Locke Lord's Hong Kong office managing partner, Wing Cheung, has joined Holman Fenwick Willan as a corporate finance partner, as losses mount at the Texas firm's outpost.

Cheung focuses on capital markets transactions, including initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions and private equity deals. Last year, he advised bubble-tea maker B & S International Holdings Ltd. on a $13 million initial public offering in Hong Kong.

He leaves Locke Lord after more than six years with the firm. Cheung joined the firm in 2013 when he formed an association between his own practice Cheung & Lee and the U.S. firm; the two firms integrated in 2015. Before that, he was a partner at K&L Gates for two years.

Cheung said in a statement about joining HFW that he noticed the U.K. firm has been bolstering its global corporate and finance practice during the past few years to complement its disputes and sector-related work. Earlier this year, HFW launched a transactions practice in Shanghai by hiring former Squire Patton Boggs of counsel Daniel Leung as a corporate partner. And since last year, HFW has added 19 transactional partners globally, including Siri Wennevik, Alistair Duffield and Ivan Chia in Singapore.

The firm said it has almost 80 lawyers in China and Hong Kong, including 21 partners, focusing on aviation, commodities, construction, energy, insurance, shipping, commercial litigation and corporate matters.

Meanwhile, Cheung's departure will leave Locke Lord with two partners in Hong Kong: corporate lawyer Matthew Wong and Gregory Burch, a disputes lawyer. Burch, who also spends time in Houston, succeeds Cheung as office managing partner. Boston-based real estate partner Lorne McDougall also spends time in Hong Kong.

Locke Lord has been steadily losing partners in Hong Kong during the past few years. In May, former east Asia head of arbitration Ronald Sum left Locke Lord after a year with the firm, along with of counsel Daniel Lee and associate Beryl Wu, to join Addleshaw Goddard as its Asia disputes head. And in 2017, capital markets partners Michael Fung and Alfred Lee left to join Loeb & Loeb; Lee was a cofounding partner of Cheung & Lee.

Locke Lord currently has eight lawyers based in its Hong Kong office, down from 19 in 2016. Hong Kong is the U.S. firm's only office in Asia. A Houston-based spokesperson for Locke Lord did not provide details about plans to replace Cheung but said the firm looks forward to continuing its Asia practice with attorneys in its Hong Kong, London and U.S. offices.

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