Holman Fenwick Willan has hired Locke Lord's entire Hong Kong team, leaving questions about the future of the Texas firm's office in the Asian financial centre.

A total of nine lawyers and paralegals, including partner Matthew Wong and of counsel King Hui and Roger Wong, are making the move. They follow former Locke Lord Hong Kong office managing partner Wing Cheung, who joined Holman Fenwick earlier this month with a trainee and paralegal.

The entire team, including Cheung, focuses on corporate finance deals, including initial public offerings, as well as mergers and acquisitions, private equity and other Hong Kong law transactions work. In 2017, Cheung and Matthew Wong advised Southwest Securities (HK) Capital Ltd. as the sole sponsor on a $9 million listing in Hong Kong of Nexion Technologies Ltd., a Singapore-based cyber infrastructure and cyber security solutions provider.

Matthew Wong leaves Locke Lord after more than six years with the firm. He joined in 2013 with Cheung when Locke Lord formed an association with Cheung's own practice Cheung & Lee; the two firms integrated in 2015. Before that, Wong did stints as a partner at Stephenson Harwood, Bird & Bird and K&L Gates.

"This major hire and Wing's earlier arrival represents a step-change to our transactional capabilities in Greater China," said Patrick Yeung, Holman Fenwick's Hong Kong office head, in a statement.

Richard Crump, Holman Fenwick's Singapore-based global senior partner, added that the group hire is an important step in the continued growth of the firm's global corporate and finance offerings.

"Our transactional capabilities have changed beyond all recognition in recent years, and we are actively seeking additional opportunities in key markets around the world," he said.

The U.K.-based firm, best known for its leading shipping disputes practice, has been expanding its transactional side globally. Earlier this year, Holman Fenwick launched a transactions practice in Shanghai by hiring former Squire Patton Boggs of counsel Daniel Leung as a corporate partner. And since last year, Holman Fenwick has added 19 transactional partners globally, including Siri Wennevik, Alistair Duffield and Ivan Chia in Singapore.

Meanwhile, the departures leave Locke Lord without a lawyer based in Hong Kong full-time. The Hong Kong office is managed by Gregory Burch, a disputes partner who also spends time in Houston; Burch was named office managing partner earlier this month when Cheung left for Holman Fenwick. In addition, Boston-based real estate partner Lorne McDougall also spends some time in Hong Kong.

Just a few years ago, in 2016, Locke Lord's Hong Kong office was profitable and boasted 19 lawyers. But since then, the office has been steadily losing partners. In May, former east Asia head of arbitration Ronald Sum left Locke Lord after a year with the firm to join Addleshaw Goddard as its Asia disputes head. He was joined by of counsel Daniel Lee and associate Beryl Wu. And in 2017, capital markets partners Michael Fung and Alfred Lee left to join Loeb & Loeb; Lee co-founded the Hong Kong office's predecessor firm with Cheung.

A Houston-based spokesperson for Locke Lord said in a statement: "We have been talking internally with this team and their transition for some time. We look forward to continuing our strong Asia practice… maintaining our Hong Kong law licence and with attorneys across key sectors in our Hong Kong office, our U.S. offices and our London office."*

The spokesperson added that Burch and a "few others" will operate from a new office space and will "continue to carefully monitor the Hong Kong market".*

*Updated Nov. 27: This story has been updated with a statement from Locke Lord.

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