Ms Karen Ho > Kirkland & Ellis > Hong Kong, Hong Kong > Lawyer Profile

‘Offering best-in-class advice and seamless deal execution‘, Kirkland & Ellis‘ banking and finance team in Asia is widely lauded for its representation of private equity sponsors, as well as the practice’s credit fund work. The Hong Kong-based practice is jointly led by Manas Chandrashekar and Jacqueline Zheng, an expert in cross-border acquisition and structured financing, direct lending, and special situations deals. Another active adviser is Karen Ho, who acts for global private equity sponsors on financings.

Benefitting from capabilities that are ‘second to none in terms of thought leadership and structuring innovation’, the banking and finance team at Kirkland & Ellis specialises not only in debt financing but also in broader interconnected investment and finance matters. The team frequently provides advice to private equity sponsors, credit funds, and corporate investors across a range of debt products. Co-led by Manas Chandrashekar, who is highly sought after by prominent sponsors and borrowers for complex international financing transactions with a focus on acquisition and leveraged financings, and Jacqueline Zheng, who recently represented some of the region’s largest private equity sponsors in high-profile LBO transactions, the practice excels. Other key figures include Karen Ho, who concentrates on advising global private equity sponsors in leveraged finance and structured financing transactions, and Gautam Agarwal, who played a recent role in Baring Private Equity Asia’s (BPEA) take-private of Gonko International, a transaction that stands as the largest Taiwan take-private deal in the consumer sector to date.