Hong Kong
From its inception in 1994, Latham & Watkins has dramatically developed its capabilities in Hong Kong specifically and generally across Asia.
Latham & Watkins has recently launched a top-tier Hong Kong law practice with the arrival of a team of seven Hong Kong law partners from a leading UK firm, bringing with them Hong Kong and English law and China expertise. The new Hong Kong law team totals 20 lawyers and represents one of the premier corporate finance and M&A practices in Hong Kong and China. The new Hong Kong lawyers join our existing team of highly skilled US corporate and finance partners.
Latham & Watkins is now one of only a few top ranked firms able to provide substantive US, Hong Kong and English law advice.
Our lawyers represent US, European and Asian companies conducting business throughout the region and Asian companies in their direct investment activities and in their capital markets transactions in the US and Europe.
Practice Areas
Latham & Watkins' Hong Kong office offers expertise in a broad range of practice areas, including project development and finance, mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity capital markets, leveraged finance, private equity, foreign direct investment and financial regulatory. Latham's leading transactional practice areas have provided the foundation from which the firm has continued to increase its market share in complex, cross-border and precedent-setting deals.
Latham was ranked first among issuer's counsel by IPO Vital Signs on Chinese IPOs in the US between 2007 and 2009, advising on 14 IPOs with an aggregate value of more than US$2.35 billion.
Latham & Watkins was awarded Project Finance Deal of the Year in the 2008 International Financial Law Review (IFLR) Asia Awards for its role as international counsel on the US$4 billion landmark Fujian Refining & Ethylene project, China's first integrated refining and petrochemical project with foreign participation.
Lawyers from the firm's Hong Kong office were part of the team that successfully completed Lion Power's acquisition of Senoko Power Limited from Temasek. This was the largest infrastructure investment in Asia in 2008 and was awarded Deal of the Year by CFO Asia and Best Syndicated Loan of the year by Asiamoney.
Latham & Watkins' Hong Kong office teams with the firm's Shanghai and Beijing offices to form Latham's Greater China practice. Latham's Hong Kong office provides legal services to multinational corporations, investment banks and private equity funds doing business in Greater China and throughout the Asia Pacific region, and Chinese companies in their international capital markets transactions. Attorneys in Latham's Hong Kong office have worked closely with the major law firms in People's Republic of China on PRC projects and are experienced in coordinating the work of local counsel to provide seamless legal services to our clients.
Many of our attorneys are fluent in Mandarin and other Chinese dialects, including Cantonese and Shanghainese.