Slaughter and May, Hong Kong, is advising Kingdee International Software Group Company Limited (Kingdee) in relation to the allotment and issue new shares of approximately 4.26% of the enlarged issued share capital of Kingdee immediately following completion of the subscription by Al-Rayyan Holding LLC (Subscriber), a subsidiary of Qatar Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar (the Subscription).
The Subscription was announced on 10 December 2023 and closed on 14 December 2023, raising approximately HK$1,561.7 million (approximately US$200.0 million). China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Securities Limited (CICC) acted for Kingdee as its sole financial adviser in relation to the Subscription.
The net proceeds of the Subscription will be used towards Kingdee’s potential capital market transactions including potential acquisitions, potential share buy-backs etc., and the remaining amounts towards its general operation and working capital.
Kingdee ranked as No.1 in the SaaS ERM (Enterprise Resource Management Cloud Service) for Large, Medium and SME enterprises in China, maintaining the No.1 in the market share in terms of SaaS EA (Enterprise Application Software Cloud Services) and Finance Cloud according to IDC’s China EA SaaS Public Cloud Service Market Tracking Report (1H2021) released in 2022. It has been listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since 2005.
The Subscriber is a limited liability company established under the regulations of the Qatar Financial Centre Authority in the State of Qatar, and is a subsidiary of Qatar Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar.
CICC is a licensed corporation under the SFO licensed to carry out Type 1 (dealing in securities), Type 2 (dealing in futures contracts), Type 4 (advising on securities), Type 5 (advising on futures contracts) and Type 6 (advising on corporate finance) regulated activities.
This strategic investment follows the US$306 million placing by Kingdee to the market in 2020 advised by Slaughter and May.
Benita Yu, lead partner for the transaction, comments, "We are very excited to be able to continue to assist Kingdee in its equity fund raising as well as its strategic development, and look forward to accompanying the continued growth of Kingdee.
Carolyn Stannard / Trainee