Sidley recently helped China Youran Dairy Group Limited (HKEX:9858) (Youran Dairy) complete its successful initial public offering (IPO) and listing on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (HKEX), which raised approximately HK$3.44 billion (US$443.2 million) for the issuer. Sidley acted as Hong Kong and U.S. legal counsel for the joint sponsors and other underwriters. Huatai Financial Holdings (Hong Kong) Limited and Credit Suisse (Hong Kong) Limited were the joint sponsors and joint global coordinators. Citigroup Global Markets Asia Limited and CLSA Limited also acted as joint global coordinators.
Youran Dairy, previously a subsidiary of Yili, is a leader in China’s upstream dairy market, with an all-round business covering breeding, feed, and raw milk. According to Frost & Sullivan, Youran Dairy is China’s largest integrated upstream dairy product and service provider by revenue in 2020. In this IPO, Youran Dairy received strategic cornerstone investments from CITIC-Prudential and Harvest Private Wealth.
The Sidley team was led by partners Constance Choy and Oliver Zhong. Other team members included counsel Dominic Tsun, Claudia Yu, and Susan Wang, senior associate Madison Meng, associates Sophie Gu and Dennis Chan, China advisor Rock Liu, and legal assistants Andy Tam and Crystal Yeung.
Sidley has in recent years advised on numerous Hong Kong IPOs in the consumer industry, including Yum China Holdings, Inc. (HKEX:9987; NYSE:YUMC) and Haidilao International Holding Limited (HKEX:6862).
Sidley’s Hong Kong IPO practice continues to lead the market. According to latest data from Ryanben Capital, Sidley has remained No. 1 legal adviser in the Hong Kong IPO league table by deal volume in the past 24 months (June 2019 to May 2021).
