Issue #60: Pay Up!
Welcome to the 60th edition of OIA and the last edition for 2024! We’ll be taking a year-end break and be back with our next edition in mid-January 2025!
Here are the latest 🌶 headlines in APAC:
Ling Yah
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A Resounding Loss?!
Japanese drugmaker Nippon Shinyaku faces a USD 115.2 million hit after a Delaware jury sides with Sarepta, a US biotechnology company.
🍿 What Happened?
This patent dispute revolves around competing drugs for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a devastating genetic disorder that causes muscle deterioration.
The case first erupted in 2021 when Nippon Shinyaku sued Sarepta on grounds of patent infringement. In January 2022, Sarepta countered with its own infringement claims regarding patents licensed from the University of Western Australia.
Earlier this month, the jury delivered a decisive blow to Nippon Shinyaku - not only must Nippon Shinyaku pay USD 115.2M in damages, but the jury also invalidated all seven of their asserted patents while upholding Sarepta's!
👀 Let’s Fight On!
That said, Nippon Shinyaku has vowed to explore "all options" including appeals, so this pharmaceutical slugfest may be far from over.
Billionaires’ Showdown
What happens when a seemingly straightforward share purchase agreement goes sideways?
🍿 What Happened?
In 2017, Shenzhen Baoneng Investment Group (“Baoneng“), owned by Chinese billionaire Yao Zhenhua, purchased a 51% stake in Qoros Automotive - a JV between Kenon’s predecessor (the Israel Corporation) and Chinese state-owned carmaker Chery. This increased to 63% in 2019.
In 2021, Baoneng agreed to buy Kenon's remaining 12% stake in Qoros Automotive. But when neither the deposit nor initial payments materialised by the agreed deadlines, Kenon launched CIETAC proceedings that resulted in a $250 million award representing the purchase price plus interest and costs (“Award“).
👀 TL;DR
The Beijing No.4 Intermediate Court has now rejected Baoneng's attempt to set aside the Award - a decision that can't be appealed.
Looks like Baoneng is learning the costly price of contractual breaches!
Power Plant Deal Gone Wrong
India's Reliance Infrastructure has failed to escape a hefty arbitration bill.
🍿 What Happened?
The case revolves around a USD 1.3 billion contract between China’s Shanghai Electric Group and India’s Reliance Infrastructure for the Sasan coal-fired power plant in Madhya Pradesh.
The deal started promisingly in 2008 but by 2019, Shanghai Electric was crying foul, claiming that Reliance had acquired but not paid for equipment.
When the SIAC tribunal ordered Reliance to pay USD 146.3 million in December 2022, Reliance claimed that their former officer, Rajesh Agrawal, had never signed the guarantee letter and lacked authority to do so. They even brought handwriting evidence to prove it.
But the Singapore Court of Appeal wasn't buying it.
The judges pointed out that Reliance knew facts that should have raised red flags about the signature - like the mysterious absence of any copy or record of the letter in their files. Yet they chose to stay silent during the arbitration, only to cry foul after losing.
In the court's words, this amounted to "the worst kind of hedging."
👀 Notably
In a procedural first for Singapore, this case marks the first time witnesses were cross-examined in an award set-aside application - though ultimately, it couldn't save Reliance from their U$146 millions obligation.
Some things, you just can’t run away from.
Spotlight: Helen Wang
Offshore litigator embracing challenges, now thriving in Singapore, where she has built career and home.
Food Reveal
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