Baker McKenzie advised CCB (Asia) Trustee Company Limited ("CCB (Asia) Trustee"), the trustee of Aquila Acquisition Corporation, in respect of the SPAC’s listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 18 March. Aquila Acquisition Corporation is the first SPAC to be listed in Hong Kong.
The Baker McKenzie team was led by partners Karen Man and Jeremy Ong from Baker McKenzie’s Financial Services Group, who were supported by lawyers Jacquelynne Baey and Cynthia Lam.
Karen Man, Global Chair of the Firm’s Financial Services Regulatory Practice, said: "We are honoured to have advised CCB (Asia) Trustee on the listing of Aquila Acquisition Corporation. There were novel and unique challenges, this being the first SPAC to be listed in Hong Kong, and we are very pleased to bring our strong regulatory compliance and transactional capabilities to the table and assist our client to close this transaction."
Commenting on the transaction, Jeremy Ong also noted that “The SPAC regime, which offers an alternative route to issuers seeking to tap Hong Kong’s deep pool of quality investors, is an important milestone in the development of Hong Kong’s capital markets. Given interest expressed by other SPAC promoters to date, we expect SPAC-related deal activities will likely remain strong and look forward to working with promoters, trustees and sponsors to seize the opportunities that this new regime offers."
Morgan Stanley Asia Limited and CMB International Capital Limited were the joint sponsors for this listing, as well as the joint global coordinators together with BNP Paribas Securities (Asia) Limited, and the joint bookrunners together with BNP Paribas Securities (Asia) Limited and Yue Xiu Securities Company Limited.