Ms Carol Liu > Kirkland & Ellis > Hong Kong, Hong Kong > Lawyer Profile

Kirkland & Ellis
26TH FLOOR, GLOUCESTER TOWER
THE LANDMARK, 15 QUEEN'S ROAD CENTRAL
HONG KONG
Hong Kong
Carol Liu photo

Work Department

Investment Funds

Position

Partner

Career

Carol Liu is a private investment funds partner of Kirkland. She routinely advises and leads teams of lawyers advising global and Asian fund sponsors on structuring and forming private investment funds across a wide variety of strategies, including buyout, growth capital, venture capital, fund of funds, private credit, real estates and infrastructure, co-investment funds and separate managed accounts, in sectors across healthcare, TMT, consumer, the financial sector and others. She is frequently called upon to advise clients on delicate sponsor internal issues, such as designing carried interest and other compensation incentives, advising GP stakes transactions and succession planning issues. Clients also turn to Carol on a wide range of complex fund-related transactions, including GP-led restructuring of investment funds, LP tender offers, stapled secondaries, preferred equity transactions and LP portfolio sales transactions, and other complex transactions.

Carol was ranked as a “Band 1” lawyer in investment funds by Chambers Global and Chambers Greater China in 2022-2023. Carol has been recognized for several years as a leading lawyer by a number of other reputable legal publications, including Legal 500 Asia-Pacific, IFLR1000 and Who’s Who Legal.

Languages

English, Mandarin

Education

University of North Carolina School of Law, J.D., with Honors, 2005

Central China Normal University Law School, L.L.M., 1999

Central China Normal University, School of Foreign Languages – The Department of English Language and Literature, B.A., English, 1997

Lawyer Rankings

Hong Kong > Investment funds

(Leading individuals)

Carol LiuKirkland & Ellis

Leveraging deep firm-wide institutional ties with many global private equity heavyweights and also entrenched in the regional market with more regional participants, Kirkland & Ellis maintains a compelling offering for a GP-focused client base across the spectrum of their needs, from fund structuring, advice on co-investment vehicles, secondary transactions, regulatory advice and subsequent downstream transactional work. As well as deep knowledge of the local market, clients also benefit from access to experts in London and throughout the US and thereby to give real time advice to an international investor base. Triple qualified in Hong Kong, US and the PRC, Carol Liu can effectively bridge the cultural gap between Chinese sponsors and international investors, and is a popular choice across a range of high-profile primary fundraisings and secondary transactions. As well as fund formation work, including within the credit fund and real estate front, Damian Jacobs is active on GP and LP-led secondary transactions, an area of considerable activity given recent market conditions. Justin Dolling is another key contact in the group.

China > Investment funds: foreign firms

Kirkland & Ellis International LLP‘s Hong Kong-based team specialises in the formation and operation of private funds and has additional expertise in matters relating to buyout funds, credit funds, limited partner representations, distressed debt and restructuring. The practice is co-directed by a trio of experienced partners, comprising Justin Dolling, who handles the restructuring, leveraging and refinancing of private equity funds; Carol Liu, whose broad experience includes fund tender offers and advising on equity stakes transactions; and Damian Jacobs, who majors on the acquisition of portfolios and the restructuring of funds.