Sidley advised on the initial public offering (IPO) of YH Entertainment Group (HKEX:2306) (YH Entertainment) on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX). The offering raised approximately HK$391.4 million (US$50.1 million). Sidley acted as Hong Kong legal counsel for the joint sponsors and overall coordinators China Securities (International) Corporate Finance Company Limited and China Merchants Securities (HK) Co., Limited, as well as the other underwriters.
Established in 2009, YH Entertainment is a top artist management company in China, with the highest revenue-based market share, according to Frost & Sullivan. It has built a culture and entertainment platform that includes artist management, music IP production and operation, and a pan-entertainment business and manages some widely popular artists in China. In this IPO, YH Entertainment received cornerstone investments from Sun Mass Energy Development Limited, part of China Ruyi Holdings Limited, Maoyan Entertainment (HK) Limited, TradArt Asset Management Co., Limited, and from Mr. Ding Shijia, the executive director and the deputy chairman of ANTA Sports Products Limited.
The Sidley team was led by partners Oliver Zhong and Sherlyn Lau, a member of Sidley’s Executive Committee and deputy head of the China Corporate and Finance group. Other team members included senior China advisor Linda Ruan, senior managing associate Jacob Zhao, registered foreign lawyer Dennis Chan, associates Grace Hua and Yaomin Pan, senior corporate manager Hannah Wong, and senior legal assistants Alice Liu, Krystal Liang, Kristine Zhang, Jiangyuan Song, and Iris Lao.
Sidley has one of the largest Hong Kong IPO teams in the region, with more than 100 lawyers and legal professionals. It remains one of the top-ranked legal advisors by Ryanben Capital in Hong Kong IPO by deal count for the past three consecutive years. It has been ranked as a leading international law firm in the Capital Markets categories in China and Asia Pacific by Chambers for the last decade, and is also recognized by Legal 500 Asia Pacific.
