The Legal 500 > Asia Pacific > China > Corporate and M&A: PRC firms

Fangda Partners handles a large number of complex cross-border transactions, including advising Chinese companies' outbound investments and assisting multinationals and international financial institutions' inbound investment. Its sizable team further strengthened its cross-border M&A and PRC financial regulations offerings with the hire of five partners including Colette Pan, Grace Yu and Jian Fang who joined from Linklaters, and Yi Chen and Siyuan Pan, who joined from Morrison & Foerster LLP and White & Case LLP respectively. Among its recent highlights, Jonathan Zhou advised Alibaba Group on is $9.5bn buyout acquisition of all outstanding shares of Ele.me; and Norman Zhong and Helen Fan assisted long term client Swire with its RMB2bn sale of Swire Pacific Cold Storage in China to Vanke. The team also has expertise in assisting financial institutions with establishing platforms to provide online financial services to businesses.

JunHe LLP is a powerhouse for multi-jurisdictional M&A transactions, combing its solid strength in private equity, antitrust and compliance. Its recent highlights features a mix of big-ticket FDI, outbound investments and divestments for a range of well-known clients in the technology, real estate and pharmaceutical sectors. Within the 'responsive and pragmatic' team, Adam Li is recommended for advising US companies in cross-border investments, M&A, private placements, public offerings and privitisations, Binxue Sang regularly assists private equity funds with cross-border transactions, Hongli Ma is an experienced corporate practitioner who has previously practiced in the US. Chunyang Shao, Daniel He, Wenjun Jiang are also names to note.

Zhong Lun Law Firm has a solid track record in advising multinational clients as well as listed domestic and international companies in complex transactions, including reorganisation, M&A, cross-border transaction, and outbound investment. Anthony Zhao is particularly active in the TMT, healthcare and life sciences sectors; Audry Li and Yan Zhou are key names to note for FDI, cross-border M&A transactions; and Jun Cheng specialises in outbound investments, particularly on One Belt One Road projects. The team assisted the air-bag maker Takata Corporation with its $1.58bn acquisition by Key Safety Systems and advised Sinotrans on its RMB7.3bn merger with Sinotrans Air Transportation Development Corporation.

Global Law Office advises on all aspects of private acquisitions and disposals, public takeovers and mergers, with particular strength and expertise in cross-border M&A deals and transactions involving SOEs, PRC-listed companies and public companies in capital markets of other jurisdictions. Managing partner Jinrong Liu and Shifang Guo advised Xiamen Tungsten on its $1bn acquisition of Kazakhstan tungsten mines and acted for CICC Capital Management and ARA Asset Management on establishing a joint venture and the subsequent acquisition of a commercial real estate from Tishman; Steven Yu acted for Puhua Capital on its participation in the VIE structure and series E financing of Ximalaya.com and advised Tencent, the controlling shareholder of Tencent Doctorwork, in the merger transaction of the Tencent Doctorwwork and Trusted Doctors. Huawei Lin counts Blackstone, Warburg Pincus and KKR as his major clients. Yu Zhang, Alex Liu and Cheng Li are also key names to note.

Haiwen & Partners is singled out for its 'high degree of professional skills, commercial awareness and responsiveness'. The team further boosted its cross-border M&A capability when it hired the 'diligent and enthusiastic' Jieni Gu from Ropes & Gray LLP, and six other practitioners from PRC and international firms. The team is regularly involved in big-ticket domestic and cross-border M&A transactions, including asset acquisitions, stock purchases, restructurings and joint ventures. Recent highlights include advising Beijing Easyhome Investment Holdings Group on a RMB13bn strategic investment made by a consortium, in which Alibaba Group Holding was the leading investor, and in a separate matter, assisted Alibaba with its RMB4.5bn investment in Huitongda Network, a subsidiary of Jiangsu Five Star Appliances that provides online merchandising and marketing services to retail outlets across rural China. Practice head Jiping Zhang is a prominent figure in private equity investments, and counts Alibaba, Baidu, Goldman Sachs and Hillhouse as his key clients. Wenzhen Dai is experienced in the energy and medical sector; Hao Bing, Yu Cao and Wei Gao are also names to note. The team operates from Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong.

Jincheng Tongda & Neal excels in handling inbound and outbound M&A transactions in the energy, new material, insurance, TMT and real estate sectors. It also has a Japanese desk which it advises well-known technology companies on M&A, compliance and international trade matters. Annie Wu is particularly experienced in cross-border M&A, corporate finance, joint ventures and private equity transactions, and her recent experience includes representing Chinese private companies, SOEs, sovereign funds, and multi-national companies in their investments in countries and regions along The Belt and Road Initiative regions. A recent highlight saw Wu assisting China Energy Investment Corporation with its proposed shale gas investment in the US. Xiaodong Zheng, Ketong Shi and Mingkai Wang focus on M&A and capital markets transactions.

Jingtian & Gongcheng significantly strengthened its M&A and private equity offering when it hired seven partners from AllBright Law Offices and added five partners in its Hong Kong office as a result of a merger with L&C Legal LLP. Among them, Victor Wang is particularly noted for his experience of assisting Fortune 500 companies with their direct investments in China. The team continues to advise a large number of listed companies and private equity firms on corporate and M&A transactions. Xiaofeng Cheng advised HBIS Group on its RMB2bn acquisition of Tata Steel's listed companies in Thailand and acted for Beijing Yinxiang Biji Technology on its spin-off from Evernote into an independent entity. Wei Bai, Guanchun Dai, Xiang Gao and Chenghai Zheng are also names to note.

Llinks Law Offices continues to impress in big-ticket domestic and cross-border M&A mandates, and has seen an increased instructions  in outbound investments. The 'highly efficient' team counts Sinochem International Corporation as a major clients which it handled a series of transactions including advising on the sale of shares of Jiangshan Agrochemical. Other highlights include advising Contemporary Amperex Technology on its strategic partnership with BMW Brilliance Automotive, and in a separate matter, handled its establishment of a joint venture with Helloike and Ant Financial. David Yu, Selena She, Calista Huang, Jie Zhang, James Weng and Nicholas Lou are highly recommended.

Tian Yuan Law Firm remains at the forefront of education, healthcare, real estate, energy and TMT deals. It has extensive record in equity purchases, investments, mergers and restructurings, and it continues to impress in big-ticket cross-border M&A transactions. The team assisted Will Semiconductor with its $2bn purchase of OmniVision Technologies, the world's third-largest image sensor provider, and handled Wanda Film Holdings' RMB10.5bn acquisition of Wanda Media. Capital markets specialist Xiaohui Zhu and Juanjuan Song are names to note in the healthcare sector; Yanling Ren is recommended for assisting SOEs with corporate system reform; Aihua Xiao and Lihua Wang are also highly recommended.

AllBright Law Offices' client roster features a mix of SOEs, private companies from a broad range of industry sectors including healthcare, automotive, telecoms, energy and financial institutions. Last year saw a steady stream of cross-border M&A transactions. Among them, the team assisted Qingdao Doublestar with the purchase of 42.01% stake in Kumho Tire; advised Zhejiang Tieliu Cluth on acquiring Geiger Fertigungstechnologie; and acted for Baosteel Metal on the RMB4.2bn acquisition of 51% stake in Baosteel Gases by Pacific Alliance Group. Xiaohong Zhang and Fangzhou Bao jointly lead the team from its Shanghai office, which also includes the well-regarded Hai Huang, Xiong Li and Linhai Zhu.

Commerce & Finance Law Office is praised for its 'profound legal knowledge and extensive practical experience'. Leveraging its strong capital markets practice, the team is regularly instructed by listed companies on a range of high value transactions. Recent highlights include advising Tangshan Delong Steel on its RMB20bn acquisition of Bohai Steel Group and acting for Tsinghua Holdings on a series of reforms of its business ventures under the State capital management reform. Managing partner Xiaoman Zhang has experience in the areas of IPO, outbound investment and corporate financing. Gang Wu and Xinyang Zhang are also recommended.

DaHui Lawyers has 'extensive experience' in M&A transactions and has led on 'a number of influential and representative cross-border matters in the past few years in the TMT sector'. Managing partner Richard  Ma assisted Springer Nature with its restructuring, regulatory matters, tax planning and licensing deals with local partners and distributors, and advised Reed Exhibitions in a series of M&As, corporate matters and strategic cooperation transactions. Other highlights include advising Siam Cement Group on the establishment of a joint venture with Jusda, and acting for Signify on its recent China business restructuring. Zheng Zha and Brendon Wu has particular expertise in TMT and energy industries; Julia Dai advises clients on complex cross-border M&As, along with private equity and venture capital investments both in China and overseas; Cloud Li is also a name to note.

DeHeng Law Offices's client roster features a large number of SOEs which it advises on outbound investment and restructuring matters. The team is particularly active in the energy, mining and TMT sectors. David Chen is experienced in outbound M&A and inbound FDI mandates. Shiyao Wan and Wei She are also recommended.

Dentons China stands out for its impressive global and domestic footprint, with 45 office across China. Its Shanghai-based team had a particularly strong year which it assisted a large number of Chinese companies with their big-ticket domestic and outbound investments, and advised global clients on their business activities in China. Among them, Nancy Sun advised FMC Corporation on separating its lithium segment from its core agricultural chemicals segment, involving a wholly foreign-owned enterprise and a representative office in China, and acted for CK Holdings, a holding company of Calsonic Kansie Corporation on its acquisition of Magneti Marelli from Fiat Chrysler Automobile; Summit Chen acted for Pacific Insurance Senior Living Investment Management on its establishment of a joint venture with Orpea China; and Jinjuan Shi , Bin Zhao and Chen handled Allianz China Life Insurance's establishment of a wholly foreign-owned insurance holding company in China.

Guantao Law Firm 's recent caseload spans a broad range of industries including pharmaceuticals, real estate, TMT, manufacturing and energy. The team is well equipped in handling equity interest transfer, FDI, restructuring and listing mandates. Demonstrating this, Wei Jiang advised China Energy Engineering Group Investment in a series of power generation project acquisitions; Shenzhen-based Yaping Huang, Ying Yin and Zengjin Luo handled Tempus Global Business Service Group's RMB330m acquisition of Shenzhen Xiyou International Travel. Bo Su and Dongying Sun heads the team from its Beijing office, which also includes Shanghai-based Hongli Zou who handled an SOE mixed ownership reform transaction, and a number of practitioners from its Shenzhen and Hangzhou offices.

AnJie Law Firm advises listed companies, SOEs as well as private entities and investors from diverse industries spanning mining, transportation, real estate, mining and retails. Yu Wang has a strong track record in cross-border transactions including joint ventures between major SOEs and leading global industrial foreign investors, as well as acquisitions of overseas assets by Chinese enterprises. Simon Li is also recommended for transactions relating to private equity and venture capital, foreign direct investments and general corporate matters.

East & Concord Partners is experienced in domestic and cross-border mergers and restructuring. 2018 saw the team handling a number of multibillion-RMB transactions for clients in the real estate sector. Cindy Hu, Xiaoyu Shen and Xiaodong Hu are recommended.