Harneys wins 11 China Business Law Journal 2025 Deal of the Year Awards
The deals
Newborn Town’s HK$1.983 billion buyout of NBT: Acting as Cayman counsel to Newborn Town Inc in relation to its acquisition of all shares of NBT Social Networking by issuing new shares to NBT's existing shareholders and making cash payments. The total valuation of NBT is approximately HK$5.1 billion. The new shares were issued on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
DualityBio's HK$1.64 billion Hong Kong IPO: Acting as Cayman Islands counsel to Duality Biotherapeutics, Inc. in connection with its global offering and listing on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with total proceeds of approximately HK$1.64 billion.
Grandblue HK$11 billion privatisation of Canvest: Acting as Cayman Islands counsel to Grandblue Environment in connection with its privatisation transaction of Canvest Environmental, a listed company on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Grandblue acquired approximately 92.78 per cent of Canvest's shares for approximately HK$11 billion.
Haitian HK$10.1 billion HKEX IPO: Acting as the BVI counsel to Foshan Haitian Flavoring and Food Co Ltd. on its groundbreaking global offering and listing on the Main Board of The Hong Kong Stock Exchange Ltd, which raised approximately HK$10.1 billion. This deal became one of the largest IPOs on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2025.
JD US$520 million privatisation of Dada Nexus: Acting as Cayman Islands Counsel to JD.com, Inc in relation to the US$520 million going-private transaction of Dada Nexus Limited, China’s leading local on-demand retail and delivery platform.
Kaisa offshore debt restructuring: Acting as Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands counsel to Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd. on its successful restructuring of approximately US$12.3 billion in offshore debt – the largest offshore debt restructuring of a Chinese real estate company that has been sanctioned to date.
Logan Group onshore and overseas debt restructuring: Acting as offshore counsel for Citicorp, in its capacity as trustee of the 5.75 per cent Senior Notes due 2025 issued by Logan Group, a Hong Kong-listed PRC property developer. The matter involved Logan Group's offshore debt restructuring of approximately US$6.6 billion.
New World Development's HK$88 billion refinancing: Acting as British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands counsel to New World Development Company Limited in connection with its historic HK$88 billion financing transaction, one of the largest ever in Hong Kong’s real estate sector.
SF Holding HK$5.83 billion HKEX IPO: Acting as British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands counsel to SF Holding, Asia’s leading logistics provider, in its groundbreaking global offering and listing on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The listing raised approximately HK$5.83 billion.
Sunac offshore onshore and overseas debt restructuring: Acting as offshore counsel for the ad hoc group of bondholders of Sunac China, a Hong Kong-listed property developer in the PRC, in relation to Sunac China’s financial restructuring of its offshore liabilities amounting to approximately US$10.2 billion.
Yuzhou Group offshore debt restructuring: Acting as Cayman Islands counsel for Yuzhou Group in relation to the successful restructuring of its US$6.7 billion offshore debt liabilities.
Shanghai Managing Partner Vicky Lord commented, “We are delighted to have received 11 Deal of the Year awards from China Business Law Journal, a significant achievement that highlights our commitment to delivering outstanding legal services and innovative solutions to our clients. These awards reflect the dedication and expertise of our teams, who continually rise to the challenges of dynamic and fast-changing markets. We thank our clients for their continued trust and support, and China Business Law Journal for this recognition."
Every year, the China Business Law Journal gathers feedback from hundreds of in-house counsel and industry professionals, along with the editorial team's feedback, and compiles a prestigious award list.
The Harneys network is one of the largest among offshore law firms in Asia. It operates in Mainland China under Aristodemou Loizides Yiolitis LLC, Shanghai Representative Office, a member of the Harneys Group. Harneys is the first offshore law firm with a full-service legal team on the ground in China, including an experienced Dispute Resolution team that focusses on offshore litigation, insolvency, and asset recovery, as well as a leading Corporate team that advises on all aspects of capital raising and investment management.
