South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Company has picked law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas (SAM) as counsel for the proposed IPO of its Indian subsidiary, Hyundai Motors India Ltd, according to sources familiar with the development.
Moneycontrol also learns that global law firm Latham & Watkins has been hired by Hyundai Motor to act as international legal counsel for the IPO. In addition, several law firms are in the race for the mandate to act as legal advisor to the merchant bankers who will manage the IPO, sources added.
Emails sent to Hyundai and Latham & Watkins did not elicit a response, while SAM declined to comment.
Earlier on February 9, Moneycontrol reported that Hyundai has picked investment banks JP Morgan, Citi and HSBC as the merchant bankers to the $3-3.5 billion India IPO. A potential filing of the draft papers of this public issue in the works is likely by June 2024. If the listing plans fructify, it would be the biggest ever IPO on the Indian bourses at $3-3.5 billion. Prior to this, the $2.7-billion listing of LIC in 2022 was India's biggest IPO.
The company counsel undertakes legal due diligence, advises on the Indian laws applicable to the issuer and assists in drafting the non-business sections of the offer document. Merchant bankers hire their own legal advisor for the IPO.
All IPOs involve a company counsel and a merchant bank counsel and in large IPOs that solicit money from international investors, an international legal counsel.
Responding to media reports about the India listing plans, Hyundai on February 7 said that as a global company, it is constantly reviewing various activities, including listing overseas subsidiaries to increase corporate value but nothing has been confirmed to date.
Hyundai's India unit clocked its highest-ever annual domestic sales in 2023, crossing the six-lakh mark, selling 6.02 lakh units, a nine percent increase over the previous year's figure. On the export front, the Indian arm's performance rose by 10 percent, as it shipped 1.63 lakh units compared to 1.48 lakh units a year ago.
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