ZICO Insights Law LLC, in a deal noted by The Business Times as one of the ‘Key M&A Deals of 2019’, recently advised AVIC International Maritime Holdings Limited (“AIMHL”) as the offeree counsel. AIMHL is an SGX-ST Catalist Board listed company which provides integrated solutions in the marine business including shipbuilding project management and consultancy, design and engineering, shipbuilding, and ship-trading.

The deal is in regards to a pre-conditional voluntary general offer (“Pre-Conditional VGO”) by China Merchants Industry Investment Limited (“Offeror”) for all the issued and paid-up ordinary shares in the capital of the Company. The formal offer, which was made on 11 November 2019 and turned unconditional on 26 November 2019, is valued at over SGD 31.6 million.

The Offeror is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Merchants Industry Holdings Co., Ltd., which is a central state-owned enterprise based in Hong Kong SAR and a leading offshore engineering equipment and service provider. The Offeror is of the view that AIMHL’s businesses is complementary to its own, and that the acquisition will lead to potential synergies that can be created, including cross-selling to an enlarged customer base, economies of scale, improvement of productivity and cost efficiency, as well as the sharing of domain knowledge such as know-how and best practices. The ZICO Insights Law team on the deal comprises Yap Lian Seng (Managing Director), Dr Qiu Yang (Director), and Associates Denzel Chua and Troy Ang.

ZICO Insights Law LLC was established in 2015 and extends ZICO Law’s capability to offer Singapore, multi-ASEAN and multinational clients of the network access to Singapore law advice, whilst remaining connected to the resources of the entire ZICO Law network.

The firm is led by an experienced group of Directors who collectively have vast experience in banking and finance, capital markets, and corporate law, among others. Directors Yap Lian Seng and Dr Qiu Yang regularly work on some of the largest transactions in Singapore in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, restructuring, and other corporate exercises.