Overview
Ropes & Gray’s partners in Asia have more than 100 combined years of experience advising private equity funds, public and private companies, and financial institutions on Asia-related private equity investments, including mergers and acquisitions, securities matters and internal investigations.
Our experience with Asian businesses and our understanding of the regulatory and business environment in which they operate, enables us to identify the issues and risks facing global investors across Asia and to provide highly practical real-time advice. Our lawyers’ ability to communicate in Mandarin, Japanese and Korean provides added efficiency and effectiveness in both transactional and investigatory settings.
Our Asia team, based in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo, works in collaboration with our offices in Europe and the United States to devise tailor-made solutions to each client’s specific business and legal needs. Our team includes a regional FCPA specialist who combines Asia-specific insight with U.S. regulatory knowledge, and works seamlessly with FCPA practitioners in our U.S. offices.
Asia-Specific Experience
Ropes & Gray is one of a very few firms in Asia with a dedicated, sponsor-side leveraged finance team. This team has represented sponsors on many of the largest LBOs recently completed across Asia and has unrivalled understanding of Asian, European, U.S. and local deal structures.
In addition, our Asia team possesses:
- The ability to advise on English and U.S. law across all levels of the capital structure, including equity, debt and hybrids
- Structuring know-how backed by Hong Kong-based UK and U.S. senior restructuring and insolvency experience
- Extensive experience gained during the financial crisis in restructuring and exiting distressed investments
- Deep knowledge of the practical difficulties faced by investors in downside scenarios and the means of structuring transactions from the beginning to mitigate downside risk and ensure that investors have substantial leverage in restructuring negotiations
Experience & Awards
Some recent highlights include:
- Advised Ares SSG on its co-investment, alongside Chinese PE firm Centurium Capital, in Luckin Coffee.
- Advised Bain Capital in numerous notable Asia private equity transactions, including:
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its US$18 billion consortium buyout of the Toshiba Corp. semiconductor business, the largest Japanese deal since 2011, and the largest private equity and leveraged finance deal ever seen in Asia.
This transaction was recognized by the Financial Times’ Asia-Pacific Innovative Lawyers 2018 - Winner for “Innovation in Legal Expertise: Managing Complexity and Scale;” The Asia Legal Awards’ “M&A Deal of the Year for North Asia” 2018; Asian Legal Business’ “Japan Deal of the Year,” “M&A Deal of the Year,” “Technology, Media & Telecommunications Deal of the Year” ranked by Pitchbook as “One of the Top Global PE Deals of 2018;” and IFLR Asia-Pacific Awards’ “Private Equity Deal of the Year” 2019.
- its US$8.5 billion leveraged tender offer for Hitachi Metals, reported to be the second largest private equity deal in Japan.
- its approximately US$3 billion leveraged buyout of Evident Corporation from Olympus Corporation.
- its US$1 billion sale of its controlling stake in Hugel Inc.
- its acquisition, and related financing, of a majority stake in Classys Inc., the South Korea based manufacturer of medical aesthetics equipment.
- its consortium acquisition and subsequent sale of Carver Korea Co., Ltd., the fastest-growing skincare business in South Korea, to Unilever.
- its leveraged tender offer for Nichii Gakkan, which valued the company at approximately US$1.2 billion.
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- Represented Bain Capital Special Situations in connection with the financing for its co-investment, alongside Glenwood Credit, in the advanced materials business of Hanwha Solutions, a South Korean chemical and energy company.
- Advised Baring Private Equity Asia, now EQT Asia, in various transactions, including:
- its US$7.5 billion merger with EQT.
- its US$2.76 billion acquisition of Tricor Group, Asia’s leading business expansion specialist.
- its US$1.2 billion acquisition of the Healthcare Services business of Hinduja Global Solutions Limited.
- Represented KKR in connection with various financing transactions including financing related to its acquisition of J.B. Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals in India. Named “Deal of the Year in Asia” in 2020 by Private Equity International.
- Advised Manulife Investment Management on its acquisition of a significant minority stake in ARCH Capital Management.
- Advising MBK Partners on its cquisition and subsequent sale of China-based Apex Logistics to global logistics firm Kuehne+Nagel. Named “Private Equity Deal of the Year” by The Asian Lawyer’s 2022 Asia Legal Awards.
- Represented Nexus Point in connection with the financing for Nexus Point-led consortium’s acquisition of Honour Lane Shipping (HLS), a Hong Kong-based logistics company.
- Advised TPG in numerous Asia private equity transactions, including its US$400+ million investment in Kakao Corporation’s transport/taxi app business, Kakao Mobility.
- Advising numerous leading private equity managers on compliance due diligence, risk assessments, portfolio company reviews, training and compliance uplifts for their Asia investments.
Ropes & Gray’s private equity work in Asia has quickly garnered recognition by clients and independent reviewers, including:
- Chambers Asia-Pacific, Chambers Greater China, Chambers Global, The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, IFLR 1000: Ranked year after year in the Asia-Pacific region as a leading law firm within Greater China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, for advising our private equity clients in the following areas:
- Banking and Finance
- Corporate/M&A
- Investment Funds
- Healthcare and Life Sciences
- Private Equity/ Venture Capital
- Regulatory/ Compliance
- China Business Law Journal’s 2024 China Business Law Awards – recognized for Private Equity & Venture Capital
- China Business Law Journal’s Deals of the Year 2023 Awards for advising BPEA EQT on its $6.5 billion merger of its Hong Kong-based business services firms Vistra and Tricor.
- Law360’s Private Equity Practice Group of the Year 2023 for various private equity transactions, including advising BPEA EQT on its $6.5 billion merger of its Hong Kong-based business services firms Vistra and Tricor.
- China Business Law Journal’s 2023 China Business Law Awards – recognized for Asset Management
- Asian Legal Business’ ALB Japan Law Awards 2023, for Bain Capital’s $7.5 billion leveraged tender offer for Hitachi Metals (now Proterial), named winner of:
- Debt Market Deal of the Year
- Technology, Media and Telecommunications Deal of the Year
- China Business Law Journal’s 2022 China Business Law Awards – recognized for Asset management and Private Equity & Venture Capital.
- Refinitiv’s Global Mergers & Acquisitions Review 2021 – ranked among the top 10 legal advisers for M&A across the Asia Pacific.
- China Business Law Journals’ 2020 China Business Law Awards: recognized for asset management.
- Private Equity International 2018 Awards – named among Asia’s top three law firms for fund formation, transactions and secondaries.
Deal of the Year Awards
- The Asia Legal Awards 2022:
- “M&A Deal of the Year: South and South East Asia” for advising Altimeter Growth Corp in Grab Holdings' US$40 billion SPAC deal and listing.
- “Private Equity Deal of the Year”- for advising MBK Partners in the US$1.5 billion sale of Apex Logistics to global logistics firm Kuehne & Nagel.
- Asian Legal Business’ ALB Japan Law Awards 2019 – M&A Deal of the Year (Midsize): Baring Private Equity Asia’s Acquisition of Pioneer Corporation.
- Financial Times Asia-Pacific Innovative Lawyers 2019 – praised for innovation in Enabling Business Growth and Transformation for:
- Advising Bain Capital on its simultaneous acquisition of U.S.-based packaging company World Wide Packaging and a leading Chinese cosmetics packaging manufacturer in advance of merging the two companies.
- Designing the governance structure for a joint venture between Alibaba Group and Switzerland-based luxury goods company Richemont.
- IFLR Asia-Pacific Awards 2019 – “Private Equity Deal of the Year” for Bain Capital-led consortium’s US$18 billion buyout of Toshiba Memory Corporation.
- China Law & Practice 2019 Awards – “Outbound Deal of the Year” for advising Harbin Pharmaceutical’s US$300 million investment in GNC Holdings.
- Financial Times Asia-Pacific Innovative Lawyers 2018 – Winner for “Innovation in Legal Expertise: Managing Complexity and Scale” for Toshiba’s US$18 billion sale of its memory chip business.
- Asian Legal Business’ Japan Law Awards 2018 – “M&A Deal of the Year (Premium)”, “Technology, Media and Telecommunications Deal of the Year” and “Japan Deal of the Year” for Toshiba's US$18 billion sale of its memory chip business.
- The Asia Legal Awards 2018:
- “M&A Deal of the Year: North Asia” for Toshiba Corp.’s sale of its memory chip business.
- “Private Equity Deal of the Year” for Nord Anglia Education’s US$4.3 billion privatization.
