About

CITIC Capital is one of the top 10 biggest financial groups in Hong Kong and in order to ensure its business is conducted smoothly and compliantly, a highly praised legal team composed of five lawyers and four non-lawyers help navigate the business through its legal and regulatory challenges. The team is split into two, with one covering PRC onshore work and the other the larger international matters. The team is led by managing director Yong Kai Wong. In the last two years, Wong has led a repositioning of the team’s focus from reaction to compliance issues, to becoming more deal driven and transaction execution oriented. This is demonstrated by the teams involvement in numerous major deals including the US$1.57bn fund raising of CITIC Capital China Partners in 2016; the US$3.5bn privatisation bid of China Biologic Products; the US$1.9bn carve out of McDonalds China/Hong Kong; the acquisition of Wall Street English with Barings Private Equity; and a RMB5bn fund raising for Harbin Pharmaceutical SOE-POE conversion. Additionally, the team worked on the formation of the first co-investment vehicle with one of the leading Chinese Internet Giants (the BAT), and the acquisition of Global Marketing Intelligence Division (“GMID”) from Euromoney Institutional Investor for an equity value of US$180.5m. Wong describes the success of his team through its focus and new trajectory, and he identifies the team’s culture as being ‘constantly driven to the goal of driving stakeholder value and
self-development, and being absolutely aware of the need to innovate to keep with the times.’