Simon Cooke

Simon’s experience includes advising: 

Private Equity Buyouts and Growth

• A consortium led by Starwood Capital Group, Sixth Street, and SSW Partners on the proposed US$7.1 billion take-private of ESR Group Limited by way of a scheme of arrangement from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. This deal represents the largest privatization from the HKEX since 2021
• Carlyle Asia on its:
  • Acquisition of Strata Geosystems, a leading provider of geosynthetic and geotechnical engineering solutions in India
  • US$510 million acquisition of a 10% stake in Hyundai Glovis, the logistics arm of Hyundai Motor Group
  • KRW1 trillion acquisition of premium coffee shop chain, A Twosome Place, from Korean private equity house Anchor Equity Partners
  • US$3.14 billion acquisition of Hexaware Technologies, an Indian-based IT services company
  • US$124 million minority investment in Indegene Lifesystems, an India-based healthcare IT segment company
  • Joint venture vehicle, jointly and indirectly owned by Carlyle Asia and CITIC Group Corporation, on the HK$1.05 billion acquisition, and subsequent privatization, of a stake in Asia Satellite Telecommunication, a Hong Kong-listed company engaged in the provision of satellite telecommunication systems
  • Acquisition of a 26% stake in SBI Cards, a payment solutions provider in India that is a joint venture between the State Bank of India and GE Capital
• BPEA EQT Funds V and VI and portfolio company Vistra (BPEA EQT) on the merger of Vistra with Tricor, an existing BPEA EQT Fund VIII portfolio company, in a transaction that values the combined company at an enterprise value of US$6.5 billion. This transaction was awarded the Private Equity Exit of the Year (Large Cap) at AVCJ Private Equity & Venture Capital Awards 2023 and Best Private Equity Deal: Hong Kong at the FinanceAsia Achievement Awards 2023
• Baring Private Equity Asia on its US$150 million investment into Virtuous Holdings Pte Ltd, an international content production company specializing in video game development and 3D art production
• Partners Group on its US$330 million acquisition of SPi Global, a Philippines-based provider of outsourced services to education, science, technical, and medical research publishers
• Platinum Equity on the acquisition of the Hong Kong-headquartered Hop Lun Limited, a manufacturer of women’s lingerie, sports apparel, and swimwear products
• Permira on its KRW800 billion acquisition, as part of a consortium with regional Asian PE house Affinity Equity Partners and Korean corporate GS Retail, of German-listed DeliveryHero’s Korean food delivery business, trading in Korea as Yogiyo
• TPG Capital on its:
  • US$236 million leveraged acquisition of an 80% stake in Greenfields Dairy Singapore Pte. Ltd., a Southeast Asia consumer dairy operation owned by Japfa Ltd., a Singapore-listed agribusiness conglomerate; Northstar co-invested alongside TPG in the transaction 
  • Transaction as part of a consortium with Singapore Life (SingLife), Sumitomo Life Insurance Company, and others to combine SingLife with Aviva Singapore; the combined of Singlife and Aviva Singapore entities at SGD3.2 billion marks one of the largest deals to date in the insurance sector in Southeast Asia and the largest in Singapore
• Intermediate Capital Group on its US$200 million minority investment in Yudo (China) Holding, a China-based designer and manufacturer of hot runner systems
• A Canadian pension fund in its acquisition of a stake in a Pan-Asia focused offshore wind platform farm with existing assets in Taiwan and Japan

Private Equity Exits

• Carlyle Asia on its KRW2.9 trillion disposal of its Korean portfolio company ADT Caps to SK Telecom and Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (Simon also advised Carlyle Asia on its acquisition of ADT Caps for US$1.93 billion from Tyco)
• Baring Private Equity Asia on its:
  • Partial exit from Indian IT healthcare services company CitiusTech Healthcare Technology
  • US$1.6 billion disposal of Interplex Holdings, a global manufacturing business, to funds managed by the Blackstone Group
• Partners Group and management shareholders on the disposal of PG portfolio company Straive (formerly known as SPi Global), a leading global provider of technology-driven content and data solutions, to Baring Private Equity Asia

Portfolio Company Work

• SPi Global, a portfolio company of Partners Group, on the acquisition of Scientific Publishing Services, an India-based service provider for print and digital publishers
• Nord Anglia Education, a portfolio company of CPPIB and Baring Private Equity Asia, on its:
  • Acquisition of British Schools International and Global British Schools, UK-based operators of international schools
  • US$4.3 billion sale to a consortium led by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Baring Private Equity Asia
• Vistra, a portfolio company of Barings Private Equity, on the acquisition of the Global Transaction Banking division of Deutsche Bank, a Germany-based investment bank
• HLT Healthcare, a US$1 billion joint venture created by TPG Capital and Hong Leong, on the acquisition of Columbia Asia Healthcare, a Malaysia-based healthcare company that operates 17 hospitals and a clinic across Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam

Company-Side M&A

• Charoen Pokphand Foods on the CA$498 million acquisition of a 50.1% stake of HyLife Group Holdings, a producer of pork products
• HKBN on its US$1.3 billion acquisition of WTT Holding, a China-based fixed telecommunication 
• Providence Enterprise, a Hong Kong-based designer and manufacturer of engineered finished goods and electro-mechanical assemblies, on its sale to CMAF No.6 Investment Enterprise
• American Airlines on its HK$1.5 billion equity investment in China Southern Airlines, a China-based provider of international air transportation services