What we say about the firm's legal practice in Hong Kong
Capital markets (debt)
Within Capital markets (debt), tier 4
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is also recommended high-yield bond offerings. In February 2011, it advised the underwriters on the RMB1.2bn offering by LDK Solar. Megan Tang led on the deal.
Capital markets (equity)
Within Capital markets (equity),
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is on an upward trajectory with the establishment of a Hong Kong law team, including the arrival of Freeman Chan from Norton Rose Hong Kong. He links up with eminent figure and Asia stalwart Clayton Johnson.
Corporate (including M&A)
Within Corporate (including M&A), tier 4
Having launched a Hong Kong law practice in February 2011 through the hire of Freeman Chan from Norton Rose Hong Kong, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is poised for even greater things. At the same time, senior Frankfurt partner Christof von Dryander relocated to Hong Kong. The newly enhanced team will be seeking to build on such deals as TPG’s landmark investment in CICC, the first foreign private equity investment in a Chinese securities firm.
Legal market overview
Within Legal market overview,
As one of the world’s premier financial centres, and arguably the most active at present, Hong Kong has become a market of intense focus for the international legal profession. While many local and international firms have increased their resources in the special administrative region (SAR), it is US firms that have surprised the market with a sequence of headline lateral hires. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, Kirkland & Ellis International LLP, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy have all hired elite names, principally from the Magic Circle and elite UK-based firms.
Private equity
Within Private equity, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is a third tier firm,
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP’s cornerstone client TPG Capital has brought it into a number of major transactions in Asia. It recently acted for TPG in connection with its partnership with the municipal governments of Shanghai and Chongqing, to raise and manage two new RMB-denominated funds.