Firm Profile > Latham & Watkins LLP > Beijing, China
Latham & Watkins LLP Offices
UNIT 2318, CHINA WORLD TRADE OFFICE 2
1 JIAN GUO MEN WAI AVENUE
BEIJING 100004
China
Latham & Watkins LLP > The Legal 500 Rankings
Insolvency and restructuring; foreign firms Tier 2
Led from Hong Kong by Josef Athanas and Howard Lam, Latham & Watkins LLP has a strong following among banks, IPs and funds as stakeholders in China-related distressed situations across a range of industry sectors. Athanas' ability to provide US law advice is an attractive proposition to creditors and debtors in certain scenarios and enables the team to provide the flexibility to advise on Chapter 11 and Chapter 15 proceedings, should the need arise. Lam has vast experience advising Chinese clients, on both the creditor and debtor side, across restructuring, special situations and formal insolvency procedures and is aided in his ability to effectively work on such matters by his fluent Chinese language skills.
Practice head(s):
Key clients
Bank of China
BFAM Partners
Value Partners
Alvarez & Marsal
PWC
EY
Hang Seng Bank
China Orient Asset Management
FTI Consulting
Huachen Energy
Dispute resolution: Litigation: foreign firms Tier 3
Latham & Watkins LLP plays a prominent role in many areas of litigation involving Hong Kong and mainland China, not least anti-trust and competition law, complex cross-border bankruptcy and insolvency litigation, anti-corruption and anti-bribery cases, export controls and sanctions-related matters, and general commercial litigation. It is particularly strong in investigation and enforcement work, which includes local matters brought by the Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, as well as cross-border matters involving international regulators such as the US Securities and Exchange Comission (SEC). Practice head Hui Xu in Shanghai and Hong Kong-based Catherine McBride frequently handle contentious regulatory, anti-corruption and antitrust matters. Solicitor advocate Ing Loong Yang in Hong Kong is well know for his arbitration work but also handles China-related litigation including shareholders’ disputes, joint venture and technology licensing cases.
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Other key lawyers:
Key clients
China Life Insurance (Overseas) Company Limited
Khunying Kokeow Boonyachinda
Sinovac Biotech Ltd.
Sonangol
China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited
Nutanix Hong Kong Limited
China Orient Asset Management (International) Holding Limited
United Microelectronics Corporation
China Mobile International
Shenzhen Senior Technology Material Co., Ltd.
Projects and energy: foreign firms Tier 3
Latham & Watkins LLP's energy and natural resources team is able to draw on expertise and resources from the firm's practices in M&A, acquisition and leveraged finance, project development and finance, litigation, and environment, land and resources. It was recently particularly active in relation to clean and renewable energy, energy storage and LNG projects, as well as transactions that are driven by China’s One Belt, One Road initiative. Hong Kong-based global co-chair of the firm’s oil and gas industry group, David Blumental spearheads the firm’s energy, natural resources, utilities and chemicals business in the Asia Pacific region.
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Testimonials
‘Quickly understands the needs of its clients.‘
Key clients
Bharat PetroResources
CNOOC Limited (and its subsidiaries and affiliates)
Energy Transfer LP
Guohua Energy Investment Co., Ltd.
Harbin Electric International Co., Ltd.
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
Jindi Union Holding Group Co., Ltd.
Korea Southern Power Co., Ltd. and Daelim Energy, Co., Ltd.
NICE Solar Energy GmbH
NICE America Research, Inc.
Oil India Limited
Riverstone Holding LLC
Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.
Total S.A.
Regulatory/compliance: foreign firms Tier 3
Latham & Watkins LLP's Greater China team, anchored by Hui Xu (who heads the litigation and trial practice in Asia) in Shanghai and Beijing, and Catherine McBride in Hong Kong, regularly conducts internal investigations and risk assessments for clients throughout Asia; such work relates to the FCPA, Chinese commercial bribery laws, and other anti-bribery and anti-corruption regulations. The practice is increasingly active in relation to US and Chinese regulators' cross-border enforcement investigations, which target alleged corruption, cartel activity, and export controls and economic sanctions.
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Key clients
Sinovac Biotech Ltd
China Orient Asset Management International Holdings
Nutanix Hong Kong Limited
China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited
China Life Insurance (Overseas) Company Limited
United Microelectronics Corporation
TMT: foreign firms Tier 3
Latham & Watkins LLP has demonstrated a genuine commitment to the TMT sector in Greater China and globally. The Greater China team has amassed extensive experience in commercial transactions, data privacy and cybersecurity, M&A and growth capital investment, and fintech. Hong Kong corporate partner Frank Sun has a significant focus on the TMT sector, including a number of Chinese tech businesses and private equity investors. Associate Kieran Donovan has been a key figure in many of the firm's headline engagements.
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Testimonials
‘The team has rich experience in internet enterprise M&A, venture capital investment and financing transactions. The group understands business logic, identifies the key risks from the perspective of customers, and gives practical and effective legal advice.’
‘Frank Sun has a good knowledge of the TMT industry, is professional, patient, and careful. He provides services in a timely manner, no matter when and where, and he has a strong understanding of business logic. He can provide practical and effective legal advice to advance the negotiation process and a successful transaction.’
Key clients
Tencent Holdings
Tencent Mobility
HSBC
Vipshop Holdings
Xiaomi Corporation
Insight Fintech HK
Blockstack
NetEase
Banking and finance: foreign firms Tier 4
Frequently working alongside its private equity, capital markets, derivatives and M&A practices, Latham & Watkins LLP's Greater China banking and finance group acts for both lenders and borrowers on finance transactions in Asia, including syndicated lending, acquisition financing, leveraged lending and recapitalisations, mezzanine facilities, and structured note and private placement transactions. The Hong Kong names to note are Gary Hamp, Howard Lam and Manas Chandrashekar, while Singapore-based Timothy Hia is the local chair of the firm's Asia finance department.
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Testimonials
‘Responsive, helpful and available, with a great bench and strong individuals. The team also has excellent legal skills and is very commercial.‘
‘The practice is very commercial, responsive, service-oriented and has great judgement.‘
Key clients
Bank of America
Carlyle
Morgan Stanley
Hopu Capital
TPG
Baring Private Equity
Platinum Equity
Warburg Pincus
BNPP
JPMorgan Chase Bank
HSBC
Citibank
Partners Group
Bank of China
Tianqi Lithium Corporation
Tencent Holdings
Huarong International
Private equity: foreign firms Tier 4
Latham & Watkins LLP's Greater China PE practice has significant relationships with active regional and global PE participants. The team advises across multiple stages of investment, including acquisitions, growth and early stage investments, financing and exits, among others. Simon Cooke heads the private equity practice in Asia from the Hong Kong office, which also fields experienced partners Amy Beckingham and Frank Sun.
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Key clients
Warburg Pincus
TPG
Platinum Equity
The Carlyle Group
CITIC Capital
Baring Private Equity Asia
Partners Group
CVC
KKR
Boyu Capital
MBK Partners
CDH Investments
Primavera
Orix Asia
Ruangguru
Corporate and M&A: foreign firms Tier 5
Latham & Watkins LLP's Greater China lawyers regularly act on significant outbound and inbound acquisitions; a key component of the M&A practice is its deal-related corporate governance expertise. Former long-serving Shanghai managing partner, Rowland Cheng, is highly regarded for significant M&A transactions. In Hong Kong, Simon Cooke is Asia private equity head, and Frank Sun 'gives clients practical and effective legal advice'.
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Testimonials
‘The professional skills of the Latham team are impeccable, including in relation to our cross-border M&A deals.‘
‘The team gives various risk analyses to help us make business judgements, communication is smooth, and the quality of the work results is high.‘
‘The team has rich experience in corporate M&A and venture capital investment transactions; it also understands business logic and gives pragmatic legal advice.‘
‘Frank Sun has comprehensive legal knowledge, strong levels of professionalism and patience. He can provide legal consulting services in a timely manner, no matter where or when, and gives clients practical and effective legal advice that advances negotiations towards a successful deal.‘
Key clients
Vipshop Holdings Limited
TOTAL S.A.
Warburg Pincus Asia LLC
Tencent Holdings Limited
HKBN Ltd.
Sinotrans Limited
Haier Electronics Group Co., Ltd.
CITIC Capital
The Carlyle Group
Vingroup Joint Stock Company Limited
China Jinmao Holdings Group Limited
Latham & Watkins LLP > Firm Profile
The firm: Latham & Watkins is a leading international law firm serving multinational companies, start-ups, investment banks, private equity funds, venture capital firms, sovereign wealth funds, governments and other organisations. The firm’s globally integrated platform spans Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the US, and consists of internationally recognised practices across a wide spectrum of transactional, litigation, corporate and regulatory areas. Latham attorneys offer unrivalled legal resources and strategic commercial thinking to provide clients with innovative solutions to complex commercial matters.
Asia practice: Businesses and investors seeking innovative solutions to their most complex corporate, financial, regulatory and litigation challenges turn to Latham in Asia for strategic thinking and experienced counsel. Latham has extensive experience advising on the international aspects of a broad range of corporate and finance transactions for clients across the region, notably Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. With more than 150 lawyers operating from six offices in Asia, Latham provides clients in the region and clients looking to do business in Asia with expert advice under US, English, Hong Kong, Japanese and Singapore law. Latham’s deep roots in the financial and economic markets in the region are further strengthened by the firm’s local language capabilities.
Latham continues to receive awards and acclaim from a number of leading financial and legal publications for landmark and precedent-setting deals.
Areas of practice: As part of the Greater China practice, lawyers in the Beijing office handle a range of transactions, including international capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, private equity, restructurings and project financings. The firm’s clients regularly take advantage of the Greater China practice’s intimate knowledge of the marketplace and are supported by the full resources of Latham & Watkins’ global network of offices.
Members of the team draw on more than 25 years of experience advising clients doing business in China. As counsel to issuers or underwriters, the firm’s lawyers have been involved in many international equity, debt and equity-linked offerings by issuers in China and across Asia. The firm also represents some of the world’s largest private equity funds and multinational corporations in their acquisitions or investments in the PRC, across Asia and globally. In addition, the firm regularly acts as lead counsel for the sponsors or lenders on the region’s landmark power, petrochemical, and oil and gas projects. The team also advises US, European, Middle Eastern and Asian companies conducting business in China and throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
Beijing-based lawyers regularly work with the major Chinese law firms on PRC projects, and are experienced in co-ordinating the work of local counsel to provide seamless legal services to clients.
The team includes lawyers who are fluent in Chinese languages and dialects including Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanghainese, Hakka and Taiwanese and have received US, English and PRC legal education and training.
Main Contacts
| Department | Name | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antitrust and competition | |||
| Banking and finance | |||
| Capital markets | |||
| Corporate governance | |||
| Data privacy and cyber security | |||
| Energy | |||
| Entertainment, sports and media | |||
| Foreign direct investment | |||
| High yield | |||
| International arbitration | |||
| Mergers and acquisitions | |||
| Private equity | |||
| Project development and finance | |||
| Public company representation | |||
| Restructuring, insolvency and workouts | |||
| White-collar defence and investigations |