Baker & McKenzie’s Hong Kong office acted for Principal Financial Group on its purchase of Guoco Group’s wholly owned Dao Heng Asset Management. The deal signifies the first round of progressive industry consolidation within Hong Kong’s pension asset-management industry.
Following completion of the deal, Principal is now the sixth-largest pension provider in Hong Kong and has doubled its market share to 8 percent with US$140 million in retirement assets.
The Baker & McKenzie team was led by M&A partner Milton Cheng who also spearheads Baker & McKenzie Hong Kong’s Financial Services Group. The team included lawyers from the mergers and acquisitions, MPF and investment funds practice groups.
Commenting on the deal and Baker & McKenzie’s role, Milton Cheng said, “We are very pleased to have acted for Principal, a long standing client of the Firm, on this interesting transaction and its expansion in Hong Kong. We believe the purchase of Dao Heng Asset Management by Principal will set in motion the progressive consolidation of providers in Hong Kong’s MPF industry. With our strong MPF, M&A and Financial Services practices, we believe our firm is well placed to be an active participant in the consolidation of the MPF market”.
