A team from international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills' London, Paris and Hong Kong offices has advised Chinese aerospace and mining firm Shaanxi Ligeance Mineral Resources ("SLMR") on its £326 million acquisition of aerospace parts manufacturer Gardner Aerospace ("Gardner"), which completed on 12 June.

SLMR is a company headquartered in China and listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. It is the ultimate parent company of a group whose current main activity is mineral exploration and production, but whose interests include a growing aerospace machining and component manufacture division.

Gardner, headquartered in Derby, UK, makes parts in locations across the UK, France and Poland and is a preferred supplier of Airbus. It has been owned by Jon Moulton's Better Capital and the incumbent management for well over a decade.

SLMR, along with its subsidiary Chengdu Aerospace Superalloy Technology ("CAST"), has agreed to purchase Gardner for £326m.

The Herbert Smith Freehills team was led by London Corporate partner Mark Bardell and assisted by London senior associate Joseph Dennis and associates Yida Xu and Richard Wright.

Mark Bardell commented: "This deal is notable because it is a privately owned Chinese listed entity which has bought and closed an acquisition of a European aerospace business. The deal presented a number of challenges, in particular in navigating the French and UK regulatory regimes to close nine months after signing."

Paris-based Corporate partner Hubert Segain's and Corporate associate Maëliss Bourbon advised on the French law aspects with support provided by Hong Kong-based Corporate partner Tommy Tong and London-based Finance partner Heather Culshaw.

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