Paul Hastings Advises China Vanke on $1.3B Commercial Real Estate Deal

Paul Hastings has advised property giant China Vanke Co. Ltd. on a $1.33 billion acquisition of shopping malls from Singaporean developer CapitaLand Ltd. Shenzhen-based Vanke, through its shopping mall operating arm SCPG Holdings Co., teamed up with Chinese private equity firm HOPU Investment and bought 20 shopping malls, a combined area of 950,000 square meters across 19 Chinese cities, mostly third- and fourth-tier cities. “China is on a faster track of urbanization and people are longing for a better life. We hold a very optimistic view on the potential value of the commercial real estate stock of assets,” Ding Liye, chairman and president of SCPG and senior vice president of Vanke, said in a statement. Paul Hastings Hong Kong partner Paul Guan and Beijing partners Nan Li and Meka Meng advised the Vanke consortium.