Yancoal Australia Acquisition Advised by Dacheng Wins China Law & Practice Deal of the Year

On September 12, 2013, China Law & Practice magazine, a respected legal magazine in the Asia-pacific region, held its 2013 China Law & Practice Awards ceremony at Beijing Wanda Sofitel Hotel. The Energy & Natural Resources Deal of the Year 2013 was granted to Yancoal Australia Limited’s acquisition of Australia’s Gloucester Coal Limited, for which a Dacheng project team led by Shanghai-based senior partner Qu Feng acted as legal advisor.
 
In June 2012, attorney Qu’s team worked jointly with the local Australian law firm Minter Ellison to look after the deal. Over the course of service, a piece of legal opinion submitted by attorney Qu to the Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia, proved to be the critical push for the court’s approval. Following its merger with Gloucester Coal Limited and its listing on the Australian Securities Exchange, Yancoal Australia Limited is now one of Australia's largest listed pure-play coal producers and its parent company Yanzhou Coal Mining Company Limited the only Chinese enterprise listed in four different places (namely Shanghai, Hong Kong, New York and Australia) in and outside China.
 
China Law & Practice, owned by Legal Media Group and headquartered in Hong Kong, is an authoritative, bilingual legal magazine targeted at the Asia-pacific legal industry. With the introduction, reporting, review and analysis of legal affairs in Chinese mainland as its focus, it enjoys a good reputation and credibility in the Asia-pacific region. Every year, the magazine would devote months to independent research on and assessment of nominated firms and deals for each award category abiding by strict criteria and methodology before coming up with the finalists of the awards. It is therefore fair to say that all the awarded firms and deals have exerted some influence upon China’s legal market and have prompted quality improvement and growth of China’s legislation. The Energy and Natural Resources Deal of the Year award is designed to honor the most influential and remarkable deal in the energy and natural resources sector. Because of the objectivity and impartiality of its research, China Law & Practice awards win recognition and trust from legal professionals and clients alike and carry authority and weight in the international arena.