Orrick Advises on US$1.55B Deal in China for JD.com


January.12.2015

Hong Kong, January 12, 2015 – Orrick, leading legal advisor to the technology sector globally, advised JD.com Inc. (JD; NASDAQ: JD), the leading e-commerce company in China, in its investment into Chinese auto information website operator Bitauto Holdings Ltd. (Bitauto; NYSE: BITA). JD along with Tencent Holdings Ltd. (Tencent; SEHK: 00700), a leading internet services provider in China and best known for its communications app WeChat, has agreed to invest a total of approximately US$1.55 billion to further develop Bitauto.

“This is a company that always has been out front and delivered a lot of value for shareholders,” Orrick corporate partner Jie (Jeffrey) Sun said of JD. “We are proud to have supported JD in their role in this landmark deal.”

Under the terms of the agreements, JD will invest a combination of US$400 million in cash and approximately US$750 million of resources. Tencent will also purchase US$150 million of newly issued ordinary shares from Bitauto. The transactions are expected to close in the first half of 2015, subject to customary closing conditions.

Orrick’s team included Shanghai and Beijing-based corporate partner Jie (Jeffrey) Sun and Shanghai-based corporate associate Lu (Echo) Wang.

Simplified Chinese: 奥睿代表京东在华进行总额达15.5亿美元的交易.
Traditional Chinese: 奧睿代表京東在華進行總額達15.5億美元的交易.