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Coudert Brothers Completes Financing for Shanghai GM

27 October 1998

Coudert Brothers Completes The Year's Largest Financing In Asia

    NEW YORK--Oct. 27, 1998--

    Shanghai General Motors Invests Over $1.5 Billion In Project
    Largest Sino-Foreign Joint Venture

    The multinational law firm of Coudert Brothers has completed the execution of the year's largest financing in Asia for Shanghai General Motors, a joint venture between General Motors and SAIC of China.
    The venture will invest $1.52 billion in the project to build Buick W-Cars in Shanghai.
    The lending group is comprised of 35 international banks and nine banks from the People's Republic of China which will lend $472 million and the RMB equivalent of $350 million under a series of five secured, multi-currency loan agreements.
    "We are pleased to have participated in this enormous project which represents the largest PRC project ever financed solely by commercial banks and the largest project financing in Asia during 1998," said Owen Nee, head of Coudert's Asia practice based in the firm's Hong Kong office. "Given the size and complexity of this project, combined with the current market conditions, we are pleased to have contributed to this successful effort. Coudert's expertise in complex projects is well recognized throughout the world and we used the skills of our talented attorneys from our offices in Hong Kong, Beijing and New York to solve many complex issues." The Shanghai General Motors project included many novel features, including unique sponsor agreements and complex credit arrangements."
    With 24 offices around the world and formal affiliations with law firms in two additional cities, Coudert Brothers serves as a single, integrated global law firm with office locations in 18 countries. It employs over 410 lawyers worldwide, providing legal support for investment, finance, compliance and dispute resolution to clients globally. Coudert Brothers has offices in New York, Paris, Washington, D.C., London, Brussels, Hong Kong, Singapore, San Francisco, Beijing, Sydney, Los Angeles, San Jose, Tokyo, Moscow, Bangkok, Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Berlin, Denver, St. Petersburg, Montreal, Almaty and Palo Alto. It has formal affiliations with law firms in Mexico City and Budapest.
    The Coudert Brothers web site is http://www.coudert.com