The Legal 500

Within Beijing, King & Wood Mallesons is a first tier firm,

King & Wood Mallesons is widely recognised for its expertise and performance in the areas of international finance and banking. The practice represented Bank of China (Hong Kong) in its successful $150m cross-border loan financing deal with China Southern Airlines, in which the airline imported China’s first ever A380-800. Managing partner Wang Ling heads the financing practice; she specialises in banking, international finance, project finance, aircraft and equipment lease financing, acquisition finance, and real estate finance. She has led teams advising financial institutions (including foreign-invested banks, auto-finance companies and finance companies, and financial leasing companies) on their establishment as legal entities in China. ‘Solid legal adviser’ Wang Shu is also recommended.

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Within Shanghai, King & Wood Mallesons is a first tier firm,

King & Wood Mallesons is ‘one to watch’ following K&W’s merger with Australia’s Mallesons Stephens Jacques in 2012. It recently advised Standard Chartered Bank on arranging an onshore-offshore parallel debt financing of around RMB1.2bn to a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singaporean real estate investment holding company, ARA Asia Dragon. It also acted for China Everbright Bank, in relation to a RMB1.95bn syndication facility to acquire the use of a large land reserve in Huangpu. Other instructions came from Skysea International Capital Management, Bank of China, Alibaba Group, Bank of Communications and UBS. Jack Wang, Zhong Xin and Roy Zhang are highly recommended.

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Within Beijing, King & Wood Mallesons is a first tier firm,

King & Wood Mallesons frequently represents issuers and underwriters in public offerings of both equity and debt securities. Key matters have included acting for coaxial cable-products manufacturer Kingsignal Technology Group on the successful completion of an A-share IPO on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE). The practice, led by Yongliang Zhang, Yanyan Song and Qingjun Jin, also advised China’s largest automobile manufacturer, Great Wall Motor Holdings Company, on its RMB3.96bn A-shares listing on the SSE. In addition, the team assisted the underwriters in the H-share IPO of CITIC Securities Company, China’s largest listed brokerage and the first to be A+H-share dually listed, raising more than HKD1.7bn in equity capital. Jianping Wang is an ‘impressive adviser’.

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Within Shanghai, King & Wood Mallesons is a first tier firm,

King & Wood Mallesons demonstrated its ability to advise on complex deals when it acted for the underwriters in Perennial China Retail Trust’s listing on the Singapore Exchange, raising over S$776m. Other highlights included advising the issuers on the respective listings of shoe producer AoKang (on the Shanghai Stock Exchange), online beauty business Perfect Shape (PRC) Holdings, and bakery supplier Christine International Holdings (both on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange). Zhao Xiaohong, Mu Peng and Zhang Mingyuan are recommended. Stanley Cha left the firm in 2012.

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Within Beijing, King & Wood Mallesons is a first tier firm,

King & Wood Mallesons was formed in March 2012 when King & Wood and Australian firm Mallesons Stephen Jacques combined. The Beijing office now includes over 90 partners and 460 fee earners, with the combined firm totalling 1,800 lawyers across the Asia Pacific region. Recent highlights for the firm included acting for renewable-energy investment company, Guohua Energy Investment, on its acquisition of 75% of the Woolnorth wind farm project from Australia’s largest renewable energy company, Hydro Tasmania. In addition, leading individual Xu Ping led the team advising Weichai Holding Group on the acquisition of a controlling interest in Italian company Ferretti Group (the world’s largest luxury-yacht builder), via an agreement with its major creditors and a debt restructuring procedure. The practice also served as the sole PRC legal adviser to China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group, on its £632m acquisition of London Stock Exchange-listed, Australian uranium mining company, Kalahari Minerals. Ping is well known for FDI work, M&A and technology transfers, and has extensive experience representing multinational and international companies on their investments in China. She also provides legal advice to both Chinese and foreign-invested enterprises on aspects such as customs formalities, taxes, labour issues, and IP protection. Harry Du is also a key contact; he specialises in M&A and foreign direct investment (FDI). Yang Xiaolei and Rupert Li are leading individuals.

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Within Shanghai, King & Wood Mallesons is a first tier firm,

King & Wood Mallesons is one of the biggest names in the market, and is active in both inbound and outbound work across numerous different sectors. It recently acted for Reliance Group when Tyco Fire and Security acquired 51% of its equity, and it advised Chinese electrical company Povos on the sale of part of its appliances business to Philips by way of equity shares and assets transfer. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) instructed the group on its acquisition of a 24% equity interest in China Post & Capital Fund Management through an agreement with Beijing Chang’an. Mark Schaub is recommended.

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Within Beijing, King & Wood Mallesons is a first tier firm,

King & Wood Mallesons represents numerous clients across a range of industries, including mining, textiles and chemicals. Ariel Ye heads the cross-border dispute resolution team and was recently appointed to the Governing Board of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA); Ye’s clients include multinational corporations, international financial institutions, large-scale domestic enterprises, and foreign-invested companies. Qian Yaozhi leads the firm’s domestic dispute resolution practice; his expertise includes litigation and arbitration relating to finance, corporate structure and securities, foreign direct investment, international trade and real estate development. Zhang Shouzhi specialises in cross-border trade and investment, banking and finance, infrastructure, intellectual property and product liability disputes. Liu Xiangwen has a broad corporate litigation practice.

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Within Shanghai, King & Wood Mallesons is a first tier firm,

King & Wood Mallesons is ‘very well known’ and has a ‘very strong practice’, although its Shanghai offering is smaller than that of Beijing. Boosted by its solid IP team, it acted for Apple in a significant trade mark dispute, and it is often instructed in contentious matters relating to foreign investment, another area of significant strength. Following the recent tie-up with Mallesons Stephens Jacques, the international scope of the practice is expected to grow further in the coming years. Denning Jin and Harry Liu are recommended.

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Within Beijing, King & Wood Mallesons is a second tier firm,

King & Wood Mallesons provides employment advice to multinational companies, financial institutions, large Chinese companies and trade organisations, including a number of Fortune 500 companies. Junlu Jiang is experienced in reviewing and drafting labour contracts and internal policies for large Chinese enterprises and multinationals, and Lucy Lu covers the full range of employment matters, including those relating to M&A transactions. Linda Liang is highly experienced in employment and social security law, and Juquan Yin is recommended for employment-related litigation and arbitration matters. The team has recently undertaken a number of matters relating to collective bargaining, trade unions and restructuring.

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Within Beijing, King & Wood Mallesons is a first tier firm,

King & Wood Mallesons covers the full spectrum of IP-related services, including patents, trade mark, copyright, unfair competition and IP litigation. The team represented the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad and has managed the Olympic IP portfolio since 2002. Li Yong leads the team and represents multinational companies in patent matters including applications, re-examination, licensing, and infringement proceedings. Zhu Nongfan specialises in IP asset management, dispute resolution and transactions.

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Within Shanghai, King & Wood Mallesons is a second tier firm,

King & Wood Mallesons is increasingly involved in high-profile IP cases, and is also involved in all types of IP litigation. It also advises clients on preventative measures. The group was instructed by pharmaceutical company Yangzi River on a project to import new technology from a US company; part of the firm’s role was to minimise potential IP risks. It advised Tianqi on IP ownership arrangements and IP issues associated with its IPO on the Shanghai Equity Exchange; and, for Rhodia, conducted IP due diligence investigations and advised on infringement risks relating to its acquisition of Feixiang Chemicals. Other instructions came from Shanghai M&G Stationery and Aokang. Qu Miao is the key partner in Shanghai, which often works in conjunction with the firm’s Beijing office, where it has a larger IP offering.

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Within Beijing, King & Wood Mallesons is a first tier firm,

King & Wood Mallesons welcomed partner Dirk Walker and of counsel Dina Yin from Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP in Beijing and Linklaters respectively. Walker’s experience includes representing state-owned Chinese oil companies in outbound acquisitions and the development of upstream and downstream projects in Africa, South America, the US, and the CIS. Yin focuses on representing PRC and international energy and mining companies in both outbound and inbound acquisitions and projects. The practice acted for Yanzhou Coal Mining, through its Australian subsidiary, on the $2.13bn takeover of Australian mining company Gloucester Coal. PRC managing partner and ‘formidable lawyer’ Wang Ling is a key contact.

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Within Foreign firms,

Herbert Smith Freehills assists on major energy and infrastructure projects, including the development of regulatory frameworks and contractual structures, together with advice on sector governance, and economic, commercial and environmental regulations. The practice assisted China National Offshore Oil Corporation on its investment in BG Group’s Queensland Curtis LNG project and the purchase of 3.6 MTPA of LNG from the project, including negotiating over 20 project agreements, and marking China’s largest ever export transaction with Australia, valued at approximately up to $80bn. Tom Chau, Betty Tam and Karen Ip are rated contacts. Alexander Aitken in Hong Kong is a ‘very good, technical lawyer’, and Hilary Lau in Hong Kong is also well regarded. Anna Howell relocated to London, and Simon Meng joined King & Wood Mallesons in Shanghai.

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Within Beijing, King & Wood Mallesons is a first tier firm,

King & Wood Mallesons bolstered its tax practice in 2012 with the arrival of Zhao Yan, formerly a consultant at one of the Big Four. The highly regarded Tony Dong leads the team; he has experience advising multinational corporations and domestic companies on the full range of tax issues, including those relating to risk assessment, tax planning, M&A structuring and corporate restructuring. Recent work includes representing a well-known real estate enterprise in analysing the tax exposures arising out of its corporate restructuring. The team also recently advised a US software company on the tax implications of an acquisition in China, involving a tax due diligence assessment of the target company.

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Within Beijing, King & Wood Mallesons is a first tier firm,

King & Wood Mallesons’ expertise includes WTO litigation, anti-dumping and countervailing-duty investigations, customs matters, and international treaty negotiations. The team recently advised Perstorp France SAS on its response to the anti-dumping investigation concerning a chemical product initiated by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). The team also acted as acted as co-counsel to MOFCOM in a dispute initiated by the US, the EU, and Mexico concerning export restrictions on certain raw materials. Xiao Jin leads the team.

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