Leading offshore firm Appleby acted as Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands counsel for New Asset Management Limited (the Manager) in relation to the listing of units of New Century Real Estate Investment Trust on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 10 July 2013, with gross proceeds of approximately HK$680 million. New Century REIT, which owns five five-star New Century hotels in China, is the first China hotel focused REIT to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The Appleby team was led by Judy Lee, a corporate partner in Appleby’s Hong Kong office, assisted by associate, Julia Tam. Latham & Watkins advised New Asset Management Limited as to Hong Kong and U.S. law, while King & Wood Mallesons advised as to PRC law respectively. Baker & McKenzie advised DB Trustees (Hong Kong) Limited, the trustee of New Century REIT.
Morgan Stanley Asia Limited and Standard Chartered Securities (Hong Kong) Limited were the joint global coordinators and joint listing agents of the transactions. The joint bookrunners and joint lead underwriters included Morgan Stanley Asia Limited, Standard Chartered Securities (Hong Kong) Limited, BOCI Asia Limited, BOCOM International Securities Limited, CCB International Capital Limited, China Galaxy International Securities (Hong Kong) Co., Limited and Haitong International Securities Company Limited. Paul Hastings advised them as to Hong Kong and U.S. law, while Jingtian & Gongcheng advised as to PRC law.
New Century REIT has been formed to own an investment portfolio of hotel properties initially in China. The REIT manager believes the formation of New Century REIT follows a global trend to separate hotel ownership from hotel operation, allowing hotel manager to focus on hotel operation and brand extension, and hotel REITs to focus on asset ownership and growth opportunities. New Century REIT’s primary objectives will be to provide regular and stable distributions and in the NAV per Unit of New Century REIT, while maintaining an appropriate capital structure.
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