposits with the Bank were converted into equity. Samruk-Kazyna also made a US$1,592 million loan to the Bank which was subordinated to the new senior debt and the trade finance facility. The restructuring proceedings received recognition in the courts of the USA, the UK, Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine. On 19 December 2012, a permanent stay preventing any creditors from bringing further proceedings against the Bank in the UK was granted by the High Court and on 3 January 2013 the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York granted a permanent injunction against further proceedings against the Bank or its assets in the United States. White & Case had advised the Bank on its first restructuring, completed in August 2010, relating to approximately US$16.65 billion of indebtedness and also advised on the successful US$4.5 billion debt restructuring of JSC Alliance Bank, which completed in March 2010. "Although BTA's creditor profile in the second restructuring was much simpler than it had been in 2010, there were still some novel issues faced in 2012 such as the position of the recovery unit holders and the terms of the subordinated loan from Samruk-Kazyna, which gave the creditors the credit enhancement they wanted without the need for any direct credit support. Congratulations to the BTA team on a job well done," said White & Case partner Francis Fitzherbert-Brockholes. White & Case LLP's team was led by London partners Francis Fitzherbert-Brockholes and Ian Clark and included London associates Chris Horte, Dave Gossen, James Clarke, Martin Mojzis and Gulzhan Nurakhmet, whilst partners John Higham QC and Charles Balmain, associate Laetitia Souesme and trainee solicitor Laura Smith handled the recognition applications in the UK. The Almaty-based team was led by partner Maxim Telemtayev and senior associate Askar Zhansagimov and included counsel Kairat Baizakov and local partners Pavel Kornilov and Vilen Adjivefayev. The New York team included partner Michael Shepherd and associates Richard Graham and Ian Silverbrand and the Moscow team included associates Pavel Boulatov and Daria Vasilieva. The Bank's financial advisers were Lazard Frères.
Written by John on 11 January 2013.
♦ Recent Deals ♦ Almaty, Kazakhstan
Dechert’s London-based emerging markets team has advised on two important capital markets transactions involving Kazakhstan issuers, including what is believed to be the world’s first-ever successfully completed 144A intermediated exchange. Dechert advised JSC Development Bank of Kazakhstan (DBK) in connection with the intermediated exchange offer for an aggregate principal amount of US$500,000,000 of its US$777,000,000 5.50% Notes due 2015, the update of DBK’s US$2,000,000,000 Medium Term Note Programme and the issuance of US$1,000,000,000 4.125% Notes due 2022 under the Programme. JP Morgan Securities plc, VTB Capital plc and JSC Halyk Finance acted as joint lead managers, and VTB Capital was the offeror in the intermediated exchange offer. Dechert also advised Barclays Bank PLC, HSBC Bank plc and J.P. Morgan Securities plc, as joint lead managers, in connection with the issuance of US$300,000,000 6.95% Notes due 2042 issued by Kazakhstan Temir Zholy Finance B.V. and guaranteed by JSC National Company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, JSC Kaztemirtrans and JSC Lokomotiv, which are consolidated with and form a single series with the US$800,000,000 6.95% Notes due 2042 issued in July 2012. Partner Louise Roman Bernstein led on both transactions, assisted by associates Patrick Lyons and Jennifer Buckett on the first matter and associate Giles Belsey on the second. Almaty Partner Kenneth Mack and associates Yevgeniya Nossova and Yelena Pestereva advised on Kazakhstan law matters. Said Louise: “We are delighted to have advised on these two landmark transactions, which are further milestones in the development of Kazakhstan in the international capital markets. I am especially pleased to continue our strong track record of advising on debt capital markets and liability management transactions from Kazakhstan, which not only represents Dechert’s growing success in this key emerging market, but also confirms the firm’s commitment to our new Almaty practice set up earlier this year."