East Asia - Hong Kong

Kirkland & Ellis

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Benefitting from capabilities that are ‘second to none in terms of thought leadership and structuring innovation’, the banking and finance team at Kirkland & Ellis specialises not only in debt financing but also in broader interconnected investment and finance matters. The team frequently provides advice to private equity sponsors, credit funds, and corporate investors across a range of debt products. Co-led by Manas Chandrashekar, who is highly sought after by prominent sponsors and borrowers for complex international financing transactions with a focus on acquisition and leveraged financings, and Jacqueline Zheng, who recently represented some of the region’s largest private equity sponsors in high-profile LBO transactions, the practice excels. Other key figures include Karen Ho, who concentrates on advising global private equity sponsors in leveraged finance and structured financing transactions, and Gautam Agarwal, who played a recent role in Baring Private Equity Asia’s (BPEA) take-private of Gonko International, a transaction that stands as the largest Taiwan take-private deal in the consumer sector to date.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘They are without doubt the market leaders offering best-in-class advice and seamless deal execution. Their client is always first, and they are second to none in terms of thought leadership and structuring innovation.'
  • ‘Manas Chandrashekar is a luminary of the Asia financing market. His structuring knowledge is unparalleled, work ethic unrivalled and negotiating style persuasive.'
  • 'Expert knowledge, deep experience, commercial and solutions-focused.'

Key clients

  • DCP Capital Partners II, L.P., Ocean Link Partners Limited, and Mr. Rick Yan, the Chief Executive Officer of 51job
  • New Frontier Public Holding Ltd.
  • Blackstone Inc.
  • Baring Private Equity Asia
  • Carlyle
  • Bain Capital
  • Platinum Equity
  • CVC Capital Partners
  • Sequoia China Infrastructure Fund
  • Power Heritage Group Limited
  • EQuest Education Group (a KKR Portfolio Company)
  • KKR

Work highlights

  • Acted for DCP Capital, Ocean Link Partners and Mr. Rick Yan, the Chief Executive Officer of 51job, in the take-private of 51job, Inc. (NASDAQ: JOBS).
  • Advising Baring Private Equity Asia in its US$1bn take-private acquisition of Ginko International.
  • Advised The Blackstone Group on its acquisition of all of the issued share capital of Interplex Holdings Pte. Ltd., which was indirectly owned by funds managed by Baring Private Equity Asia, in a transaction valued at approximately US$1.6bn.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Manas Chandrashekar, Jacqueline Zheng

Other key lawyers

Karen Ho, Gautam Agarwal