Seoul, South Korea. Photo: ShutterstockSheppard Mullin Snaps Up McDermott's Former Seoul Office Head
Paul Kim headed McDermott Will & Emery's office in the South Korean capital until its closure earlier this month.
July 23, 2019 at 01:20 PM
3 minute read
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton has hired corporate partner Paul Kim in Seoul from McDermott Will & Emery, where he led the firm's office in the South Korean capital until its closure earlier this month.
U.S.-qualified Kim focuses on mergers and acquisitions, general corporate matters, private equity, venture capital, securities and restructurings in the industrial, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and biotech sectors.
In 2016, he advised Korean private equity funds managed by Mirae Asset, Neoplux and Woori on a private sale of 14 million shares of New York Stock Exchange-listed golf equipment manufacturer Acushnet Holdings Corp. to sports apparel company Fila Korea Ltd; Fila also owns a majority stake in Acushnet. Kim previously advised Fila Korea and Mirae on their $1.2 billion buyout of Acushnet from Fortune Brands Inc. in 2011.
Kim leaves McDermott after two decades with the firm. In 2012, he relocated from New York to launch the Seoul office – among the first batch of global firms to do so – with former Korea practice group head In-Young Lee. Lee left in 2016 and joined leading Korean firm Lee & Ko.
Seth Kim, Sheppard Mullin's Seoul office head and finance and bankruptcy partner, said in a statement that Paul Kim will complement the office's existing capital markets and finance capabilities. "His private equity practice is especially interesting as it strategically connects with our growing private equity practice in the U.S.," Seth Kim added.
Sheppard Mullin has seven lawyers in Seoul, including two other partners: antitrust specialist Yookyung Moon and corporate lawyer Johneth Park. Earlier this month, the Seoul office added litigator Albert Joon-Ho Tae as special counsel from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, where he was an associate.
The Los Angeles-based firm is one of the larger international firms in Korea. Others include Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, which has 16 lawyers; and Herbert Smith Freehills, with eight lawyers. Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, which launched a three-partner office earlier this year, will also have a large Seoul office once it recruits three more lawyers, which the firm said it is planning to do.
Meanwhile, McDermott shuttered its Seoul office earlier this month, becoming the second global firm to pull out of Korea after Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in November. Clifford Chance, which was part of the first batch to enter Korea, has suffered a string of departures from its Seoul office in recent years, including office managing partner Kim Hyun-suk earlier this year.
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