Sidley advised on the initial public offering (IPO) of Strawbear Entertainment Group (HKEX: 2125) (Strawbear) on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (HKEX). The offering size was approximately HK$975 million (equivalent to approximately US$125.74 million). The Sidley team acted as Hong Kong legal counsel for the joint sponsors and joint representatives China Merchants Securities (HK) Co., Limited and China Securities (International) Corporate Finance Company Limited and underwriters in the offering. Underwriters included China Merchants Securities (HK) Co., Limited, China Securities (International) Corporate Finance Company Limited, China Renaissance Securities (Hong Kong) Limited, ABCI Securities Company Limited, ABCI Capital Limited, Haitong International Securities Company Limited, BOCOM International Securities Limited, Huatai Financial Holdings (Hong Kong) Limited, CMB International Capital Limited, Futu Securities International (Hong Kong) Limited, US Tiger Securities, Inc., and China Galaxy International Securities (Hong Kong) Co., Limited.
Strawbear is a major drama series producer and distributor in the P.R.C., covering the investment, development, production, and distribution of TV and web series. According to the Frost & Sullivan report, Strawbear ranked fourth among all drama series producers and distributors in the P.R.C. in terms of the number of first-run broadcast TV series in 2019, representing a market share of 6.0%.
Mr. Liu Xiaofeng, Chairman and CEO, and Ms. Zhai Fang, COO of Strawbear, comments: “The Sidley team demonstrated their culture of collegiality during the pandemic. They offered great service with excellent legal skills, rich experience and profound insight in TMT, as well as dedication and commitment, to guide us through the listing process. We are impressed by their performance, and we look forward to future cooperation with each member of the Sidley team.”
The Sidley team included partner Meng Ding, with the support of associate Guanlin Wang, China advisor Eason Qu, and others.
Sidley is identified as a No. 1 IPO law firm in Hong Kong. According to the most recent data compiled by RyanBen Capital, Sidley remains the No. 1 legal adviser in the Hong Kong IPO league table by deal volume in the past 24 months (January 2019 to December 2020).
