A well-established presence in Asia through its Hong Kong and Singapore offices and also noted for its collaborative approach with colleagues through its global network, Maples Group provides ‘responsive, commercial and knowledgeable’ advice on Cayman Isles and BVI laws across a broad range of transactional and litigation work. Under the guidance of Matt Roberts corporate and securities work has always been a strength and despite the relatively difficult economic conditions, the firm continues to pick up a high proportion of capital markets work. As well as Roberts himself, the ’very knowledgeable and experienced’ Derrick Kan also excels in handling issuer HKSE-listed IPOs, both in the context of conventional issuances and SPAC matters. As well as advising on new money mandates, the firm has also been at the forefront of restructuring/insolvency work within the beleaguered Chinese real estate market, with leading litigator Nick Stern picking up both debtor and creditor roles in relation to the three Cayman Islands schemes of arrangement that were implemented by PRC real estate companies in 2022. Aisling Dwyer has also been involved in the aforementioned real estate-related insolvency matters leveraging her wide-ranging litigation skills that are also regularly brought to bear on high-profile shareholder disputes. Open and closed end funds, including hedge funds, private equity and venture capital, real estate and infrastructure funds. Other recommended practitioners include John Trehey, who heads up the overarching dispute resolution and insolvency group in Asia; the ‘fantastic’ Ann Ng for investment fund work; and Josie Ainley in relation to fund formation as well as subsequent downstream transactional work.
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Maples has a very well established and respected Cayman practice in Hong Kong.'
- 'They are responsive, commercial and knowledgeable.'
- 'They have good people, good contacts and connections back in the Cayman Islands. They also keep clients up to date with changing laws/rules in Hong Kong.'
- 'Ann Ng is fantastic.'
- 'Derrick Kan is very knowledgeable and experienced and understands well the finance transactions in which we frequently work together.'
- 'Josie Ainsley is responsive and skilled.'
Key clients
- Evergrande
- Modernland
- CIFI
- E-House
- Sinic
- Sunac
- Logan
- Hesai Group
- China Index Holdings Limited
- Caravelle International Group
- ECARX Holdings Inc.
- YS Biopharma Co., Ltd.
- Baijiayun Limited
- Yunkang Group Limited
- GOGOX
- Giant Biogene Holding Co. Ltd
- Weilong Delicious Global Holding
- YH Entertainment Group
- DPC Dash
- Beisen Holding Limited
- Plus Group Holdings Inc.
- Auto Services Group Limited
- U Power Limited
- Rockpool Capital Limited
Work highlights
- Acted as Cayman Islands counsel to Modern Land (China) Co., Ltd. on the successful restructuring of its US$1.34 billion bondholder debt.
- Advised Baring Private Equity Asia ("BPEA") on the launch of its eighth private equity fund, The Baring Asia Private Fund VIII (the "Fund").
- Acted as Cayman Islands and BVI legal counsel to ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (the "Issuer") in connection with its issuance of US$1,000,000,000 1.5% convertible senior notes due 2027 (the "Notes") convertible into American Depositary Shares ("ADSs"), each ADS representing one class A ordinary share of par value US$0.0001 each of the Issuer.
Lawyers
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Ann Ng, Matt Roberts, John Trehey