Elizabeth Broomhall In Hong Kong

November 21, 2013 | International Edition

K&L Gates and Sidley Austin have advised Robinsons Retail Holdings on its $622m IPO on the Philippine Stock Exchange. The offering, which closed earlier this month, is thought to be the largest-ever IPO in the Philippines. K&L Gates advised the issuer on the US law aspects of the listing, fielding a team of four led by Hong Kong-based corporate partner David Johnson.

By Elizabeth Broomhall in Hong Kong

2 minute read

November 20, 2013 | International Edition

Ashurst and Baker & McKenzie have taken key mandates on the development of Australian entrepreneur James Packer's latest Crown casino resort in Sydney. The AUS$1.5bn (£870m) Crown Sydney Hotel Resort project (pictured), which will be located at Barangaroo South in Sydney Harbour, got approval from the New South Wales (NSW) Government earlier this month and is expected to open in November 2019.

By Elizabeth Broomhall in Hong Kong

2 minute read

November 19, 2013 | International Edition

Hong Kong law firm Deacons has hired Baker & McKenzie lawyer Travis Benjamin to lead its tax practice. Benjamin, who brings the total number of partners at the firm to 54, will head the tax group across the firm's four offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai.

By Elizabeth Broomhall in Hong Kong

2 minute read

November 18, 2013 | International Edition

Squire Sanders has become the latest international law firm to grow its Asian footprint into Indonesia after forming a strategic alliance with local outfit Melli Darsa & Co. The US firm, which currently manages Indonesian deals from its Singapore base, has entered into an association with the seven-partner entity that will involve co-marketing, co-branding, knowledge-sharing and potentially seconding lawyers to each other's offices.

By Elizabeth Broomhall in Hong Kong

2 minute read

November 18, 2013 | International Edition

Societe Generale (SocGen) has appointed Christopher Davies as its new general counsel for Asia Pacific after the promotion of its former legal head for the region to a new role in Paris. Davies, who is currently head of compliance at the company, has relocated to Hong Kong from France to oversee a team of 55 legal staff.

By Elizabeth Broomhall in Hong Kong

1 minute read

November 14, 2013 | International Edition

In recent years, there has been a surge in offshore litigation surrounding the transfer of wealth in Asia. Cases have arisen partly because of problems with the legacy trust structures set up in the 1980s and 1990s in jurisdictions such as the British Virgin Islands (BVI), and partly because of the global economic climate, which has exacerbated the fury of the beneficiaries of these trust funds, many of which have plummeted in value.

By Elizabeth Broomhall in Hong Kong

4 minute read

November 14, 2013 | International Edition

Trainee retention rates at the Hong Kong offices of the UK's top 10 law firms have remained broadly static on last year as firms continue to invest in Asian markets, despite a comparatively uncertain year for the local economy. Ninety percent (55 out of 62) of newly qualified lawyers (NQs) at the UK's top firms in Hong Kong were offered jobs this September, all of whom accepted, according to research by Legal Week.

By Elizabeth Broomhall in Hong Kong

3 minute read

November 13, 2013 | International Edition

American media company CBS has turned to computer giant Dell for its new general counsel. Larry Tu who is currently the GC for Dell in Austin, Texas, will start his new role in January 2014, based in Los Angeles. Prior to Dell, where he has worked for nine years, Tu was general counsel of NBC Universal where he oversaw NBC's acquisition of Telemundo, Bravo and Universal. He succeeds CBS' current legal head Louis Briskman, who this week announced his retirement after more than 30 years with the company.

By Elizabeth Broomhall in Hong Kong

2 minute read

November 13, 2013 | International Edition

Paul Hastings and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton are understood to have been appointed as lead advisers on the IPO of Chinese meat processing company Shuanghui International, estimated to be worth up to $6bn (£3.75bn). The planned listing would be the biggest in Hong Kong in four years, providing a welcome boost to the local IPO market, which has seen a dearth of high-value flotations since the middle of 2012. It follows Shuanghui's takeover of the world's largest pork producer – Virginia-based Smithfield Foods – earlier this year. That deal, valued at $7.1bn (£4.7bn), marked the largest ever acquisition of a US company by a Chinese business.

By Elizabeth Broomhall in Hong Kong

2 minute read

November 13, 2013 | International Edition

Clifford Chance has acted opposite Latham & Watkins on the $1.2bn Hong Kong IPO of China's Huishang Bank, as a string of Chinese lenders begin to list in the city. The IPO is the third by a Chinese bank in the last month, following that of Huirong Financial, which raised $106m on the exchange, and Bank of Chongqing, which raised $546m.

By Elizabeth Broomhall in Hong Kong

2 minute read