Jeffrey Ip

Kirkland & Ellis represented the joint sponsors, including Morgan Stanley Asia Limited, CITIC Securities (Hong Kong) Limited and Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C., on the initial public offering of Muyuan Foods Co., Ltd. (Muyuan, SZ: 002714, HKEX: 2714) on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited on February 6, 2026. Muyuan, a leading pork company pioneering smart hog farming, successfully offered 273,951,400 H Shares at an initial public offering price of HK$39.00 per share and raised approximately HK$10.68 billion prior to the exercise of the 15% over-allotment option. According to Frost & Sullivan, Muyuan has ranked first globally in the hog farming industry in terms of production capacity and sales volume of hogs for four consecutive years since 2021. The Kirkland team included capital markets lawyers Mengyu Lu, Brian Ho, George Zheng, Ryan Choi, Qingyu Wu, Rock Liu, Luna Wang and Kelly Chan.

Feb 6

1 min

Milbank LLP advised Rich Stream Investment Pte Ltd. ("Rich Stream"), an affiliate of the Salim Group, Indonesia's leading conglomerate, in connection with the formation of a joint venture with Eastroc Beverage Group ("Eastroc"), a leading Chinese beverage producer listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Under the shareholders agreement signed on January 30, 2026, Rich Stream and Eastroc will jointly invest in Pt Eastroc Vitamin Energy Indonesia, a joint venture that will establish a production base and sell beverages in Indonesia. The total investment in the project is expected to reach US$300 million. The Salim Group is one of Southeast Asia's most influential multinational conglomerates, with operations in the food, energy and real estate sectors spanning Indonesia, China, Thailand, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries, as well as Australia, North America and Europe. Eastroc is a leading beverage producer in China, offering a wide range of products including the well-known brand "Eastroc Energy Drink," and has ranked first in sales volume in China's energy drink market for four consecutive years. “We're proud to support Rich Stream on this complex, cross-border joint venture with Eastroc, bringing together two industry leaders to tap into Indonesia's growing consumer market," said James Grandolfo, Corporate Finance and Securities partner and managing partner of Milbank (Hong Kong) LLP. "This joint venture marks a significant step in Eastroc's international expansion and demonstrates the Salim Group's continued commitment to strategic partnerships across Southeast Asia." The Hong Kong-based Milbank team was led by partner James Grandolfo and Corporate partner Andrew Whan, with associate Ben Hewett.

Feb 19

1 min

Milbank LLP advised the global lenders on the financing for KKR and Singtel's landmark S$6.6 billion (approximately US$5.1 billion) acquisition of the remaining 82% stake of ST Telemedia Global Data Centres ("STT GDC"), a leading data center colocation services provider. This represents an implied enterprise value of STT GDC at approximately S$13.8 billion (approximately US$10.9 billion), including leverage and capital expenditure for committed projects. The transaction marks one of the largest digital infrastructure transactions in Southeast Asia to date. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Singapore, STT GDC operates data centers across 12 markets in Asia Pacific, the United Kingdom and Europe, with 2.3 gigawatts of design capacity. The company provides colocation, connectivity and support services to hyperscalers and enterprise customers. "This landmark financing demonstrates the continued appetite from lenders for high-quality digital infrastructure assets in Asia," said leveraged finance partner Davide Mencacci. "The transaction's scale and complexity reflects the growing importance of data centers in supporting the region's digital economy." Milbank's Digital Infrastructure Practice Group is the leading legal advisor driving digital infrastructure transactions across the entire value chain — from GPU procurement to powered land, data centers, buy-side/sell-side and capital raises (debt/equity) throughout the capital stack. The Asia Digital Infrastructure Practice is led by partners David Zemans and James Orme. In 2025, Milbank had the lead legal role in over $150 billion of digital focused transactions, including several of the largest capital markets, project finance, real estate and M&A transactions to date. The Milbank deal team was led out of Hong Kong by Leveraged Finance partner Davide Mencacci and special counsel Daniele Sutto, with associates David Zhu, Matthew Leung and Marco Ying.

Feb 11

1 min

Milbank LLP is pleased to announce that Jeffrey Ip has joined the firm’s Transportation and Space Group as special counsel in the Hong Kong office, further strengthening its market-leading global aviation finance capabilities across the Asia-Pacific region.~~“Jeffrey is widely recognized in the aviation finance space in the region and his arrival adds significant depth and experience to our Asia-Pacific aviation finance practice,” said Nick Swinburne, partner and head of the Transportation and Space group in London. “He has already worked closely with many of Milbank’s key clients in the region, and his technical know-how, commercial insight and multijurisdictional experience will make him an invaluable resource to our clients on their transactions in the region. He will work closely with the London and US teams to ensure seamless client service.”~~Mr. Ip’s practice focuses on aircraft leasing, financing, trading and restructuring across the Asia-Pacific region. He has extensive experience advising on complex cross-border leasing and financing structures involving aircraft registered in jurisdictions across Greater China, Asia, the Middle East and Europe involving global leasing companies, financiers and investors. His practice spans operating and financing leases, portfolio sales and lease novations, secured and limited recourse financings, tax-structured financings (including JOLCOs), and transactions supported by export credit agencies and credit insurers. He also advises creditors on airline-related insolvencies and restructurings.~~“Asia’s aviation market is undergoing a dynamic transformation and Jeffrey’s arrival will unlock opportunities across our Asian platform and our global business,” said James Grandolfo, head of Milbank (Hong Kong).~~“Milbank has long been known as one of the premier firms for aviation leasing and finance and I am very excited to join the team,” added Mr. Ip.~~Mr. Ip joins from Clifford Chance. Earlier in his career, he completed international secondments in Abu Dhabi and Bangkok and spent a year on client secondment at Avolon Aerospace Leasing Limited. Mr. Ip holds a Bachelor of Commerce from University of Toronto and completed his JD at City University of Hong Kong.

Sep 19

1 min

Latham & Watkins, Allen & Gledhill, JSA Advocates and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett are among the advisers on KKR and Singapore Telecommunications’ $5.1 billion acquisition of an additional stake in ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC). The transaction has also spawned roles for AZB & Partners, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. Latham & Watkins is advising seller ST Telemedia on the sale of its remaining stake in STT GDC to a consortium led by KKR and Singtel. The transaction implies an enterprise value of approximately $10.9 billion for the Singapore-based data centre platform. The Latham team is led by Singapore corporate partners Sharon Lau and Michael Rackham. Latham also advised ST Telemedia on receiving the consortium’s earlier $1.3 billion investment in STT GDC in 2024. Allen & Gledhill and JSA Advocates are advising Singtel, according to people with knowledge of the matter. JSA’s team is being led by partners Vikram Raghani and Nisha Kaur Uberoi. Simpson Thacher, retaining its role representing long-time client KKR, is acting as counsel to both KKR and Singtel, with Hong Kong partner Erik Wang once again leading the firm’s team on the transaction. Gibson Dunn is also acting for KKR on the deal. Gibson Dunn’s team is being co-led by Hong Kong partner Tyler Cohen and London partner Till Lefranc. In the initial $1.3 billion stake acquisition in STT GDC in 2024, it was Freshfields that advised the KKR-led consortium. The Freshfields team was then led by former partner Nigel Gleeson and associate Alice Boughton, both of whom have since moved to Gibson Dunn Singapore as partners. According to sources working on the deal, Indian firms AZB & Partners and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas are advising KKR and ST Telemedia on merger control aspects of the deal. In 2024, AZB acted as sole Indian counsel for the consortium leaders in securing a Competition Commission of India approval for their investment in STT GDC. Milbank also had a role in the deal, the firm advised a large group of lenders made up of global and regional banks on the financing for the acquisition. Its team, sources said, was led by partner Davide Mencacci and special counsel Daniele Sutto. Under the latest agreements, funds managed by KKR and Singtel will acquire the remaining 82% stake in STT GDC from founding shareholder ST Telemedia. Upon completion, KKR will hold a 75% interest in the company, with Singtel owning the remaining 25%, taking into account the conversion of existing redeemable preference shares held by both investors. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions. Founded in 2014, STT GDC is one of the world’s fastest-growing and most diversified data centre platforms, with 2.3 gigawatts of design capacity across12 markets in Asia Pacific and Europe.

Feb 5

2 min