Morrison & Foerster Wins Two 2018 China Law & Practice Awards

SHANGHAI (September 13, 2018) – Morrison & Foerster, a leading global law firm, received two awards at the recently held 2018 China Law & Practice Awards ceremony. Shanghai partner Maria Wang was named a Lawyer of the Year for Real Estate & Construction. Morrison & Foerster also won in the Private Equity Deal of the Year category for its work on Ant Financial’s US$14 billion Series C fundraising. Now in its 12th year, the China Law & Practice Awards honor the most important commercial lawyers and legal matters in China.

Ms. Wang was recognized for her work with highly sophisticated clients on a number of significant transactions in the China real estate industry. Ms. Wang has strong experience and a high level of technical capabilities in both the equity and debt sides of real estate transactions. She has a market leading China real estate law practice, which includes counseling clients on complex onshore and offshore structures and documentation.

“Awards like these are not possible without the support of talented colleagues which Morrison & Foerster has in abundance both here in China and around the world,” said Ms. Wang. “It’s a tremendous honor to have been named a Lawyer of the Year for Real Estate & Construction by such a well-respected legal organization in China. This award also highlights the firm’s continued success and expansion of its global real estate practice, especially in Asia.”

Morrison & Foerster’s firmwide recognition came as a result of its work advising Alibaba Group Holding in connection with Alibaba’s pending acquisition of 33% of Ant Financial, announced earlier this year, and Ant Financial’s related US$14 billion Series C fundraising. It marked, by a large margin, the largest single fundraise by any company in the world to date.  Tokyo managing partner Ken Siegel and Hong Kong partner Marcia Ellis led the firm’s team.  

“I would like to congratulate Maria and all of my colleagues across the Asia offices for their well-earned accolades, as well as the number of others who were named finalists,” said Asia managing partner Eric Piesner.  “These recognitions underscore Morrison & Foerster’s reputation as a leader in the Asia market and showcase our talent across a wide range of practices.”

Altogether, MoFo was shortlisted for six China Law & Practice Awards, including:

• Lawyer of the Year for Real Estate & Construction: Maria Wang
• Private Equity Deal of the Year: Ant Financial’s US$14 billion Series C financing
• Technology, Media, and Telecom Deal of the Year: SoftBank’s US$4.6 billion investment in Didi Chuxing
• Real Estate Deal of the Year: SoftBank's US$4.4 billion investment in WeWork
• Healthcare & Life Sciences Firm of the Year (International Firm)
• Real Estate Firm of the Year (International Firm)

The awards ceremony was held in Beijing on September 13.

ABOUT MOFO

We are Morrison & Foerster — a global firm of exceptional credentials.  Our clients include some of the largest financial institutions, investment banks, Fortune 100, and technology and life sciences companies.  The Financial Times has named the firm to its lists of most innovative law firms in Northern America and Asia every year that it has published its Innovative Lawyers Reports in those regions.  In the past few years, Chambers USA has honored MoFo’s Privacy and Data Security, Bankruptcy, and IP teams with Firm of the Year awards, the Corporate/M&A team with a client service award, and the firm as a whole as Global USA Firm of the Year.  Our lawyers are committed to achieving innovative and business-minded results for our clients, while preserving the differences that make us stronger.  The firm also has a long history of commitment to the community through providing pro bono legal services, including litigating for civil rights and civil liberties, improving public education for poor children, advocating for veterans, promoting international human rights, winning asylum for the persecuted, and safeguarding the environment.