China

• Our reputation in China is confirmed by our rankings in the Asia legal directories and our pre-eminent position in numerous league tables published by Bloomberg, Refinitiv and MergerMarket
• We have 13 partners and over 60 associates, trainees and paralegals in our Beijing and Hong Kong offices who are engaged in a broad range of corporate, commercial and financing work.

Our main areas of practice include:

• Corporate and M&A - We advise on all aspects of mergers and acquisitions, often involving multiple jurisdictions, in China. We have experience of all types of corporate and commercial work, including general advice on listing, governance and board matters, joint ventures and other strategic co-operation arrangements and restructurings.
• Competition - We advise on all aspects of competition law in China and Asia and work as an integrated team with our offices in London and Brussels. We have been at the forefront of Hong Kong’s sector-specific competition practice and in the Asia Pacific region our experience includes cross-border mergers and merger control regulation, competition litigation, including appeals and private actions, and antitrust advice.
• Equity and Debt Capital Markets - We have extensive experience of equity and debt capital markets transactions, handling primary and secondary offerings in many different industry sectors and acting for both issuers and underwriters, as well as advising on bond issues and debt programmes. We provide US, Hong Kong and English law capabilities for capital markets transactions in Hong Kong.
• Private Equity - We advise on the full range of transactions, from venture capital investments to cross-border deals and from initial investment all the way through to exit.
• Financing - We act for lenders, borrowers, issuers, underwriters and sponsors on a broad range of financing transactions.
• Disputes and Investigations -  We advise on a wide range of matters, including commercial and financial disputes, shareholder disputes, commercial fraud, domestic and international arbitrations, regulatory and other formal inquiries and investigations and judicial review.
• Real Estate - We have a substantial property practice which covers commercial and residential property work, including property development and financing, acquisitions and disposals and REITs.
• Environmental, Social and Governance - We provide our clients with teams of committed, high-quality multi-specialists, all with experience advising at the forefront of ESG developments. Those teams are complemented by our dedicated sustainability lawyers. They keep pace with, and advise on, ESG issues full-time, and act as the glue between the many strands of ESG-related work across our practice areas.

RANKINGS

CHAMBERS GREATER CHINA REGION 2024

Leading firm in China for:

• Corporate/M&A: The Elite (International Firms)
• Competition/Antitrust (International Firms)
• Capital Markets: Equity (International Firms)
• Banking & Finance (International Firms)

Leading lawyers:

• Benita Yu – Corporate/M&A – Tier 1, Capital Markets: Equity
• Lisa Chung – Corporate/M&A, Banking and Finance
• John Moore – Capital Markets: Equity
• Natalie Yeung – Competition/Antitrust – Tier 1

LEGAL 500 ASIA PACIFIC 2024

Leading firm for the following Hong Kong practice areas:

• Corporate (including M&A) - Tier 1
• Antitrust and Competition - Tier 1
• Banking and Finance
• Capital Markets (Equity)
• Capital Markets (Debt)

Hall of Fame:

• Benita Yu – Capital Markets – Equity
• John Moore – Capital Markets – Equity

Leading Individuals:

• Benita Yu – Corporate (including M&A)
• Natalie Yeung – Antitrust and Competition

Next Generation Partners:

• Vincent Chan – Corporate (including M&A)

Rising Stars:

• Alexander Lee - Antitrust and Competition

IFLR1000 ASIA-PACIFIC 2023

Leading firm for:

• Hong Kong – M&A – Band 1
• Hong Kong – Banking
• Hong Kong – Capital Markets: Debt
• Hong Kong – Capital Markets: Equity
• Hong Kong – Financial Services Regulatory
• Hong Kong – Private Equity

Highly regarded lawyers are:

• Benita Yu - Capital Markets: Debt, Capital Markets: Equity, M&A, Women Leader
• Jason Webber – Private Equity
• Lisa Chung – Banking, Private Equity, Women Leader
• John Moore – Capital Markets: Equity
• Clara Choi – Capital Markets: Debt, Capital Markets: Equity, M&A, Women Leader
• Chris McGaffin – M&A
• Peter Brien – Capital Markets: Debt, Capital Markets: Equity, M&A

Rising star partner:

• Jing Chen – M&A
• Ben Heron – M&A

Rising star:

• Vincent Chan - M&A
• Jocelyn Poon - Banking

MERGERMARKET ADVISOR LEAGUE TABLES 2023

• • Top 5 by deal value - TMT League Table
  • Top 10 by deal value - Consumer League Table

AWARDS

CHINA BUSINESS LAW AWARDS 2024

Top Law Firm for

• • Anti-Bribery & Anti-Corruption 
  • Banking & Finance
  • Competition & Antitrust
  • M&A (Inbound and domestic)
  • Automotive, Industrials & Manufacturing 
  • Consumer & Retail
  • Energy & Natural Resources 
  • Media, Entertainment & Sports 
  • Real estate & REIT
  • Pro-bono

IFLR ASIA-PACIFIC AWARDS 2024

• Domestic Deal of the Year: Japan Industrial Partners / Toshiba take-private

ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS HONG KONG LAW AWARDS 2023

• Deal Firm of the Year
• M&A Deal of the Year: INEOS landmark ventures

ALB WOMEN IN LAW AWARDS 2023

• Dealmaker of the Year: Benita Yu
• Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year: Natalie Yeung

ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS 2023

• Rising Star: Justin Chan

CHINA BUSINESS LAW JOURNAL DEALS OF THE YEAR 2023

M&A

• • China Power acquires SPIC clean energy assets
  • Chow Tai Fook’s tender offer to buy NWS

Cross-Border Dispute Resolution

• • Sinopec, Repsol USD5.5bn dispute over assets

CHINA BUSINESS LAW AWARDS 2023

Top Law Firm for

• • M&A (Inbound and domestic)
  • Automotive, Industrials and Manufacturing
  • Banking & Finance
  • Capital Markets (Overseas) 
  • Competition and Antitrust 
  • Consumer and Retail
  • Insurance and Reinsurance
  • Internet and E-commerce
  • Pro-bono Achievers

ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS HONG KONG LAW AWARDS 2022

• Dealmaker of the year: Benita Yu

CHINA BUSINESS LAW JOURNAL DEALS OF THE YEAR 2022

Capital Markets

• • SenseTime’s USD740mn Hong Kong listing

Cross-border

• • Chinachem and ESR cold storage JV
  • Coca-Cola’s subsidiary disposal in mainland China
  • Great River acquisition, take private of Dragon Crown
  • INEOS-Sinopec USD7bn asset transactions and JV
  • Link REIT’s HK12bn sustainability-linked loan