Simmons & Simmons has appointed Davis Wang, from King & Wood, as a partner, who will be based in the firm’s new Beijing office when it opens. Wang is a PRC and US qualified lawyer specializing in FDI, M&A, PE investment and fund formation, with a focus on the TMT industry sector. He has more than 15 years of experience representing multinational companies. Prior to joining King & Wood, he practiced law at the Beijing office of New York firm Haythe & Curley and at a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. He also previously served as general counsel and at senior executive positions for Microsoft, General Mills, and eBay/PayPal in China and the Greater China Region. Initially, Wang will be working in the Shanghai and Hong Kong office of Simmons & Simmons. He is another partner-level practitioner who recently joined an international firm from a leading PRC firm. Michael Wang, previously a partner at Global Law Office, joined Norton Rose’s Beijing office earlier this month.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nixon Peabody has appointed David Cheng, a partner in the firm’s tax controversies and litigation team, to the role of chair and Managing Partner of the firm’s china and Asia Pacific practice. This follows former chair Henry Liu’s defection to DLA Piper. Cheng, who now spends the majority of his time in the firm’s Shanghai office, has represented a host of US, European Union and Chinese companies in cross-border matters, and serves as external general counsel for a number of large and emerging Chinese companies, managing their global legal needs.

Read the rest of this entry »

Vinson & Elkins LLP has appointed Sami Al-Louzi as partner after enticing him to join the firm from White & Case, where he was a partner at the firm’s Riyadh office for six years. Al-Louzi’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, privatization and project finance, and has represented clients in the banking, private equity, capital markets, energy, and telecommunication sectors in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and elsewhere in the Middle East, and is a native Arabic speaker.

-

Simmons & Simmons has replaced regional managing partner Paul Simpson with Tim Field. Field is a corporate practice partner at the firm’s Abu Dhabi branch and advised on the creation of Bear Stearns’ Middle East asset management, fixed income and investment banking operations. On the other hand, Simpson is a Dubai-based projects specialist.

Read the rest of this entry »

Shearman & Sterling will merge with Colin Law & Co, a new Hong Kong law practice launched in late December by former O’Melveny & Myers corporate lawyers Colin Law and Peter Chen. The merger will provide Shearman & Sterling’s Hong Kong with a strategic advantage, as it will gain Hong Kong law capability. Other firms which have gained Hong Kong law capability through strategic alliance was Weil Gotshal & Manges, when it formed an association with two former Simmons & Simmons lawyers in October last year.

Jones Day has reunited with former New York and Singapore partner Dennis Barsky, as he returns to the firm from leading a Singapore based hedge fund. Barsky, will rejoin the firm’s Singapore office as a Private Equity partner bringing his 15 years of corporate experience.

Jones Day has also named Manoj Bhargava as a Partner in the firm’s Singapore office. Bhargava practice includes IPOs, offerings and listings, as well as M&A and private equity transactions.

Reed Smith has named Michael Fosh as partner to its corporate & securities group in Beijing. Fosh joins the firm from Herbert Smith’s Beijing operation where he was the office’s chief representative, bringing to Reed Smith his renowned capital markets and corporate experience.

Simmons & Simmons is aiming to expand in mainland China by recruiting local Chinese lawyers.  The firm believes that by hiring local lawyers it will gain access to Chinese clients and also find potential partners in finance and corporate.  Simmons is also mulling over the possibility of legal process outsourcing to domestic firms in the region.

Currently, Simmons’s only mainland China office is a 10-lawyer one in Shanghai.

Simmons Hong Kong-based China head Paul Li said: “We are actively looking at lawyers that have practiced with domestic rather than international law firms. We believe they will have deeper roots and stronger relationships based on a longstanding local practice.”

He added: “One other option we are likely to look at is an arrangement or relationship with a domestic firm to undertake legal process outsourcing.”

Russia is continuing to be a challenging market for law firms trying to keep an office there with an M&A market that has had deal volumes almost halve over the past year.

Simmons & Simmons became the first major international firm to pull out of Russia last month, and partners at other firms have also admitted that cracking Moscow is a lot more difficult than originally thought.

One Moscow-based partner at a top 10 UK law firm said: “I have a lot of respect for Simmons, but it is getting harder and harder to break into the Moscow market.”

While other firms have not yet exited the market altogether, most firms, including Clifford Chance, Allen & Overy, White & Case and Denton Wilde Sapte, have reduced headcount in Russia over the last year.

Data gathered by Mergermarket for Legal Week demonstrate the M&A drought, with 227 deals with a total value of E22.2bn in the year from November 1, 2008 to October 31, 2009, as compared to 419 deals, worth a total of E80.7bn - the previous year.

However, many partners believe that the market is improving, with a number of firms even hoping on opening an office in Moscow, including SJ Berwin and Am Law 100 firm King & Spalding.

Oxana Balayan, Lovells Moscow managing partner, commented: “The market is really picking up, but with a lot of pressure on pricing it may be difficult for some law firms’ Moscow operations to remain profitable.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Simmons & Simmons is leaving Russia only a little more than two years after opening its Moscow office. If the closure is approved in a vote this week, the firm will immediately start shutting the office down. The office head, capital markets partner Tony Smith, will relocate to London in December.

The firm stated that the global financial crisis was the main reason for the decision. Managing partner Mark Dawkins said: “”Our firm strategy is to build on our strengths and we had built the Moscow office around structured finance. We do not see activity returning.”

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP has hired Simmons & Simmons corporate partner Henry Ong as a partner in their Hong Kong corporate department. Ong specializes in advising on transactions involving public companies in Hong Kong, but also has in depth knowledge on a range of complex M&A transactions and security offerings. The firm also hired another Simmons & Simmons employee, senior consultant Jasson Han, in conjunction with the Ong hiring.

-

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has relocated New York-based corporate partner David Gottlieb to its Moscow office. Gottlieb will become the third full-time partner in the firm’s Moscow office, along with Scott Senecal and Murat Akuyev. His expertise is in cross-border M&A, but also is knowledgeable in capital markets law like the other Moscow partners. Scott Senecal stated: “David is a valuable addition to our team here, not only for his excellent reputation in the US and Europe but for his previous Russian experience and strong relationships with Russian clients.”

-

DLA Phillips Fox has enticed DLA Piper’s Dubai head Tony Holland to join as CEO on February 15, 2010. DLA Phillips fox chairman Martin Wiseman said: “The board is extremely pleased Tony Holland has accepted our offer to join as chief executive. He brings to the role leading law firm expertise, strong client and market experience, a close relationship with our alliance firm DLA Piper and respected leadership and management skills to lead our firm in its next stage of growth and evolution.” Holland will split time between the firm’s Melbourne and Sydney offices after he joins DLA Phillips Fox.

Richards Butler, in association with Reed Smith, has represented aluminium extrusion products manufacturer, China Zhongwang Holdings Limited (CZH), on its US$1.3 billion listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. This will be one of the largest Asian IPOs this year with the Hong Kong IPO having raised almost HK$9.8 billion. Richards Butler also advised CZH on the prelisting investment of US$100 million by private equity firm Olympus Capital Holdings Asia. The transaction was led by Hong Kong partner K.C. Mok.

Davis Polk has advised dealer manager Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch on the cash tender offer and consent solicitation by Greentown China Holdings Limited to purchase any and all of its outstanding US$400 million 9.00% Senior Notes due 2013. Greentown is a leading residential property developer in China. Partner William F. Barron advised on the offer.

Davis Polk has also advised interactive entertainment media company, Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited, on its acquisition of a controlling interest in Hurray! Holding Co. Ltd. Hurray! is an artist development, music production and wireless interactive entertainment company. Shanda acquired 51% of the issued and outstanding shares of Hurray! with the US$46.2 million agreement, which was completed on 9 June. The deal was advised on by partners James C. Lin and Mark J. Lehmkuhler from the Hong Kong office and London partner John D. Paton provided tax advice. Hurray! Holding Co Ltd’s legal counsel was Morrison & Foerster and Weil Gotshal represented Nomura International Limited in its role as financial adviser to Hurray!

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobsen LLP, in association with Huen Wong & Co

Read the rest of this entry »