Kirkland & Ellis Adds Hong Kong IPO Partner
Former Davis Polk associate Yazhe Liu joins as a partner.
November 04, 2019 at 02:13 AM
3 minute read
Hong Kong. Credit: Shutterstock.com.
Kirkland & Ellis has hired former Davis Polk & Wardwell associate Yazhe Liu as a capital markets partner in Hong Kong.*
U.S.-qualified Liu's practice focuses on initial public offerings in Hong Kong as well as mergers and acquisitions and securities regulation compliance matters. In 2017, she was part of the Davis Polk team that advised China Literature Ltd., the e-book arm of Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings, on a $919 million Hong Kong listing.
Liu practised at Davis Polk as an associate for four years until March 2018. Previously, she was a manager at Hong Kong securities regulator Securities and Futures Commission, an associate in Hong Kong at Clifford Chance and a consultant in Beijing at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.*
Davis Polk's Hong Kong office is currently undergoing its biggest change since the Wall Street firm launched a Hong Kong law practice in 2010. The firm made its first leadership change in Hong Kong last month, appointing corporate partners Miranda So and Li He as office heads. Davis Polk also appointed Hong Kong-based litigation partner Martin Rogers as chair of the Asia practice; both the Asia chair and Hong Kong office head roles were held by capital markets partner William Barron, who will retire from the partnership at the end of this year.
Davis Polk will also see Bonnie Chan, the firm's top Hong Kong IPO partner, who joined in 2010 to help launch the Hong Kong law practice, leave the firm to return to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as head of the listing department on Jan. 2. Chan led the Davis Polk team on China Literature's Hong Kong listing. Chan's departure will leave Davis Polk with Yang Chu, who made partner this year, as the main IPO partner focusing on Hong Kong law matters. Rogers told The Asian Lawyer that Davis Polk will selectively work on high-quality IPOs and will not be making any partner hires to cover the loss of Chan. Last year, Davis Polk advised on a record number of nine Hong Kong IPOs.
Meanwhile, Kirkland's appointment of Liu covers the loss of Hong Kong IPO partners Meng Ding in September to Sidley Austin and Wanda Woo in April to Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. The other Hong Kong IPO partners at Kirkland are Li-Chien Wong, Peng Qi and Arthur Tso, as well as U.S.-qualified David Zhang and Ben James.
*Correction Nov. 5: An earlier version of this story misstated that Yazhe Liu joined Kirkland directly from Davis Polk. She left the firm in March 2018. The excerpt and first and third paragraphs have been changed to reflect that. We regret the errors.
Related Stories:
Hong Kong's Deacons Hires Ex-Davis Polk Capital Markets Pro
Davis Polk Hong Kong Partner Bonnie Chan Returns to Stock Exchange
As Hong Kong Becomes the Top IPO Market of 2018, Skadden and Davis Polk Reap Rewards
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