HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Davis Polk today announced that Paul Chow, a leading Chinese and Hong Kong M&A lawyer, will join the firm as a partner in Hong Kong. He joins recent partner arrivals, Bonnie YT Chan and Antony Dapiran, to round out Davis Polk's core team of senior, high-profile Hong Kong and U.K.-qualified lawyers as the firm looks to continue to expand its ranks with top legal talent in the Hong Kong market.
This announcement comes on the heels of the November 1, 2010, conversion of Davis Polk's Hong Kong office to a Hong Kong law practice. The addition of local Hong Kong law capabilities to the firm's long-established U.S. law practice in China is a strategically important step that expands Davis Polk's presence in Asia and further capitalizes on the firm's position as a market leader in the region. Most of the firm's nearly 40 lawyers in Hong Kong are dually admitted in Hong Kong and New York, and a number are U.K.-qualified as well. These lawyers include eight partners and approximately 20 associates who are admitted in Hong Kong.
Mr. Chow will join Davis Polk from the Beijing office of Linklaters, where he is a partner and heads the office. He has advised on a range of public and private M&A transactions, cross-border and strategic investment transactions and a number of privatisations and takeovers in Hong Kong. His clients have included PRC State-owned and private enterprises, Hong Kong-listed companies and international corporates, sovereign wealth funds and private equity and buyout funds. He has also advised investment banks and issuers on a large number of equity, equity-linked and debt offerings, including initial public offerings and, most recently, the A and H share rights issue of one of the PRC State-owned banks.
Mr. Chow was formerly a partner in the Hong Kong office of Linklaters and before that, a partner at Slaughter and May. He is a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales, Solicitor of the High Court of the Hong Kong SAR, and qualified as a New York attorney. Mr. Chow is fluent in Cantonese, English and Mandarin.
"We are delighted to welcome Paul to the firm," said John R. Ettinger, Managing Partner of Davis Polk. "His arrival is critical as we complete the foundation of our team of elite partners across the core Hong Kong law services that our clients are asking us to provide. He joins our phenomenal group of lawyers in Hong Kong, and we look forward to his playing a key role as we continue to expand our presence and client roster in the region."
"Paul is a recognized leader in China and Hong Kong M&A," said William F. Barron, who heads Davis Polk's Asia practice. "As many of us at the firm who have worked with him over the years know, he brings exceptional knowledge and experience in M&A, capital markets and other corporate matters in the market and shares our very hands-on and team-oriented approach to working with clients. With Paul, Bonnie and Antony, we are absolutely thrilled with the caliber of the Hong Kong team we have put together, and we are primed for additional growth."
"With the expansion of its Hong Kong practice, Davis Polk brings together a truly unique and formidable combination of local, U.S. and U.K. capabilities that sophisticated China and Hong Kong-based transactions now require," said Mr. Chow. "I am eager to begin the next phase of my career at a firm that is exceptionally well-positioned to seize upon the ever-expanding opportunities in the China marketplace."
About Davis Polk. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is a global law firm. For more than 160 years, its lawyers have advised industry-leading companies and global financial institutions on their most challenging legal and business matters. Davis Polk ranks among the world's preeminent law firms across the entire range of its practice, which spans such areas as capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, credit, litigation, private equity, tax, investment management, insolvency and restructuring, executive compensation, intellectual property, real estate and trusts and estates. The firm has more than 750 lawyers in offices in New York, Menlo Park, CA, Washington DC, London, Paris, Madrid, Hong Kong, Beijing and Tokyo. Davis Polk operates in Hong Kong as Davis Polk & Wardwell, Hong Kong Solicitors, an affiliate of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. For more information: http://www.davispolk.com.
About Davis Polk's China Practice. Active in China for nearly a century, Davis Polk has offices in Hong Kong and Beijing. Through the firm's China practice, which now consists of more than 40 lawyers in the region, Davis Polk has been extensively involved in transactions throughout China, with a particular focus on the mainland. Davis Polk combines its presence and extensive experience in China with a leading global practice in complex, cross-border securities, M&A and strategic investment transactions. The firm has been involved in a number of the largest-ever Chinese cross-border transactions, gaining extensive knowledge of the various business, regulatory and cultural considerations associated with such matters. Through its many years of practice in China, the firm has developed strong relationships with numerous Chinese companies, as well as many other financial institutions and companies that are active in China.
Contacts
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
Hong Kong
Bonnie Lai, +852-2533-3380
bonnie.lai@davispolk.com
or
New York
Tom Orewyler, 212-450-6039
tom.orewyler@davispolk.com