Gregory Puff, Zach Wittenberg Quoted by IFLR on Feihe Go-Private
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IFLR, in its article, “ChinaCo take-private placeholder loan first,” discusses the growing number of U.S.-listed Chinese companies that are going private and quotes Akin Gump Asia practice head and Hong Kong partner in charge Gregory Puff and corporate partner Zach Wittenberg on firm client Feihe International’s recent go-private transaction.
Feihe was incorporated in Utah, which is unusual for an Asian entity, as Puff noted in saying that the deal required knowledge of Utah corporate law by all counsel, which involved study on the part of the attorneys. However, Wittenberg added that Utah law yielded no great differences from any other deal and, in fact, Delaware corporate law set the precedent for this deal.
Regarding Feihe’s use of an onshore placeholder loan—a first for a go-private deal to support offshore debt—and the diversity of financing structures, Puff said, “If there were a magic form of financing that everyone could do and was easily closed, then it would have already been discovered. I don’t think there’s any magic out there that hasn’t been identified yet.” In addition to diverse financing structures, Wittenberg noted there are also more and different banks involved looking at these deals than at this time last year.
A March 6 press release reporting Akin Gump’s work on the Feihe merger and go-private transaction can be read here.
