Appleby houses a 'super coordinated' team known for its specialism in M&A, privatisation, and fund-related work, with a strong focus on contentious mandates. Practice co-head David Bulley leads on the corporate restructuring group, often advising debtors, corporations, and ad hoc committees across the oil and gas, and real estate sectors. Co-head Eliot Simpson is a seasoned commercial litigator who handles a broad array of mandates, including shareholding disputes, and contentious restructuring and insolvency work. Co-lead Richard Grasby is noted for his longstanding expertise in private wealth work, often involving succession planning, economic substance, and trust-related matters. Fiona Chan is an expert in banking matters, who stands out for her expertise in asset finance issues, and Judy Lee is recommended for her vast experience in both equity and debt capital markets work.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Appleby has in region (ie Asia) experts in litigation, restructuring and corporate matters. With practitioners based in Asia who are actively involved in court work, we are able to get more timely intelligence without the need to wait for Cayman/BVI response times.’
‘David Bulley - corporate - extremely hard working and with unimpeachable availability. David is always just a phone call away to assist with corporate structuring matters. He is also experienced in restructuring and able to give us useful practical guidance on how courts may deal with certain restructing/insolvency questions.
‘The team at Appleby Hong Kong are super coordinated across practices and offices. We are always assured that a request or query will be attended to quickly by the right people with the requisite expertise. As such, the Hong Kong office has become our point of contact for all offshore legal matters and we trust them for their subject matter expertise. ’
‘Appleby partner, Vincent Chan, is the stand-out name. He is excellent in knowledge and is technically superb. His advice is always concise, to-the-point and brings with him an infectious enthusiasm to deals that we work on together. ’
‘Appleby's Hong Kong based dispute resolution team is respected and experienced. They work well with their BVI colleagues.’
‘Appleby responds quickly, offers reasonable prices, good quality, and everyone in the team is very friendly.’
‘Fiona Chan (Partner) is very helpful. She is always quick to respond. She can also provide business solutions to different problems. It is very pleasant to work with her. I often recommend Fiona Chan to different people in the company.’
‘Fiona Chan is very approachable as well as competent. She is one of the preferred lawyers for banking and finance matters in Hong Kong.’
‘Appleby is a very professional overseas legal service team. They have a very experienced team of lawyers who are familiar with overseas laws and listen to their clients' needs. They handle many restructuring and liquidation issues involving multinational overseas companies and provide clients with comprehensive corporate legal services and solutions. At the same time, Appleby also keeps abreast of the latest cases, judgments, and legal and regulatory updates, and provides relevant documents and opinions in a timely manner.’
‘I like to use Richard Grasby for any offshore trust or corporate and offshore compliance related work for my clients. Richard is a practical and experienced practitioner for the trust work. Richard keeps on top of issues such as CRS, FATCA, economic substance and beneficial ownership reporting for multiple jurisdictions. His advice in these areas is to the point and expert. Richard works to accommodate my requests promptly even if he is travelling, he is always very efficient in how he approaches his work and advice.’
Key clients
- Hotel 101 Global Pte Ltd
- Ascendent Capital Partners
- Zhongliang Holdings Group
- China Everbright Greentech Limited
- CIMC Enric Holdings Limited
- China Everbright Water Limited
- J-STAR Co., Ltd.
- Ascendent Capital Partners
- Allied Goup
- Cloud Light Technology Limited
Work highlights
Advised Ascendent Capital Partners for the USD1.6 billion acquisition of Hollysys Automation Technologies.
Advised Zhongliang Holdings Group Company Limited on the USD1.2 billion restructuring of its offshore debt by way of a Hong Kong scheme of arrangement.
Advised J-STAR on the closure of the J-STAR Continuation Series Funds at the hard cap of JPY17.9 billion.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Practice head
David Bulley; Eliot Simpson; Richard Grasby
Other key lawyers
Fiona Chan; Judy Lee; Vincent Chan