Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises on three pioneer Swiss GDR listings as lead counsel under the expanded China-Europe Stock Connect scheme

Leading international law firm Clifford Chance has advised on three out of four market-first global depositary receipts (GDRs) listings on the SIX Swiss Exchange by China-listed issuers as lead counsel. This follows the expansion of the original Shanghai-London Stock Connect scheme into China-Europe Stock Connect scheme to also encompass the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, SIX Swiss Exchange and German Stock Exchange.

China Co-Managing Partner Tim Wang and partners Fang Liu and Jean Thio were the lead partners on the three listings which are to be listed on SIX on 28 July 2022.

Fang and Jean advised Gotion High Tech Co., Ltd (Gotion) on its US$685 million offering and were assisted by counsel Lorna Lyu, senior associate Emma Bao and associates Shiyuan Pei, April Zhang and Meng Mao. Gotion is a leading lithium-ion power batteries company.

Tim and Jean co-led a team in Shanghai including counsel Lorna Lyu, senior associate Qingyu Wu, associates Edward Xie and Meng Mao in advising CLSA as the sole global coordinator on the GDR listing of Gem Co., Ltd (Gem) with an offering size of US$346 million. Gem is a green technology developer in waste battery recycling.

Simultaneously, the same team advised Huatai Financial and Guotai Junan Securities as joint global co-ordinators on the GDR listing of Ningbo Shanshan Co., Ltd (Ningbo Shanshan) with an offering size of US$319 million. Ningbo Shanshan manufactures and sells lithium-ion anode materials and polarisers.

London-based partner Chris Roe and senior associate Anjaneya Das advised on the depositary agreements and related GDR arrangements for all three listings.

Tim said, "Our team is immensely proud to have advised on three hallmark Swiss GDR listings in the energy and waste management sectors which are a great example of our market-leading work. These listings, together with our work in advising on London GDR offerings, showcase our firm's strong track record in advising cross-border GDR listings."

Fang said, "Shortly after we advised on the Tianqi Lithium's US$2 billion Hong Kong IPO – the largest Hong Kong IPO for 2022 thus far, we worked on three new energy issuers' GDR listings, where their businesses span across the batteries value chain from lithium-ion anode materials to batteries recycling. It once again demonstrates China-based companies' market-leading role in the sector and Clifford Chance's insights and expertise in working with the most important market players to drive the global decarbonisation efforts."

Jean added, "We are honoured to act as a lead counsel on these cross-border GDR listings which require parties involved to consider the rules and regulations across multiple jurisdictions and their complex interplays. I am glad that our teams are able to assist our clients in navigating these regulatory complexities in a highly co-ordinated and seamless way."

The firm has also been at the forefront of advising on GDR offerings under the Shanghai-London Stock Connect scheme. More details can be found here.