Allens

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• Kate AxupPartner
  Kate.Axup@allens.com.au

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Allens has one of the most experienced teams of any international law firm in China. Allens became officially licensed by the Ministry of Justice in 1996 as one of the earliest international law firms to operate in the PRC. The Beijing office is an integral part of our Greater China practice, and works closely with our office in Hong Kong.

Our Beijing office has particularly strong experience in energy and resources, corporate and commercial, projects and infrastructure, banking and financial services, real estate, and trade and distribution work. Our credentials, expertise and experience in these areas have seen us consistently ranked by independent surveys as a leading foreign law firm in the PRC.

Increasingly, we are working with Chinese companies interested in entering the Australian market. Our team includes Australian and Chinese bilingual lawyers, who have hands-on experience working in both countries and are well versed in the issues facing their investors.

A leading firm Asia wide in Projects, Infrastructure & Energy
Chambers Asia 2010

Finalist, M&A Deal of the Year
ALB China Law Awards 2010

A leading firm in China/Hong Kong in Banking & Finance, Corporate/M&A, Investment Funds, Insurance, and Real Estate and Projects and Infrastructure
Chambers Asia 2010

Recent experience includes:

• advised Rio Tinto in relation to the US$19.5 billion investment in the Rio Tinto Group, through a combination of convertible bonds at parent company level of US$7.2 billion and investment at individual asset level of US$12.3 billion. The extremely complex matter covered all disciplines, including corporate, resources, tax and regulatory, and also involved the establishment of some novel forms of synthetic investments;
• acted on the Chuandongbei sour gas project, a joint venture with China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC). The deal, to develop and operate a gas field in western China in cooperation with CNPC, is China's largest onshore natural gas joint venture involving a foreign partner;
• advised Roc Oil Company Limited on its acquisition of a 24.5 per cent operated interest in the Zhao Dong Block in the Bohai Bay, offshore China, via the purchase of 100 per cent of the shares of Apache China Corporation LDC from its parent company, Apache Corporation. Allens’ role encompassed advising on the equity raisings, and our Shanghai and Beijing offices undertook due diligence;
• advised Penfold and China Mining Partners Limited on significant pre-IPO investment in a major PRC resources company operating in central and western China. We also advised on critical share conversion and listing issues prior to the listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange;
• advised Hunan Non-Ferrous Company Limited on an investment in the Australian resources sector shortly after a successful IPO in Hong Kong;
• advising a major Chinese state-owned investment corporation on strategic offshore fund investments;
• advising a major oil and gas company in respect of its entry into off-shore China oil and gas contracts, and related China regulatory issues;
• advised Standard Chartered Bank and Bayerische Hypo-un Vereinsbank AG on the financing for a US$95 million development of the Jinfeng gold mine in Guizhou Province, Southern China;
• assisted The Bank of New York Mellon on a range of banking and financial services matters in Hong Kong and the PRC, including: advising on Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Securities and Futures Commission requirements; reviewing and documenting custody arrangements in Hong Kong and the PRC; advising on matters concerning the expanding PRC Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor regime; and advising on the PRC regulatory aspects of its merger with Mellon Financial; and
• advised Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ on documentation of numerous facilities, derivatives and cash management transactions, and on regulatory and compliance issues. We have acted for BTMU in China since the mid-1990s.

Language capabilities:

English, Mandarin, Shanghainese, Japanese, Cantonese