EX-5.1 2 ea189965ex5-1_chechegroup.htm OPINION OF HARNEY WESTWOOD & RIEGELS AS TO THE VALIDITY OF THE ORDINARY SHARES OF CHECHE GROUP INC. TO BE ISSUED

Exhibit 5.1

 

 

Harney Westwood & Riegels

3501 The Center

99 Queen’s Road Central

Hong Kong

Tel: +852 5806 7800

Fax: +852 5806 7810

 

15 December 2023

 

raymond.ng@harneys.com

+852 5806 7883

059200-0002-RLN

 

Cheche Group Inc.

4th Floor, Harbour Place

103 South Church Street

P.O. Box 10240

Grand Cayman KY1-1002

Cayman Islands

 

Dear Sir or Madam

 

Cheche Group Inc. (the Company)

 

We are lawyers qualified to practise in the Cayman Islands and have acted as Cayman Islands legal advisers to the Company in connection with the Company’s registration statement on Form F-1 (the Registration Statement), including all amendments or supplements thereto, and accompanying prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), relating to, among other things, the resale from time to time by the selling securityholders named in the Registration Statement or their pledgees, donees, transferees, or other successors in interest (collectively, the Selling Securityholders) of up to  59,328,073 class A ordinary shares of par value of US$0.00001 per share, and the issuance by the Company of up to 13,663,325 class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants of the Company to purchase class A ordinary shares (collectively, the Shares).

 

We are furnishing this opinion as Exhibit 5.1 to the Registration Statement.

 

For the purposes of giving this opinion, we have examined the Documents (as defined in Schedule 1) which we regard as necessary in order to issue this opinion. We have not examined any other documents, official or corporate records or external or internal registers and have not undertaken or been instructed to undertake any further enquiry or due diligence in relation to the transaction which is the subject of this opinion.

 

In giving this opinion we have relied upon the assumptions set out in Schedule 2 which we have not independently verified.

 

The British Virgin Islands is Harneys Hong Kong office’s main jurisdiction of practice.

Jersey legal services are provided through a referral arrangement with Harneys (Jersey) which is an independently owned and controlled Jersey law firm.

Resident Partners: A Au | M Chu | JP Engwirda | Y Fan | P Kay | MW Kwok | IN Mann

R Ng | ATC Ridgers | PJ Sephton

604591297.3

 

 

 

 

 

Anguilla | Bermuda | British Virgin Islands | Cayman Islands

Cyprus | Hong Kong | Jersey | London | Luxembourg

Montevideo | São Paulo | Shanghai | Singapore

harneys.com

 

 

 

Based solely upon the foregoing examinations and assumptions and upon such searches as we have conducted and having regard to legal considerations which we deem relevant, and subject to the qualifications set out in Schedule 3, we are of the opinion that under the laws of the Cayman Islands:

 

1Existence and Good Standing. The Company is a company duly incorporated with limited liability, and is validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the Cayman Islands. The Company is a separate legal entity and is subject to suit in its own name.

 

2Authorised Share Capital. Based on our review of the M&A (as defined in Schedule 1), the share capital of the Company is US$50,000.00 divided into 5,000,000,000 shares comprising (i) 4,000,000,000 class A ordinary shares of a par value of US$0.00001 each, and (ii) 1,000,000,000 class B ordinary shares of a par value of US$0.00001 each.

 

3Valid Issuance of Shares. The Shares being offered and sold by the Selling Securityholders from time to time as contemplated in the Registration Statement, and the allotment and issue of the Shares by the Company as contemplated by the Registration Statement have been duly authorised and, when allotted, issued and fully paid for in accordance with the Registration Statement, and when the names of the shareholders are entered in the register of members of the Company, the Shares will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.

 

4Cayman Islands Law. The statements under the caption “Taxation”, “Enforceability of Civil Liabilities under Cayman Islands Law” and “Description of Our Securities” in the prospectus forming part of the Registration Statement, to the extent that they constitute statements of Cayman Islands law, are accurate in all material respects as at the date of this opinion and such statements constitute our opinion.

 

This opinion is confined to the matters expressly opined on herein and given on the basis of the laws of the Cayman Islands as they are in force and applied by the Cayman Islands courts at the date of this opinion. We have made no investigation of, and express no opinion on, the laws of any other jurisdiction. Except as specifically stated herein, we express no opinion as to matters of fact.

 

In connection with the above opinion, we hereby consent to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the Registration Statement and to the reference made to this firm in the Registration Statement under the headings “Enforceability of Civil Liabilities under Cayman Islands Law”, “Taxation” and “Legal Matters” and elsewhere in the prospectus included in the Registration Statement. In giving such consent, we do not thereby admit that we come within the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Rules and Regulations of the Commission thereunder.

 

This opinion is limited to the matters referred to herein and shall not be construed as extending to any other matter or document not referred to herein.

 

This opinion shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the Cayman Islands.

 

Yours faithfully  
   
/s/ Harney Westwood & Riegels  
Harney Westwood & Riegels  

 

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Schedule 1

 

List of Documents and Records Examined

 

1The certificate of incorporation of the Company dated 3 January 2023;

 

2The amended and restated memorandum and articles of association of the Company adopted by a special resolution of the Company passed on 12 September 2023 and effective on 14 September 2023 (the M&A);

 

3The register of directors of the Company provided to us on 17 November 2023;

 

Copies of 1 to 3 above have been provided to us by the Company (the Corporate Documents, and together with 4 to 8 below, the Documents).

 

4A copy of unanimous written resolutions of the board of directors of the Company dated 6 November 2023 (the Resolutions);

 

5A certificate of incumbency issued by Harneys Fiduciary (Cayman) Limited, the registered office provider of the Company, on 16 November 2023;

 

6A certificate of good standing in respect of the Company issued by the Registrar of Companies dated 30 August 2023;

 

7A certificate from a director of the Company dated 24 November 2023, a copy of which is attached hereto (the Director’s Certificate); and

 

8The Registration Statement filed with the Commission on 15 December 2023.

 

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Schedule 2

 

Assumptions

 

1Authenticity of Documents. Copy documents or drafts of documents provided to us are true and complete copies of, or in the final forms of, the originals. All original Documents are authentic, all signatures, initials and seals are genuine.

 

2Corporate Documents. All matters required by law to be recorded in the Corporate Documents are so recorded, and all corporate minutes, resolutions, certificates, documents and records which we have reviewed are accurate and complete, and all facts expressed in or implied thereby are accurate and complete as at the date of the passing of the Resolutions.

 

3Director’s Certificate. The contents of the Director’s Certificate are true and accurate as at the date of this opinion and there is no information not contained in the Director’s Certificate that will in any way affect this opinion.

 

4No Steps to Wind-up. The directors and shareholders of the Company have not taken any steps to appoint a liquidator of the Company and no receiver has been appointed over any of the Company’s property or assets.

 

5Resolutions. The Resolutions remain in full force and effect.

 

6Unseen Documents. Save for the Documents provided to us there are no resolutions, agreements, documents or arrangements which materially affect, amend or vary the transactions envisaged in the Registration Statement.

 

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Schedule 3

 

Qualifications

 

1Foreign Statutes. We express no opinion in relation to provisions making reference to foreign statutes in the Registration Statement.

 

2Commercial Terms. Except as specifically stated herein, we make no comment with respect to any representations and warranties which may be made by or with respect to the Company in any of the documents or instruments cited in this opinion or otherwise with respect to the commercial terms of the transactions the subject of this opinion.

 

3Meaning of Non-Assessable. In this opinion the phrase non-assessable means, with respect to the issuance of Shares, that a shareholder shall not, in respect of the relevant Shares, have any obligation to make further contributions to the Company’s assets (except in exceptional circumstances, such as involving fraud, the establishment of an agency relationship or an illegal or improper purpose or other circumstances in which a court may be prepared to pierce or lift the corporate veil).

 

4Good Standing. The Company shall be deemed to be in good standing at any time if all fees (including annual filing fees) and penalties under the Law have been paid and the Registrar of Companies has no knowledge that the Company is in default under the Law.

 

 

 

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