Sidley Austin Advises JPMorgan and UBS on a US$400 Million High Yield Offering for Greentown China Holdings Limited

Sidley Austin Advises JPMorgan and UBS on a US$400 Million High Yield Offering for Greentown China Holdings Limited

December 05, 2006

    HONG KONG, Dec. 5 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- International
law firm Sidley Austin acted as U.S. counsel to the initial
purchasers JPMorgan and UBS in connection with Greentown
China Holdings Limited's (Greentown) issuance of its US$400
million 9% Senior Notes due 2013, including "high
yield" covenants, pursuant to Regulation S and Rule
144A.  

    Matthew Sheridan, a partner in Sidley's Hong Kong
office, led the transaction. This is the fifth high yield
bond offering that Sidley has worked on in Asia to have
closed successfully this year. 

    Mr. Sheridan notes, "The special features of this
transaction included structuring the covenants to allow the
company flexibility to invest in minority-owned entities,
within the framework of traditional high yield covenants.
The challenge is to introduce complex products like high
yield debt, particularly in Asia, where the product is not
yet prevalent.  We particularly enjoy working with issuers
and underwriters to expand the market for this
product."

    This latest transaction is the third occasion in which
Sidley has advised the underwriters in connection with a
transaction for Greentown. In January 2006, Sidley
represented JPMorgan in connection with Greentown's US$150
million convertible bond offering and in July 2006, Sidley
also acted for the underwriters, JPMorgan and UBS, in
connection with Greentown's US$400 million initial public
offering, with a listing on the main board of The Stock
Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK) and international placements
pursuant to Rule 144A and Regulation S. Partners Timothy Li
and Constance Choy of Sidley's Hong Kong office acted on
those transactions.

    Greentown, headquartered in Hangzhou (Zhejiang
Province), China, is one of the leading residential
property developers in China.

    Notes for Editors:

    Sidley is one of the world's largest full-service law
firms, with more than 1,700 lawyers practicing in 15
offices in Asia, Europe and the U.S.  Sidley is
consistently ranked at the top of the Thomson Financial
league tables. 

    For 2005, the firm was ranked as:

    -- top issuer counsel and third as underwriter counsel
for U.S. debt, 
       equity and equity-related offerings; 

    -- top issuer counsel and top underwriter counsel for
U.S. investment grade 
       debt; and

    -- top issuer counsel and third underwriter counsel for
U.S. straight debt, 
       including asset-backed and mortgage backed
securities.

    In Asia, lawyers in the corporate finance team advise
clients on U.S., Hong Kong and English law in connection
with all types of equity, debt and equity-linked
transactions, including SEC-registered offerings in the
United States, international securities offerings pursuant
to Rule 144A and Regulation S governed by U.S. and English
law, The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Main Board and Growth
Enterprise Market (GEM) listings, and issuances involving
the creation of ADR or GDR programs.

    In 2005, Sidley ranked first in relation to the number
of transactions advising issuers and first (tied) in
relation to the number of transactions advising
underwriters for listings on The Stock Exchange of Hong
Kong Mainboard. (Asian Legal Business, Jan 2006).

    In 2006, Sidley was named to Legal Business' Global
Elite, their survey of "the 15 finest law firms in the
world."  

    For more information, please contact:

     Matthew Sheridan, Partner
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

     Lisa Kong, Marketing Manager
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail] 

SOURCE  Sidley Austin