China Business Law Journal, a well-known international law journal, published the Deals of the Year 2021 on February 22, 2022. With its constant reporting of the China market, China Business Law Journal selected the deals that stand out as the Deals of the Year 2021, in terms of the overall significance, complexity, and innovative nature of the deals and cases, as well as deal size.

Five projects represented by AnJie win Deals of the Year 2021 of China Business Law Journal, covering the sectors of Investment & Financing, M&A, IP, Bankruptcy Reorganization, Capital Market, New Energy, Insurance, and Internet Technology.

Founder Group’s USD11bn restructuring（CATEGORIES: Bankruptcy reorganisation）

KEY POINTS: Under the guidance of the State’s major strategies of encouraging insurance funds to support the development of the real economy and promoting the reform of university-run enterprises, an investor consortium comprising Ping An Life Insurance, Zhuhai Huafa, and Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Development Group participated in the RMB69.7 billion merger and reorganization of Founder Group and four other companies. The consolidated new Founder Group, set up with retained assets, is majority-owned by Ping An. The judicial reorganization of Founder Group is one of the largest bankruptcy cases of non-financial institutions since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, involving a massive scale of claims and touching on financial stability, which also concerns the standardization of university-run enterprises, and thus has significant social effect, making it a tough task. The restructuring was as complex as it was extensive, involving an innovative sale-based reorganization model, designed to shield investors from Founder Group’s potential debts or risks, change of actual controller of listed companies, and third-party benefit trust of property rights.AnJie law firm provides special legal services for Ping An Life Insurance, and the leading partners are lawyers Zhan Hao, Chen Jun and Song Ying.

HT Aero’s series A financing（CATEGORIES: Financing; new energyn）

KEY POINTS: HT Aero, an urban air mobility company and an affiliate of Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Xpeng Motors, raised more than USD500 million in its series A financing, the largest single-tranche fundraising by far for low-altitude flying vehicle space start-ups in Asia. The company says the proceeds will be used to acquire talent and R&D.

AnJie law firm provides legal services for Wuyuan capital, and the leading partners are lawyers Cai hang and Gu Long.

Weichai’s acquisition of Lovol Heavy（CATEGORIES: M&A）

KEY POINTS: Weichai Power, one of the largest diesel engine suppliers in China, bought 39.31% of diversified machinery manufacturer Lovol Heavy Industry in July 2021 from Arbos Technology Group and Qingte, becoming the second-largest shareholder of Lovol Heavy after its holding company Weichai Group.

Six months earlier, aided by the Shandong provincial government, Weichai Group accomplished a strategic reorganisation of Lovol Heavy, holding about 60% of the total issued shares of the company.

AnJie law firm acts as the agent of Arbos technology group, and the leading partners are lawyers Wang Yu and Wang Xuelei.

Bilibili’s secondary Hong Kong listing（CATEGORIES: Hong Kong listing; internet）

KEY POINTS: Bilibili, one of the largest video streaming websites in China, completed its secondary listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange, with a market value of USD2.5 billion. Bilibili is the first company to complete a secondary listing, following the Hong Kong Listing Rules as a “non-grandfathered Greater China issuer” with a weighted voting rights structure.

AnJie law firm acts as the legal adviser of BiliBili China, and the lead partner is lawyer Guo Jinglian.

SPC jurisdiction finding in SEP dispute（CATEGORIES: Intellectual property; jurisdiction dispute）

KEY POINTS:Sharp and OPPO negotiated on the licensing of Sharp’s standard essential patents (SEPs), but no agreement was reached. Sharp then initiated a patent infringement lawsuit against OPPO in Japan and Germany, which OPPO considered violations of FRAND (fair reasonable and non-discriminatory) obligations, and therefore filed a lawsuit with the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court (SIPC), requesting it to make a decision on the global rate for licensing of relevant SEPs owned by Sharp to OPPO.Sharp filed a jurisdictional objection to the case.This is the first time that the Supreme People’s court has made it clear in the standard essential patent litigation that Chinese courts have jurisdiction over the dispute over the global licensing conditions of a package of standard essential patents.The two companies eventually agreed to enter into a patent licensing agreement in October 2021, and ended their global litigation.

AnJie law firm acts as sharp’s agent. At the same time, it also acts as sharp’s wholly-owned subsidiary SAIN Beiji Co., Ltd. together with another law firm. The leading partners are lawyers Liu Qinghui, Wu Li and Chen Zhixing.