Manchester team complete Chinese AIM admission

6th September 2010

Leading national law firm HBJ Gateley Wareing Manchester’s corporate team today announces it has advised Asia Ceramics Holdings plc on its successful admission to the Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

The team, led by partner Nigel Brown and solicitor Richard Almond, completed the transaction – somewhat a rarity in current market conditions – alongside WH Ireland and Alexander David Securities, who are appointed as the nominated advisor and broker respectively.

Asia Ceramics Holdings plc is a leading manufacturer of ceramics and is based in Foshan in Guangdong province in China. The company intends to utilise the listing and the funds raised as part of the listing process to develop its business and franchised operations throughout major cities in China.

The deal took a number of months to complete and was the first AIM admission that the new Manchester office of HBJ Gateley Wareing has completed. It builds upon the expertise that the firm’s dedicated China Team, led by Nigel Brown and Chong Cao, has developed. The firm has a strong pipeline of further transactions and hopes to complete more Chinese floats in the very near future, strengthening the reputation that HBJ Gateley Wareing already has in the market place having recently been appointed UK lawyers for Changan, China's third largest car maker. HBJ Gateley Wareing operates from offices in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Nottingham, Leicester, London and Dubai.

Tom Po, Chief Executive Officer of Asia Ceramics, commented: ‘We are very pleased to have commenced trading on AIM. The admission to AIM will assist the company in its expansion strategy and we look forward to implementing the strategy of building the business initially through opening additional group owned retail outlets and in due course franchised stores.’

HBJ Gateley Wareing corporate partner Nigel Brown added: ‘We are delighted to have completed this transaction, in a climate that continues to be very challenging for new issuers. China is the largest manufacturer and consumer of ceramics in the world and the Asia Ceramics management team have extensive experience of the international and domestic ceramic market. We wish them every success and hope that this is the first of many such transactions for the Manchester team, and will help us to build the profile of the firm with Chinese businesses and organisations.’