Morrison & Foerster’s China M&A and Private Equity Group Continues Stellar Performance and Growth Trajectory for 2020
Morrison & Foerster’s China M&A and Private Equity Group Continues Stellar Performance and Growth Trajectory for 2020
Morrison & Foerster’s China M&A and Private Equity Group celebrated another year of momentous successes, including significant achievements and team growth. Continuing its momentum into 2020, the practice has secured 16 practice and 53 individual recognitions from Legal 500 Asia-Pacific, with China Private Equity group ranked in Tier 1 and China Corporate and M&A in Tier 2. Announced on January 16, 2020, the rankings recognize the group’s outstanding legal service in key areas. The Legal 500 results build on the practice’s numerous other accolades garnered over the last 12 months from prominent organizations, including Chambers Asia-Pacific, Chambers Global, IFLR1000, Euromoney, China Business Law Journal, and Asian Legal Business.
The newly announced Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2020 rankings further underscore MoFo’s China M&A and Private Equity Group’s position as a market leader. The group is among top firms in Private Equity, Corporate M&A, and Investment Funds practice groups in both mainland China and Hong Kong. Several team members received a “leading individuals” designation, including Marcia Ellis for Hong Kong Private Equity, Thomas Chou for China Private Equity, and Sherry Yin for China Corporate and M&A. Multiple lawyers are highly recommended, including Amit Kataria, Vivian Yiu, Ruomu Li, Lucy Lu, Paul McKenzie, Chuan Sun, Gordon Milner, Matthew Lau, Jason Nelms, Serena Tan, Shirin Tang, Stephen Birkett, Catherine Liu, and Brian Snyder.
In December 2019, MoFo’s China M&A and Private Equity Group also enjoyed top tier rankings from Chambers Asia-Pacific in its 2020 guide, which also includes a Band 1 ranking for Marcia Ellis in China: Private Equity: Buyouts.
The group’s recent honors stem from its handling of award-winning transactions this past year, such as its representation of SoftBank Vision Fund in connection with multiple investments, including its investment in Chehaoduo totaling US$1.5 billion. The team also represented Alibaba Group in its US$14 billion Series C financing for Ant Financial, with a valuation of approximately US$150 billion, which was awarded “Private Equity Deal of the Year” by ALM’s 2019 Asia Legal Awards.
Additionally, the group has strategically grown in size over the past 12 months, most recently having welcomed of counsel Maureen Ho, who joined the firm’s Hong Kong office in December 2019 from a magic circle firm. Maureen focuses on advising private equity and real estate funds and financial and corporate investors in private and public M&A, infrastructure investments, and joint ventures, as well as pre-IPO investments and corporate restructurings. She is also an active advocate for diversity and has been recently shortlisted as one of only four future leaders for gender diversity by Chambers Diversity & Inclusion Awards: Asia-Pacific 2020. Maureen’s addition follows the recent arrival of Asia M&A and Private Equity of counsel Brian Snyder and the promotion of Asia M&A and Private Equity of counsel Catherine Liu.
“We’re excited to usher in a new decade on such a high note,” said practice group co-head Marcia Ellis. “The many accolades that MoFo’s China M&A and Private Equity Group has received, including the most recent Legal 500 Asia-Pacific rankings, are a testament to our continued strength in the area and notable track record for completing milestone deals. Simultaneously, the addition of Maureen Ho further underscores our ongoing commitment to retaining the most talented lawyers in the region.”
“The success of MoFo’s Asia M&A and Private Equity team stems largely from our continued commitment to meeting clients’ unique needs when it comes to advising on complex deals in Asia,” said Thomas Chou, co-head of the practice. “We closed a strong year in 2019, and we look forward to building on that momentum this year.”
With offices in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, MoFo has a strong presence in China, handling major matters in the region for more than 35 years. The firm counsels a wide variety of clients in China on their high-profile investment, finance, and regulatory matters, including many of the world’s largest multinationals and the most substantial and active institutional PRC companies, as well as promising startups in the Internet, technology, entertainment, telecommunications, energy, clean technology, renewable energy, and life sciences industries.