Mr David Zhang > Kirkland & Ellis > Hong Kong, Hong Kong > Lawyer Profile

Kirkland & Ellis International LLP‘s China team is consistently sought out by public and private companies to advise on high-stakes M&A deals. The multidisciplinary team comprises specialists in public and private M&A, capital markets, finance, private funds and other transactional practices, and it is particularly active in SPAC M&A transactions. The practice is jointly led from the Hong Kong office by Pierre-Luc Arsenault, Joey Chau, David Patrick Eich and Paul Guan, alongside Gary Li, Nicholas Norris, Jesse Sheley, Peng Yu and David Zhang.

With a strong team of New York and locally-qualified practitioners  based in Hong Kong and also able to leverage significant resources on the mainland, Kirkland & Ellis is a popular choice among issuers and underwriters on Hong Kong listings and follow-on offerings, as well as US IPOs and Rule 144A and Regulation S offerings. SPAC-related work is a strength for the firm and in spite of economic headwinds dampening investor demand, the firm advised Vision Deal HK Acquisition Corp on one of the earliest and relatively rare SPAC IPOs following the liberalisation of the market. Team head David Zhang had a key role on this matter and has also been active handling a number of de-SPAC mandates. Mengyu Lu, who has also been active handing SPAC transactions as well as  efforts to fashion a regulatory framework in Hong Kong for the listings of SPACs and potential de-SPAC transactions, has a booming Hong Kong IPO practice, helping many Chinese companies, including within new economy sectors, to list.