Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe LLP announced this month that 19 attorneys, formerly with the Hong Kong-based firm of Siao Wen & Leung, are joining the firm’s Hong Kong office. Among those joining the firm are four partners, including Siao Wen & Leung lead partner Carson Wen, Michael Phillips, Katherine C.M. U, and Susan Yu. Fifteen associates and six trainee associates will also be joining the firm.
This group of attorneys comprises the bulk of Siao Wen & Leung’s corporate securities, commercial and China practice and will bring the total number of Heller Ehrman attorneys and trainee associates in Hong Kong to 28.
“The additional strength and experience that Carson Wen and his top-notch group of attorneys bring to us will be invaluable as we serve our current clients in China and as we look for new opportunities throughout Asia,” said Barry S. Levin, Chairman of Heller Ehrman.
“The PRC is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and we believe there is a significant opportunity for Heller Ehrman to be one of the leading law firms in China. This new group of highly-regarded corporate attorneys will help us attract in China precisely the type of work we want from market-leading companies, including the representation of both Chinese companies doing business in China or in the West, and Asian, American and European companies making investments into China.”
Mr. Wen and his group have one of the most active IPO practices in Hong Kong, having completed 19 IPOs in the last two-and-a-half years. Some of their IPO clients included Smartech Digital, Phoenix Satellite TV, Neolink Technology, Sun East Technology, ITE Holdings, Datronics, Artel Solutions Holdings, Zhongda Int’l. Holdings, Glory Mark, Skyhawk Computer, Tanrich Financial Holdings, Creative Energy, First Natural Food, China Treasure, Yardway Group, Teem Foundation and China Merchants Dichain, Launch Tech Company Ltd., and Sunlink International Holdings Ltd.
In addition, the group currently has 25 IPOs pending for companies in a wide range of industries, including software, consumer electronics, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, fishery, new materials, bio-engineering, CD ROM technology, die-cast collectibles and oil and gas pipelines.
In addition, Mr. Wen and his team were among the first Hong Kong lawyers to represent developers in real estate projects in the PRC. They also were the Hong Kong legal advisors to Guangdong Investment Limited in connection with the corporate and debt restructuring of the Guangdong Group, which was the largest and most complicated corporate and debt restructuring in Hong Kong’s history.
