The Legal 500

Clifford Chance LLP has ‘one of the best private equity teams in the PRC’. The team advised Affinity Equity Partners and Unitas Capital on the $650m disposal of 100% of portfolio-company Leader Harvest Power Technologies Holdings, through an auction sale to Schneider Electric. Terence Foo in Beijing is rated.

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is known for its TMT expertise in relation to the private equity sector. Partners John (Jack) Lange in Hong Kong, Xiaoyu Greg Liu in Beijing, and Jeanette Chan, who splits her time between these offices, are recommended. The team acted for KKR on its investment in China Cord Blood Corporation, which was structured as a convertible note with extensive downside protection, and marked KKR’s first private investment in public equity (PIPE) involvement in a US-listed, China-based company.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is ‘top-notch’. The practice acted for Allyes Group, majority-owned by Silver Lake Partners, in connection with an agreement for a strategic investment by Vision Knight Capital, a China-based private equity fund. Douglas Markel and Shaolin Luo in Beijing, and Hong Kong-based Celia Lam, Christopher Wong and Kathryn King Sudol are key contacts. Sudol is ‘great, and is not shy to bring New York expertise whenever helpful’.

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP recently welcomed Ling Huang as partner to its Beijing office from Shearman & Sterling LLP. Recent significant deals included advising TPG Asia on its investment in Li Ning Company, a leading sports-brand enterprise in China.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s team includes experts in public and private M&A, financing, and regulatory matters, and has hands-on experience of structuring and implementing private equity transactions. The practice advised Warburg Pincus on its $210m cornerstone investment in Haitong Securities.

Linklaters combines a specialist private equity practice with experience in M&A, acquisition finance, capital markets and specialist investment funds, and in-depth country knowledge. The team advised Hawaii Asia Holdings, as an investor, in relation to The Carlyle Group’s $137m investment in Haier Electronics Group, which was one of 2011’s largest PIPE deals in Greater China. Hong Kong-based Christopher Kelly heads the private equity practice in Asia, and Betty Yap is China practice head. Peggy Wang is praised.

O’Melveny & Myers LLP is especially adept at handling going-private transactions, particularly those concerning Chinese US-listed companies looking to de-list. The team represented China Real Estate Information Corporation in connection with its entry into a definitive merger agreement with E-House (China) Holdings, marking the first such deal in Asia where two public companies were involved. Walker Wallace in Shanghai and Beijing-based David Roberts are recommended.

‘Diligent firm’ Ropes & Gray LLP recently advised TPG Capital (as part of a consortium), in its $363m takeover of Beijing-based wire manufacturer, Fushi Copperweld. Gary Li joined from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP; and the ‘outstanding’ Hong Kong-based Marcia Ellis arrived from the DE Shaw Group in 2011. Arthur Mok in Shanghai is rated.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges’ Hong Kong-based Peter Feist is private equity head for Asia Pacific while Beijing-based Steven Xiang leads the China practice. The team was counsel to Lion Capital as the selling sponsor in the £1.2bn sale of a controlling stake in Weetabix Food Company by state-owned Chinese entity, Bright Food Company. Shanghai-based Anthony Wang is recommended.

Allen & Overy LLP’s ‘lawyers uphold the highest standards of integrity and professionalism’. The practice offers specialised expertise advising on the full life cycle of a fund, including establishment, equity investments, debt/leveraged financing/buyouts, specialist high yield and US securities law, exit strategies and regulatory matters.

Baker & McKenzie’s key matters included advising Canada Pension Plan Investment Board on its acquisition of 50% of the shares in Hong Kong Interlink from Australian-listed Goodman Group, one of the world’s largest listed fund managers specialising in industrial and business properties. Cheung Yuk Tong and Dorothea Koo in Hong Kong are practice heads; Beijing-based Bee Chun Boo and Jon Eichelberger, together with Howard Wu in Shanghai, are key advisers.

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP’s Beijing-based Howard Zhang is a recommended lawyer. The team advised TPG Rave Holdings, an affiliate of TPG, in connection with its investment in China Ruifeng Galaxy Renewable Energy Holdings.

Rated by peers, Kirkland & Ellis International LLP’s Chuan Li is experienced in advising strategic and private equity clients on acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, leveraged buyouts, going-private transactions, PIPEs, growth equity investments and PE fund formation in the US, Greater China and other Asian countries.

Latham & Watkins LLP regularly advises funds clients – and their portfolio companies – on all aspects of investments, from strategic and tax-efficient deal structuring and financing to the implementation of numerous types of exit strategies. The practice assisted Bright Food Group in connection with its $516m acquisition of a 75% stake in Manassen Foods from CHAMP Private Equity. Shanghai-based Rowland Cheng and Beijing office managing partner Allen Wang are principal contacts.

Morrison & Foerster recently represented social game developer and publisher, Six Waves, in a preferred equity transaction with Nexon and Insight Venture Partners. Hong Kong-based Thomas Chou and Sherry Yin in Beijing are rated.

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP’s Maurice Hoo and Edwin Luk in Hong Kong, and Shanghai-based Thomas Tobiason, are well-regarded lawyers. The team advised Fung Investments, an affiliate of the family office of Victor Fung, in an Asia venture with NetJets, which is controlled by Warren Buffet.

Shearman & Sterling LLP’s Hong Kong-based Paul Strecker leads the private equity and M&A practices in Asia. Recent highlights included representing the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of AsiaInfo-Linkage in its ongoing acquisition by Power Joy (Cayman), a wholly owned subsidiary of CITIC Capital China Partners II. Beijing-based Lee Edwards is recommended.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP’s Michael Gisser has ‘strong business acumen’ and Peter Huang ‘understands the China market’. The practice advised Carlyle Asia Partners in its disposition of a 40% equity stake in Jiangsu Sinorgchem, a leading global producer of rubber chemical-additives. Jonathan Stone is a key contact.

DLA Piper welcomed John Shi in Beijing from Mallesons Stephen Jaques, but former Beijing corporate head Steven Liu and Chris Terry left for the new Beijing office of Silicon Valley firm, Gunderson Dettmer LLP. The practice represented the Chairman of the Board of CFSG, a NASDAQ-listed fire-protection company, in CFSG’s going-private transaction, via an acquisition by an affiliate of Bain Capital Asia Fund. Kaichen Xu in Shanghai is praised.

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is experienced in fund formations, downstream investments and exits. The team advised Alibaba, China’s largest internet group, on its sale of a $1.6bn stake to a consortium of investors including Silver Lake Technology Management, Digital Sky Technologies, Temasek Holdings and Yunfeng Capital.

‘Professional and easy to deal with firm’ Hogan Lovells International LLP represents Silicon Valley venture capital entities, and works with emerging companies and entrepreneurs from start-up through to exit. Department head Michael Chin joined the Shanghai and Hong Kong offices from Dorsey & Whitney. Chin is ‘knowledgeable, responsive and efficient’. Beijing, Shanghai and Washington DC-based Steven Robinson, Jun Wei in Beijing, and Shanghai-based Andrew McGinty are principal contacts.

For one client, Jones Day ‘adds more clarity to the work than other foreign or domestic firms’. The practice represented Bekaert in selling its Industrial Coatings activities to Element Partners, a US-based equity fund.

Paul Hastings LLP is especially strong in the real estate investment funds market. Recent matters included advising Arch Capital Management, a Hong Kong-based private equity real estate firm, on its $306m ARCH Capital-TRG Asian Partners LP fund closing. Shanghai-based David Wang is recommended; Roger Peng left for Loeb & Loeb LLP.

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP regularly advises on private equity and strategic investments, as well as on the exits from those investments through M&A and capital markets transactions.