Appleby is pleased to have acted as Cayman Islands legal counsel to Artisan Acquisition Corp. on its business combination with Prenetics Group Limited, a global leader in genomic and diagnostic testing. The transaction values Prenetics at an enterprise value of US$1.25 billion, creating Hong Kong's first unicorn to list on NASDAQ. The combined company commenced trading on NASDAQ on 18 May 2022.

Appleby earlier advised Artisan, a special purpose acquisition company founded by renowned cultural entrepreneur Dr. Adrian Cheng and Artisan CEO Ben Cheng, on its US$300m SPAC IPO on NASDAQ which closed in May 2021.

The Appleby team was led by Hong Kong managing partner and global co-head of SPACs David Bulley and Cayman-based counsel and global co-head of SPACs Dean Bennett, assisted by associates Alejandra Gonzalez Saucedo and Tamanna Keir. Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as lead counsel for Artisan and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Mourant acted as counsel for Prenetics.

The Appleby team continue to be selected as Cayman Islands counsel of choice for SPAC IPOs and business combinations in the US and Hong Kong in recognition of the firm's market-leading expertise and cross-jurisdictional capabilities in this area. Appleby was named second in the recent league table of the "Top Asia-related SPAC Legal Advisers of 2020-21 – Offshore Firms" by Asia Business Law Journal.