(This article is part of CLP's 2009 China Awards Winners coverage.)

Private equity

WINNER - Sinosteel/Midwest

This deal was the first hostile takeover of an overseas entity by a Chinese state-owned enterprise, but that doesn't begin to do justice to its complexity. Involving mostly Australian law issues, Sinosteel was subject to a number of regulatory restrictions including acquiring approval from the Australian Takeover Panel before launching its bid. The deal was extraordinarily complicated and very messy involving a number of FIRB applications to satisfy foreign ownership restrictions. And Sinosteel had to defeat an alternative bid from Murchison Metals. Given that the deal kept changing, counsel had to work around the clock on a lot of documentation and structuring issues. Despite this, it was all completed in a relatively short timeframe.

FINALISTS
China Merchants Bank/Wing Lung Bank
China Minmetals/OZ Minerals
China Unicom/China Netcom
Shanda Interactive/Hurray!
Shanghai Electric/Shanghai Power Transmission

Private equity

WINNER - Blackstone/Bluestar

As the largest FDI in China in 2008, and the largest private equity investment in China ever, this deal made a lot of headlines. Acquiring a 20% stake for US$600 million, Blackstone's investment in Bluestar was the PE firm's first in China. But it was also the largest foreign investment in a Chinese company in a non-IPO context, and the first time that a PE fund had bought into a Chinese SOE without a planned exit. Structurally, the deal was complex as previous structures – such as preferred shares, preferred convertibles, or a JV – could either not be used or had to be ruled out due to Blackstone wanting a stake. In the end Blackstone acquired common shares in Bluestar, with the deal taking a long time to gain government approval.

FINALISTS
China Vanadium Titano-Magnetite Mining pre-IPO financing
Impress/Beijing Xinmei
Jewel Crown Series A financing
Natural Beauty Bio-Technology privatisation
Olympus/Zhongwang International Group
Zoomlion/CIFA S.p.A.

Restructuring

WINNER - Peacemark