DeHeng Advised NPAC on Acquiring Wholly-owned Shares in Five NB Joint Ventures

2022-06-17

Recently, the world-renowned paint manufacturer, Nippon Paint Automotive Coatings ("NPAC”), completed the acquisition of wholly-owned shares in five Chinese auto paint joint ventures ("NB Coatings”), and realized 100% ownership. The equity transfer consideration involved was about RMB 350 million.

Prior to the deal, NPAC had a 60% controlling stake in each of the five joint ventures. The acquisition of the remaining 40% equity would be conducive to promoting NPAC's integration and integrated operation strategy for automotive paint business in the Chinese market and increasing its market share.

Although the transaction was a minority acquisition, it still needed to file for the concentration of operators with the National Anti-monopoly Bureau. With its rich declaration experience and in-depth understanding of the industry involved in this project, DeHeng assisted the client in completing the work including determination of the declaration plan and applicable procedures, definition of relevant markets, market competition analysis and preparation of declaration documents, and finally obtaining the unconditional approval from the National Anti-monopoly Bureau. 

As the legal counsel of the acquirer NPAC, the DeHeng team, led by Zhang Zhonggang, a partner of Shanghai Office, and Hu Tie, a partner of Beijing Office, with primary support from lawyers Nie Bomin, Fu Yunqing and Wang Ting, provided comprehensive, efficient and high-quality legal services for the deal, including designing the transaction structure, due diligence, anti-monopoly declaration, drafting and finalizing transaction documents, negotiation, and assistance in completing delivery procedures.