The Legal 500

Commerce & Finance Law Office acts on listings in Hong Kong by PRC incorporated companies, Hong Kong GEM offerings, overseas companies listed in Hong Kong, and US listings. Additionally, the practice is regularly called upon to advise on A and B share offerings and listings for companies incorporated in the PRC, as well as bonds and securities investment funds. The practice represented Primavera Capital Management in its $280m bid for Shanghai chemicals company, Chemspec International. Branch offices are run from Shanghai and Shenzhen. The ‘formidable expert’ Liu Gang is recommended.

Haiwen & Partners advises international and domestic investment banking firms, as well as acting for high-profile Chinese issuers in overseas and domestic securities offering transactions, including IPOs, follow-on equity offerings, and the issuance of debt securities. Highlights included acting as Chinese legal counsel for the first few domestic Chinese A share offerings, the first H share offering and listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange by a Chinese issuer, the first ADR offering by a Chinese issuer, and the first RMB-denominated Panda Bond offering by international financial development institutions. Leading individual He Fei is ‘good to have on your side’.

Jingtian & Gongcheng acted as Goodbaby’s PRC counsel in relation to its IPO, and advised the underwriter on PRC law in relation to Huaneng Renewables Corporation IPO for a Hong Kong Stock Exchange main board listing. Wei Bai is recommended.

Jun He Law Offices has advised issuers and underwriters on numerous IPOs and refinancing projects both inside and outside of China. Representative work has included assisting clients in the restructurings of state-owned enterprises and private companies, domestic and overseas private placements, sale of material assets of domestic and foreign-listed companies and other securities-related transactions. Recent experience includes acting in connection with Stanley Fertilizer’s IPO of A shares. Xiao Wei is recommended.

King & Wood’s Jing Gang led the team advising as PRC counsel to the underwriters in DK Solar’s issuance of American depositary shares on the NYSE. The practice also served as the Bank of China’s legal advisor in relation to share placements and acted in connection with Mingyang’s public offering and listing, making it China’s first wind power machinery company to list in the US. Another highlight involved Bank of Communications’ successfully issued A and H shares on the Shanghai and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges, marking the largest-scale A+H share placement by a state-controlled commercial bank. Yang Xiaolei, Stanley Cha, Zhang Yongliang and Wang Lixin are key figures.

Zhong Lun Law Firm advises issuers and underwriters on a broad range of domestic and international private and public offerings. Highlights included acting for Xiamen Sunrise Wheel Group in connection with its SME Board IPO and listing, and assisting as PRC counsel for UA Finance (BVI), as arranger and dealer, on a public note issuance in Hong Kong.

Global Law Office recently opened its Shenzhen office, engaging five senior IPO and M&A lawyers. Jinrong Liu advised O-Net Communications (Group) and Yuanyi Group Holdings on their Hong Kong IPOs. The firm advised China Health Labs & Diagnostics in the listing of its shares on Toronto Stock Exchange. Also of interest, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, and were assisted on the listing of Next Generation TV on New York Stock Exchange. George Niu advised China International Capital Corporation, being the sponsor and lead underwriter to the IPO of a leading PRC city planning and designing company, and its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Grandall Law Firm has acted for more than 100 PRC enterprises on raising capital by stock and bond issuance and/or through restructuring. In addition, with the team’s assistance, more than half of these firms have raised money by successfully listing abroad on foreign exchanges including NYSE, NASDAQ, AIM, HKEX, SE, Japan Osaka Securities Exchange and the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. In the first quarter of 2011 alone, the practice acted for issuers on global equity and equity-related matters in relation to 18 offerings with a total value of $2.3bn.

Guantao Law Firm acted in connection with BBMG’s IPO of A shares and merger of Hebei Taihang Cement, and assisted the underwriters in the issuance of RMB23bn convertible bonds by China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation. Sun Dongying and Sun Dongfeng head the team.

DeHeng Law Office acted on an award-winning equity market deal involving the listing of Agricultural Bank of China. Li Wang is the chief global managing partner and founder of the firm. Wang has frequently advised on bond issuings and other securities.

Han Kun Law Offices is noted for its work as Chinese counsel to issuers in the IPOs of Chinese companies on major US exchanges. The team advised iSoftStone, a China-based outsourced technology services provider, on its New York Stock Exchange IPO, and represented Hopson Development Holdings in relation to the issuance of $300m of its senior notes.

Run Ming Law Office’s advice focuses predominantly on domestic and overseas private placements, public listings and initial offerings, as well as the M&A and restructuring side required for pre-IPO companies. The principal practitioners are executive partner Yadong Wang, partner Xin Lv and consultant Yingying Gu.

‘Fast growing firm’ Zhong Yin Law Firm acts on the issuance and listing of domestic and overseas shares for Chinese enterprises. It also advises on the issuance and listing of domestic and overseas shares of foreign-invested enterprises, the separate listing for enterprises affiliated to domestic listed companies, the issuance and listing of bonds, as well as private placements, asset securitisations and equity transfers.