Kirkland & Ellis is well-known for its private equity and credit fund work. The debt finance team offers advice on the full spectrum of financing products, catering to sponsors, credit funds and corporate investors. Jacqueline Zheng handles cross-border acquisition financing, structured financing, direct lending and special situation transactions. She heads up the team alongside Manas Chandrashekar, who acts for sponsors and borrowers in acquisition and leveraged financings. Karen Ho also undertakes acquisition and leveraged financings, often with a cross-border element. Dominic McNeil joined the team from Linklaters in June 2025.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Accolades
Client satisfaction
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- ‘The banking and finance team stands out from their peer firms in the region for the proactive way in which they run their deals and provide actionable advice to their clients to reduce costs and delay.'
‘Karen Ho is not only always available to provide actionable advice but also runs her team on deals in an efficient manner.'
'Manas Chandrashekar remains the solid performer in the background building out the successful banking and finance practice in Asia with a enviable portfolio of clients.’
Key clients
- Bain Capital-controlled Bridge Data Centres
- J.P. Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited
- EQT
- Bain Capital Private Equity
- Advent International
- Victory III Co. Ltd., wholly-owned subsidiary of the founders and management of Vesync
- PAG
- Platinum Equity
- Management Reports International
- Apax
- The Carlyle Group
- GL Capital
Work highlights
Advising Bain Capital-controlled Bridge Data Centres, a hyperscale data centre platform, on the jumbo leveraged financing for its Malaysian hyperscale data centre assets.
Advising J.P. Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited as financial adviser to the offeror, L’Occitane Groupe S.A., on the debt financing aspects of the high-profile EUR 1.7 billion (USD 1.9 billion) privatisation and delisting of L’Occitane International S.A. from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Advising EQT Partners Asia Pte. Limited on the USD 1.14 billion syndicated debt financing and hedging for Houting UK Limited’s recommended cash acquisition of the entire issued and to-be-issued ordinary share capital of Keywords Studios Plc.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Practice head
Manas Chandrashekar; Jacqueline Zheng
Other key lawyers
Karen Ho; Dominic McNeil