Simpson Thacher represented the initial purchasers, led by Goldman Sachs International and Nomura Securities, in the largest initial public offering ever by a Korean company, which is also one of the top ten largest IPOs from Asia. The issuer, Lotte Shopping, is a leading retail company in Korea operating the largest department store chain and the third largest discount store chain in Korea.
The Rule 144A/Reg S offering of an aggregate of 7,329,088 shares of common stock in the form of 146,581,760 Global depositary shares ("GDSs"), including a public offering without listing ("POWL") in Japan and greenshoe option, raised US$3 billion and was part of a US$3.7 billion global offering of an aggregate of 9,043,374 shares of common stock, which included a public offering of 1,714,286 shares of common stock in Korea.
The GDSs are listed for trading on the London Stock Exchange and the common shares are listed for trading on the Stock Market Division of the Korea Exchange. Simpson Thacher previously represented Kumho Tire in Korea's first London-Korea dual listing IPO in 2005 and the underwriters in Korea's first NYSE-Korea dual listing IPO by LG.Philips LCD in 2004. Being the only international law firm to be involved in all of these landmark transactions, Simpson Thacher has reaffirmed its market recognition as a premier law firm in Korea and elsewhere in Asia.
The Simpson Thacher team for this transaction included Jin Hyuk Park, Anthony Choi, Kristina Kang and Changsu Oh in Hong Kong, and Bryan Yoon, Tamika Cushenberry (tax), Mark Lab (blue sky) and Jeanne Annarumma (ERISA) in New York.