Hong Kong

Sidley is one of the few international law firms to have maintained on-the-ground capabilities to serve clients in Asia Pacific for more than 30 years. The firm now has close to 200 legal professionals based in six offices in the region - Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. Our lawyers provide U.S., Hong Kong, English, Singapore and Japanese law advice to clients where and when they need it.

Established in 1994 and located in the financial hub of Asia, Sidley’s Hong Kong office offers a comprehensive range of legal services to international, regional and local clients from all sectors of commerce and industry, including financial services, energy and natural resources, life sciences, technology, telecommunications and media, consumer products and real estate, as well as government bodies and agencies. Our team in Hong Kong includes more than 80 lawyers who are qualified to practice Hong Kong, English, U.S. and Singapore law.

Capital Markets: Our corporate finance group is one of the largest and most active teams in Hong Kong. We have a strong capital markets practice in Hong Kong focusing on public and private offerings in debt and equity securities. In recent years, we have handled more than 200 IPOs on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. Sidley was named as the number one international law firm (tied) advising on Hong Kong IPOs, based on the number of transactions (The Lawyer, March 2014). As we practice Hong Kong, English, U.S. and Singapore law, we are also qualified to work on dual listings and other cross-border securities transactions. We have extensive experience in SEC-registered offerings, as well as listings on the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, the London Stock Exchange, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, the Singapore Exchange and, in conjunction with local advisers, stock exchanges in Jakarta and Korea. We also have a well-regarded debt capital markets practice, including a top-tier high-yield debt capital markets practice, as recognized by the key legal directories. Since 2014, Sidley has been counsel to issuers and underwriters in more than 40 high-yield debt capital markets transactions in Asia Pacific, totaling approximately US$15 billion.

Mergers & Acquisitions: Our corporate finance lawyers in Hong Kong also represent acquirers, targets and financial advisers in the structuring, negotiation and financing of domestic and cross-border M&A transactions across multiple industries. We regularly represent private and public companies in connection with acquiring minority and majority interests in domestic corporations, as well as representing clients with respect to their interests in business entities outside the region. In cross-border transactions, we often advise clients in all matters related to their M&A, including financing, joint venture agreements, international trade, litigation and regulatory and compliance issues (including CFIUS matters in the U.S.). Several M&A transactions on which we have worked are award-winning or have been named “Deal of the Year.” In addition, Sidley serves clients in all issues faced by private equity, venture capital and hedge funds in the acquisition, financing and disposition of portfolio companies. The firm has extensive experience in the structuring and negotiation of private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions.

Private Equity: Our Private Equity lawyers in Hong Kong advise clients on every aspect of a broad range of domestic and cross-border private equity transactions, including leveraged buyouts, going-private transactions, growth capital investments, venture capital investments, PIPEs and a variety of other acquisitions and financings. We represent private equity sponsors, the private equity arms of financial institutions and other organizations, and hedge funds in these matters. In addition, we regularly advise private equity-sponsored portfolio companies, assisting them in all their legal needs, including add-on acquisitions, financings, recapitalizations, investments, liquidity events and other extraordinary transactions.

Investment Funds: Our investment funds practice is one of the largest funds groups of any law firm in Hong Kong and one of the most recognized in the region. The team has won several awards and is ranked top-tier, as listed by the leading, independent legal publications. We also have a proven track record of working on some of the most innovative and ground-breaking funds transactions in recent years. The team covers the full spectrum of investment fund matters and a comprehensive range of related services spanning hedge fund formation, private equity fund formation, real estate fund formation, regulatory and compliance matters as well as downstream investment.

Dispute Resolution and Regulatory: Sidley’s dispute resolution and regulatory team has been consistently ranked among the top contentious practices in Hong Kong. The team handles corporate and commercial disputes related to insolvency, construction, insurance, life sciences, shipping, international trade, IP and employment matters through litigation or arbitration. The team also provides advice on regulatory and compliance issues, including those related to privacy, data protection, payments, FCPA matters and other corporate investigations.

Finance: In Hong Kong, our finance lawyers offer a wide range of legal services related to structured finance, asset-based finance, syndicated and leveraged finance. We have extensive experience with every major asset class and many esoteric asset classes, company representations, real estate finance and REITs, workouts and restructurings transactions. Our finance lawyers have worked on some of the most significant finance transactions in the industry.

Structured Finance and Securitization: Sidley has been at the forefront of the creation of many structured finance products. We have deeply experienced lawyers who understand the structured finance, project finance and infrastructure markets regionally as well as globally. Our Asia Pacific Managing Partner, Tom Albrecht, who is based in Hong Kong, led the firm’s Global Finance practice for many years and has spent most of his 30+ year career advising clients on structured finance, securitization, syndicated and leveraged finance and asset-based debt finance. Recently, Tom’s team advised China Orient Asset Management (International) (COAMI) in the US$165 million securitization of a portfolio of loans and bonds owned by COAMI’s affiliates. We also represented Temasek Holdings, a Singapore state investment company, in the listing of the Astrea III PE bonds which were the first listed private equity bonds in Singapore with a diversified portfolio. This landmark matter was widely recognized as a significant milestone in the development of Singapore’s bond market. 

We are among the very few international law firms who are able to represent all of the major participants in public and private CLO, CDO and loan financing transactions. Our lawyers represent collateral managers, arrangers and investors across the full capital structure from senior debt to equity with a particular reputation for representing collateral managers of all sizes. 

We advise market participants in all aspects of the buying, selling and managing of portfolios of loans as well as every aspect of lending and financing against loan assets, either through public capital markets or through private financing channels. Our global CLO and project finance and infrastructure groups are able to draw upon a deep experience of the market practice and regulations governing these assets, complemented by market-leading practices in the wider regulatory, tax, derivatives and corporate areas.

Project Finance: We also work on numerous finance projects, including those related to infrastructure, energy, power, alternative generation, transmission, oil and gas pipelines, biofuels, gas-to-liquids, petrochemicals, metals and mining, transportation and telecommunications. The team represents project sponsors, senior and subordinated lenders, equity investors, construction contractors and service providers. Globally, Sidley lawyers advised on more than 50 projects involving energy/infrastructure in the last 10 years with a combined value of more than US$30 billion.

Energy: In the energy arena, we represent clients in virtually every aspect of the industry, including upstream oil and gas developers, oilfield service companies, pipelines, electric utilities, merchant electric transmission companies, independent power producers, alternative energy developers, suppliers and contractors, energy trading companies, and the financial institutions that serve companies in all of these industry segments.

Lawyers in Sidley's Hong Kong office speak fluent Cantonese, Mandarin and other Chinese dialects, Tagalog, Bahasa Malaysia and Hindi, as well as English. Sidley's Hong Kong office is located in Two International Finance Centre, situated in the central business district of Hong Kong, overlooking Victoria Harbour.

Recent Awards:

• Consistently ranked as one of the leading law firms with leading lawyers in Asia Pacific by Legal 500 Asia Pacific, Chambers Asia Pacific, IFLR 1000 and Who’s Who Legal
• "Firm of the Year for Capital Markets in Hong Kong” in 2016, Asian-MENA Counsel
• "Compliance/Investigations Firm of the Year" in 2016, The Asian Lawyer Emerging Markets Awards
• "Firm of the Year for Alternative Investment Funds & Private Equity in Hong Kong and Singapore” in 2016, Asian-MENA Counsel
• "Investment Funds Law Firm of the Year” in 2016, Asian Legal Business
• "Real Estate Firm of the Year (International Winner)” in 2016, China Law and Practice
• “Winning Law Firm for Structured Finance/Securitization” in 2015, China Business Law Journal
• “Best in Insolvency” in 2015, Asialaw Asia-Pacific Dispute Resolution Awards