Clifford Chance advises China Baowu Group on global antitrust and FDI filings of its acquisition of Sinosteel Group

Leading international law firm Clifford Chance has advised the world’s largest steel producer China Baowu Steel Group Corporation Limited on the global merger control and foreign investment filings for its acquisition of 100% interest of Sinosteel Group Corporation Ltd.

Lead partner Yong Bai said, “This transaction is a landmark for the steel sector, a key industry for China’s economy. It builds upon our track record of regularly advising on big-ticket restructuring and mergers in strategically important industries, and firmly establishes the multi-jurisdictional capabilities of our antitrust and competition practice and deep knowledge of the Chinese market.”

Yong led the cross-border Clifford Chance team and was supported by consultant Dayu Man in Hong Kong, associate Shuai Gao, and trainees Xingzhi Liu and Ziwen Wang in Beijing.

The complex transaction also involved lawyers from the firm’s global network, as well as local counsel from multiple jurisdictions, including:

• Partner Mark Currell and senior associate Alexander Duffy in Sydney;
• Counsel Masafumi Shikakura and associate Machiko Ishii in Tokyo;
• Partners Dimitri Slobodenjuk and Torsten Syrbe, senior associates Hendrik Kühn, Julius Schradin and Olga Mizikova, and lawyer Herman Chekin in Düsseldorf;
• Partner Itır Çiftçi, senior associate Sabri Kaya, and associate Orhun Koray Özbek from Clifford Chance’s associate firm CIFTCI Attorney Partnership in Istanbul.

The Greater China antitrust team also advised on the global merger control and foreign investment control filings for other sizable transactions between Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs), including the strategic restructuring of China XD Group and related subsidiaries of State Grid Corporation, the merger between Sinochem and ChemChina, and China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited’s merger with China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation.

China Baowu Steel Group, a state-owned iron and steel company headquartered in Shanghai, is the largest iron and steel company globally. Sinosteel is a state-owned enterprise engaged in developing and processing of metallurgical mineral resources, trading and logistics of metallurgical raw materials and products, and related engineering technical service and equipment manufacture.