Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises EQT on its minority investment in VBill, a leading third-party payment service provider in China

Leading international law firm Clifford Chance has advised the EQT Mid Market Asia III fund (EQT) on its proposed 10% minority investment into VBill Limited (VBill) by way of subscription of new shares to be issued by a holding company which controls VBill through a variable interest entity (VIE) structure. This investment values VBill's 100% equity value at RMB5,880 million (US$876 million).

EQT is a leading investment firm with more than EUR50 billion in raised capital across 28 funds.

VBill is a leading third-party payment service provider and merchant acquirer in China with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and is currently a subsidiary of Hong Kong listed Hi Sun Technology (China) Limited.

Closing of the transaction is subject to satisfaction of various conditions, including but not limited to shareholders' approval of Hi Sun.

Partner Bryan Koo led on the deal with support from partner Zhang Hong, senior associates Ervin Chan and Kimi Liu, associates Jonathan Yan and Queping Chen, and trainee Cecilia Chan.

Bryan said, "The PRC SME market continues to thrive as we embrace the service economy; businesses are continuing to look for more efficient infrastructure for payments and billing and this investment reflects the potential in the PRC fintech and payment system space. We are very pleased to have assisted EQT with this investment to support further growth and expansion."

In recent months, Clifford Chance has acted on listings by innovative Chinese technology companies such as Maoyan, Weimob, iDreamsky, and Xiaomi Corporation.