U.K. shipping firm Hill Dickinson has hired Kurt Lau as a corporate partner in Hong Kong from Eversheds Sutherland, where he was a consultant.

Lau focuses on initial public offerings, as well as mergers and acquisitions, public takeovers, corporate reorganisations and joint ventures. Last year, he advised Lego Corporate Finance Ltd. as the sole sponsor on a $13 million initial public offering in Hong Kong of bubble tea maker B & S International Holdings Ltd.

Hong Kong office head and disputes partner Damien Laracy said in a statement that Lau's appointment comes at a time of increased client demand for a more diverse offering across the firm's offices in Asia. Fellow U.K. firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, which specialises in insurance disputes, has also had a partner in Hong Kong focusing on IPOs since 2017.

Lau is Hill Dickinson's first Hong Kong partner specialising in IPOs. The office has other lawyers, including consultant Anthony Jex and legal directors Antony Cowie and U.S.-qualified Alexander May, advising on transactions. The rest of the firm's seven lawyers in Hong Kong focus on shipping disputes.

In addition to Lau and Laracy, the only other Hong Kong partner is commercial and insolvency disputes specialist Bryan O'Hare, who joined in 2015 from Hogan Lovells, where he was counsel. Last year, former disputes partner Caroline Thomas left after less than two years to join the Insurance Authority as a senior manager. In 2016, former shipping disputes partner Anthony Woo also left after less than two years to join Clyde & Co. The Hong Kong office opened in 2013 in association with Laracy's firm.

Hill Dickinson's only other office in Asia is in Singapore, where it has 11 lawyers, including six partners, focusing on shipping and commodities.

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