Paul, Weiss advised Silver Lake, Temasek Holdings and another
investor on their increased investments of Alibaba Group Holding
Limited, the largest e-commerce company in China, on its buyback of
shares from American multinational internet corporation, Yahoo! in
transactions valued at approximately US$7.6 billion. Paul, Weiss
also advised other investors in their purchase of convertible
preference shares in connection with this buyback.
In 2011, the Paul, Weiss team advised Silver Lake and Temasek on
their original investment in Alibaba Group.
This financing, which was a mixture of cash, senior debt and the
issuance of convertible preference and ordinary shares, is the
largest-ever private financing for a private sector Chinese company
and the largest non-LBO private financing for a technology company
globally. The new equity financing for Alibaba Group was valued at
approximately US$40 billion.
In May 2012, the two companies announced a long-term plan for
Yahoo! to reduce its stake in Alibaba Group which would ultimately
change the structure of their ongoing relationship. Alibaba Group,
as part of an amendment to the existing technology and intellectual
property license agreement, now has the right to repurchase
one-half of Yahoo!'s remaining stake upon a qualifying IPO in the
future.
The Paul, Weiss team, led by corporate partner Jeanette
Chan, included counsel Corinna Yu.