Shearman & Sterling is representing Premium Lead Company Limited and its direct wholly owned subsidiary, New Era Investment Holding Ltd., in the privatization of Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited (Nasdaq: SNDA). The transaction is expected to close before the end of the first quarter of 2012.

Shanda is one of China’s largest online gaming and entertainment companies, with a market cap of approximately US$2.28 billion. It has two NASDAQ-listed subsidiaries, Shanda Games Limited and Ku6 Media Co., Ltd.

The multi-disciplinary Shearman & Sterling team includes counsel Sidharth Bhasin (Hong Kong-Mergers & Acquisitions), and associates Shirin Tang (Singapore-Mergers & Acquisitions), Justin Mak (Hong Kong-Mergers & Acquisitions), Yan Liang, Ning Liu, Wei Fang and Sha Sa (Beijing-Asia Corporate). Partner Sanja Udovicic (Singapore-Project Development & Finance) and associate Alfred Ng (Singapore-Project Development & Finance) handled the acquisition financing. Other Shearman & Sterling attorneys involved in the transaction are Lee Edwards (Beijing-Mergers & Acquisitions), Larry Crouch (Palo Alto-Tax), Eileen O’Pray (Palo Alto-Tax), Daniel Stellenberg (Palo Alto-Executive Compensation & Employee Benefits), Tina Patel (Palo Alto-Intellectual Property Transactions), Yu-Jin Tay (Singapore-International Arbitration) and Joseph Campbell (Singapore-International Arbitration).