Paul D. McKenzie

Paul is managing partner of MoFo’s Beijing and Shanghai offices and has more than 25 years’ experience advising leading international companies on complex transactional and other business law matters in China and elsewhere in Asia.

He advises Fortune 100 and other global companies pursuing M&A, joint venture, and other corporate transactions, bringing to his work a deep understanding of the regulatory environment in China and a sensitivity to cultural issues in Asia. Paul also helps clients navigate China’s complex and changing regulatory environment, advising on a broad range of issues such as industry permitting, technology licenses, data privacy and cyber security, and anti-corruption compliance. He works across a broad range of industries, including information technology, real estate, chemicals and energy, and natural resources.

Paul is a fluent Mandarin speaker and has written widely on issues related to Chinese law.

He currently serves on the board of directors of The Morrison & Foerster Foundation, the firm’s charitable foundation.

Representative Experience

• Fortune 100 household and consumer products company on establishment of a joint venture for the launch of a connected personal care device.
• Eldorado Gold Corporation in arriving at agreements to sell their Chinese operations for an aggregate of US$900 million.
• VMware in its strategic joint venture with Shanghai-listed Sugon for the development of localized cloud computing solutions.
• Planar Systems, Inc. in its definitive merger agreement with China-headquartered Leyard Optoelectronic on PRC regulatory and business issues, pursuant to which a U.S. affiliate of Leyard acquired all of the common stock of Planar at the value of approximately US$156.8 million. Planar Systems, Inc. is a global leader in display and digital signage technology.
• Hitachi and Hitachi Appliances in their formation of a global air conditioning joint venture with Johnson Controls, integrating the companies’ HVAC businesses. This deal is named as one of the ASIAN-MENA COUNSEL Deals of the Year 2015.
• Toshiba Tec's $850 million acquisition of IBM’s point-of-sale solutions business.
• A US-based healthcare company on the structuring and negotiation of a joint venture in China for the development of health care management software for the Chinese market.
• The principal investment arm of a global investment bank, together with an investment fund managed by the bank, on their divestiture of a hotel in western China.