Akin Gump has advised CITIC PE, a private equity fund associated with a unit of China’s CITIC Private Equity Funds Management Co., Ltd., in its successful buyout of Chinese biotech firm 3SBio Inc. CITIC PE formed a consortium with the management team of 3SBio Inc. in connection with the transaction.
The deal closed on May 30, 2013, and valued the company at approximately $338.3 million, taking it private.
3SBio is based in Shenyang, China, and focuses on R&D, manufacturing and marketing biopharmaceutical products, primarily in China, related to nephrology, oncology and infection diseases, among others.
To implement the buyout, Decade Sunshine Limited, an exempted company with limited liability incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands and wholly owned by the consortium group, merged its wholly owned subsidiary Decade Sunshine Merger Sub, an exempted company with limited liability incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, into 3SBio Inc., with Decade Sunshine owning 100 percent of 3SBio Inc. post merger. The merger has been financed through a combination of debt, equity and cash.
China CITIC Bank International Limited provided debt financing for the transaction. CITIC PE provided the equity financing.
Gregory Puff, corporate partner and head of Akin Gump’s Hong Kong office and Asia practice, supported by Hong Kong partner Zach Wittenberg and Hong Kong counsel David Lee, led the legal team advising CITIC PE.
