Deal highlights

Xiaomi issuance

Xiaomi Corporation’s (guarantor) wholly-owned subsidiary, Xiaomi Best Time International (issuer) issued US$600 million in 3.375% senior notes due 2030. The issuance closed on 29 April 2020. The notes are listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and will be guaranteed by Xiaomi unconditionally and irrevocably.

Skadden acted as the US and Hong Kong legal counsel to the issuer, while Allen & Overy acted as US counsel to the initial purchasers (including Goldman Sachs (Asia), JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley). Maples Group acted as Cayman Islands legal counsel to the guarantor.

Baidu issued an aggregate of US$600 million notes due 2025, and US$400 million notes due 2030. The issuance was closed on 7 April 2020.

Skadden and Han Kun Law Offices acted for issuer as the US and PRC legal counsel, respectively.

Maples Group acted as Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands counsel to the issuer. Davis Polk and Jingtian & Gongcheng acted as US legal counsel, respectively, to the underwriters, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Securities.

Pinduoduo’s private placement

Skadden advised Pinduoduo, a technology platform and leading Chinese e-commerce player, on its US$1.1 billion private placement of class A common shares to certain long-term investors. Davis Polk advised on Tencent’s purchase of about US$50 million of class A ordinary shares in cash in the private placement.

Tencent has been one of the principal shareholders in Pinduoduo since February 2017. After the investment, Tencent holds about 16.5% of Pinduoduo’s total outstanding shares.

The Skadden team was led by partner Julie Gao, and the Davis Polk team was led by partner Miranda So.