US powerhouse Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP continues to pick up a strong pipeline of work for Chinese issuers from a range of sectors including healthcare and TMT on their offshore IPOs, global offerings and follow-on offerings. Due to its US heritage and the presence of many US-qualified partners in Hong Kong, the team has historically been active advising Chinese companies list on the Nasdaq. Although this source of work was substantially impacted by geo-political tensions, in a rare US IPO the firm successfully advised Atour Lifestyle Holdings Limited on its $52m listing of American Depositary Shares (ADS’s) on the Nasdaq. Li He led on the aforementioned deal and is as comfortable handling US IPOs as he is handling listings on the HKEX. Other recommended partners include the vastly experienced James Lin and Yang Chu , who regularly handles IPOs, follow-on offerings and share placements in the biotech sector.

The ‘very committed’ team at Linklaters provides a ‘high level work performance’ across a range of other high-profile equity work, often involving challenging regulatory hurdles. The firm’s strength on the regulatory side has in recent years been exemplified by its involvement in the establishment of several major capital markets infrastructure developments, including the setting up of ETF Connect and Swap Connect. The close ties with the Hong Kong capital markets regulator that the firm has established, including in-house regulatory secondment experiences, are also beneficial in establishing a close dialogue on complex transactions. As well as helping issuers secure large follow on/rights issuances on the HKEX, the firm has also been very active helping Chinese issuers access international investment through overseas GDR listings on Stock Connect. Lipton Li, who is ‘very hands on, professional and knowledgeable’, has been pivotal to the firm’s success for Chinese issuers on international matters and has handled GDR listings on the SIX Swiss Exchange via the China-Switzerland Stock Connect, as well as the very first GDR listing on the Shanghai-London Stock Connect segment of the Main market. Donnelly Chan co-heads the team alongside Li and is appreciated by clients for his ECM versatility which includes advice on SPAC listings, H-shares listings and spin-off listings, as well as an increasing volume of work for Chinese property developers raising capital in Hong Kong’s secondary equity capital markets. The arrival in August 2023 of Roger Cheng bolsters the firm’s public M&A capability, in particular, in light of his experience gleaned from his previous role as head of the takeovers team at the SFC.

Drawing upon the expertise of many accomplished US and Hong Kong-qualified practitioners, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is a popular choice for Chinese issuers and underwriting banks listing on both the HKEX and US exchanges. Notably, the team has recently been involved in several high-profile secondary listings, including for the joint sponsors of NIO on its Hong Kong listing by way of introduction. Daniel Fertig was involved in the aforementioned deal, one of many secondary listings he has handled in recent years, tracing a pedigree which stretches back to his involvement on the first home coming listing. Christopher Wong worked with Fertig on the NIO deal and continues to be the driving force of the firm’s Hong Kong IPO practice, acting on listings encompassing a broad range of industries, including electric vehicles, consumer, TMT and healthcare. Hong Kong and English-qualified partner Marjory Ding is also recommended.

Leveraging the firm’s strong institutional corporate client base, the ‘highly technical, client focused and professional’ team at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP continues to excel in advising a Chinese issuer-focused client base across a wide range of ECM work. The firm remains a go-to practice for helping Chinese corporates access capital in the US, where its ability ‘to come up with innovative and flexible solutions for clients’ has been invaluable in difficult market conditions, enabling it to adapt to its traditional IPO strength and help clients access capital through alternative means including large-value deSPAC transactions and innovative reverse takeovers and backdoor listings. The team also continues to excel at handling Hong Kong IPOs, including helping US-listed Chinese companies in relation to homecoming listings. Shu Du‘s versatile practice includes expertise across the spectrum of US, Hong Kong and home coming listings, and alongside the ‘client-oriented, and commercial’ Paloma Wang is in the engine room of the firm’s prolific practice. Yilin Xu continues to impress advising across both US and Hong Kong IPOs and was promoted  to partner in April 2023 in recognition of his efforts. At counsel level, Anthony Pang and Martina To  ‘are very professional and responsive’, while the ‘experienced and hands-on’ Lillian Lian, who joined in September 2022 from Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, is appreciated for her ability to handle ‘the most critical issues’ for clients. Wang co-heads the team alongside Jonathon Stone, whose corporate expertise is utilised to good effect on some ECM work, including in the context of deSPAC transactions.

Drawing upon its excellent relationships with many bulge bracket banks, Allen & Overy is best-known for its underwriter/arranger work facilitating a range of ECM work for Chinese issuers including IPOs, listings, and follow-ons such as rights issues and block trades. As well as handling Hong Kong-related work, including a considerable amount of work within the biotech space (under Chapter 18A rules), the firm has been very successful in securing both issuer and underwriter mandates on international issuances facilitated by the China-Switzerland stock connect program which opened up in July 2022. Jonathan Hsui has been pivotal to this success and has handled a raft of GDR offerings on the SIX Swiss Exchange, work which he combines with a vibrant HKEX practice. Lina Lee is also central to the team’s success on the transactional side, as well as handling regulatory compliance-related work for several major listed companies across different industries. The team was also strengthened at the beginning of 2023 by the arrival of Gilbert Li and Iris Yeung  from Linklaters, both of whom add core ECM expertise, as well as on public M&A.

The ‘rigorous’ team at Herbert Smith Freehills provides a ‘customer-centric and solutions-oriented approach’ to investment banks, international corporations, Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and government- owned entities across a broad swathe of capital market linked products. Under the expert leadership of Matt Emsley, the team has particularly strong visibility within the biotech/healthcare and TMT sectors, and continues to pick up a significant volume of 18A listings. Praised for his ‘extremely keen insight and deep understanding of business’, Jeremy Shen  excels in handling IPOs and follow-on offerings and is able to ‘provide constructive and far-sighted opinions’.

With significant resources in Hong Kong and on the mainland, including lawyers qualified in US, UK, PRC and Hong Kong law, King & Wood Mallesons has excellent credentials among Chinese issuers and international underwriters/sponsors on global offerings and listings on the HKEX. John Baptist Chan is one of the pivotal members of the team, regularly advising on HKEX IPOs and secondary offerings involving Chinese companies from a range of sectors. Fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese, Anthony Wan is noted for his ability to provide ‘practical and professional advice’ to Chinese sponsors and issuers across a range of ECM mandates, including IPOs and REITs. Other recommended practitioners include New York-qualified Corey Zhang , who as well as handling domestic work is also adept at advising on offerings of GDRs and ADRs, and team head Candy Chan, whose varied workflow includes advice to state-owned enterprises and red-chip companies on Hong Kong offerings and compliance work for listed companies.

The ‘detailed and meticulous’ team at Slaughter and May provides ‘high-quality, responsive and succinct advice’ to issuers and sponsors seeking Hong Kong, US and English law advice across a range of capital markets transactions in Hong Kong. Benita Yu ‘can offer unparalleled insight into most complex and tricky issues’ and is one of several lawyers in the team which have excellent underlying regulatory prowess as a result of either current regulatory ties (as is the case with Yu, who is a current member of the Listing Review Committee of the HKEX and Deputy Chairman of the Takeovers and Mergers Panel) or previously held in-house regulatory positions. John Moore, who is ‘very helpful and hands on’, co-heads the team alongside Yu, and ‘provides valuable advice to the sponsors based on his knowledge and experience’.

Ashurst advises a varied mix of issuers, underwriters and sponsors across the life-cycle of ECM matters, including on IPOs, general compliance matters, spin-off listings, secondary offerings, block trades and buy backs. Although the firm is industry agnostic, it has been particularly active in recent years in relation to ECM transactions in the pharmaceutical, biotech and digital economy sectors, all of which have experienced an uptick of issuances as a result of regulatory changes. ‘The very responsive and hardworking’ Frank Bi has particularly strong traction with Chinese issuers, including SOEs, which are appreciative not only of his legal skills but also his language capabilities. The team is also able to link up with international colleagues spread throughout the firm’s vast network on cross-border issues, while Melody He and the ‘outstanding’ Li Jiang leverage their US qualifications to good effect on  behalf of Asian entities listing in the US. Bi co-heads the firm’s overarching Asia corporate offering with Joshua Cole.

Praised for its ability to ‘suggest creative solutions to solve problems rather than erect roadblocks’, Baker McKenzie is a popular choice among Chinese issuers and international banks across a range of Hong Kong-related capital markets transactions, including IPOs, spin-offs and takeovers of listed companies. In this context, as well as being able to resource matters utilising capital markets mandates with domestic, US and PRC qualifications, the firm is also able to leverage the expertise of lawyers within complementary practice areas, such as tax, employment and M&A lawyers. Team head Christina Lee provides ‘very efficient and professional’ advice across a range of Hong Kong transactional and regulatory compliance matters, as well as on international issuances, including a number of Swiss GDR transactions following reforms to the China-Switzerland Stock Connect rules in 2022. Hong Kong, English and New York qualified partner Ivy Wong is also recommended and is appreciated for her ‘good communication and analytical skills’. 

Combining a ‘deep understanding and insight into Chinese culture, laws and regulations and business norms’ with an ‘advanced familiarity of Western practices’, O'Melveny is a popular choice among Chinese issuers and banks across a range of ECM matters, including IPOs, global offerings and follow-on issuances. Under the guidance of Edwin Kwok and Ke Zhu, the firm has gained most prominence as a result of its ability to provide ‘feasible and effective solutions’ in the context of biotech and life sciences issuances.

The ‘resourceful and technically strong’ team at Paul Hastings LLP provides ‘commercially sensible solutions’ to Chinese and international underwriters and issuers engaged across a range of ECM work, including HKEX IPOs and global offerings, right issues, placing, block trade as well as follow-on offerings. Founding partner and chair of the Greater China practice, Raymond Li has excellent traction in the market, regularly advising on H-share listings, share purchase agreements and Hong Kong IPOs, in addition to M&A involving Hong Kong-listed entities. Other key practitioners include the ‘hands-on, well-prepared and forward-looking’ Peter Cheng and New York and Hong Kong-qualified partner Chaobo Fan, who handles HKEX listings for Chinese corporates, as well as excelling on multi-jurisdictional transactions.

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton‘s integrated US and Hong Kong capital markets team has a strong reputation advising PRC/Hong Kong issuers as well as international sponsors/underwriters on listings and secondary offerings in Hong Kong. A number of these have recently taken the form of dual primary listings by introduction, including on behalf of OneConnect Financial Technology Co where as well as its listing on the HKSE its ADSs are listed on the NYSE. New York and Hong Kong-qualified partner Shuang Zhao is one of the key practitioners advising on domestic and international SEC-registered and Reg S/Rule144A IPOs. UK and Hong Kong-qualified partner Freeman Chan is also a key practitioner both for conventional ECM work, as well as public M&A, where he is able to leverage his role as chairman of the Takeovers and Mergers Panel. Miao Zhang, who was recently promoted to partner, co-heads the team alongside Zhao and Chan.

Reed Smith Richards Butler LLP provides ‘comprehensive and well-rounded solutions’ to an issuer-focused client base across a range of HKEX IPOs, follow-on and secondary offerings, as well as private placements. In this context, the team, which includes many dual Hong Kong and English-qualified practitioners, combines local cultural, business and legal expertise with a truly internationally outlook. With deep experience in handing capital markets work, team head Denise Jong has ‘maintained a good network with clients and regulatory authorities’, and as well as handling ECM transactional work is also noted for her compliance expertise and her experience handling privatisations of Hong Kong-listed companies.

The ‘energetic‘ team at Shearman & Sterling provides ‘proactive’ advice to issuers and underwriters/sponsors across a wide range of ECM-related matters, including with regard to IPOs, global equity offerings and follow-on offerings within emerging markets. Praised for her ‘strong commercial instincts’, Wanda Woo is praised for her ‘willingness and ability to coordinate with other professional parties’, including on issuances within the tech and life sciences sectors. New York and Hong Kong-qualified team head Kyungwon (Won) Lee s varied deal flow includes SPAC-related work and SEC-registered and Rule 144 A/Reg S offerings.

Acting on its own, as well as frequently drawing upon broader Greater China resources from the mainland, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is able to provide domestic and US securities law advice to Chinese issuers and international underwriters across a range of ECM/corporate finance work, including on HKEX IPOs, follow-on offerings, SPACs and de-SPACs. Unsurprisingly perhaps, given the firm’s historical and ongoing reputation as a Silicon Valley heavyweight, many of these mandates relate to growth industries including TMT, healthcare and life sciences. Splitting her time between the Hong Kong and Beijing offices, team head Dan Ouyang is pivotal to the team’s success.

Independent Hong Kong firm Kwok Yih & Chan continues to thrive acting across a range of corporate finance and capital markets matters. With all three name partners having deep insight into the Hong Kong securities market gained through their long careers both at the firm they founded and in their previous firms, the team has been particularly effective advising on IPOs and listings on the HKSE. In this context Conrad Chan and Dieter Yih are particularly adept advising regional financial institutions as sponsors.

Loeb & Loeb LLP‘s company-side focused practice regularly advises issuers on their ECM activities on the HKSE, as well as on ongoing compliance issues. In addition, the team often  works alongside colleagues in the US advising Asia-based companies seeking to raise money in the US, including listings on the Nasdaq. Splitting his time between Hong Kong and Beijing, team head Lawrence Venick is key to the firm’s success helping Asia-based companies tap the US capital markets, and has also recently advised on a number of Asia-focused SPACs listing on the Nasdaq.

Led by Hank Lo , the ‘multilingual, responsive and hardworking’ team at  Stevenson, Wong & Co provides ‘cost-effective and practical advice’ to issuers and underwriters on global offerings and listings on the HKSE. In this regard, the firm also benefits from a strategic association with mainland firm AllBright Law Offices, enabling it to quickly and effectively deal with any Chinese law issues that may arise in the course of a transaction. The team is also very effective at assisting Greater China companies list on the Nasdaq, with newly promoted partner Gordon Tsang  particularly effective in this regard.