Latham & Watkins recently announced that highly regarded partners Grace Huang (黄颖慧) and Edward Freeman have joined the firm in its Hong Kong office. Ms. Huang joins the Capital Markets practice and Mr. Freeman joins the Mergers and Acquisitions and Private Equity practice. Concurrently Cindy Kwong (邝颖怡) joins the firm as Counsel. Transitioning from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, their arrival marks a significant milestone in the expansion of the preeminent transactional platform of the firm across Asia.
Widely recognized as one of the leading equity capital markets practitioners in Asia, Ms. Huang brings extensive experience advising on high-profile conventional initial public offerings, dual and triple primary listings, secondary listings, and SPAC transactions. She has a standout reputation for advising on first-of-their-kind transactions and complex issuer-side mandates. Her notable landmark engagements include advising FWD Group on its USD 445 million Hong Kong IPO, HUTCHMED on the approximately USD 608 million sale of its equity interest in Shanghai Hutchison Pharmaceuticals, and the De-SPAC transaction between Synagistics and HK Acquisition Corporation. Additionally she serves as a member of the Listing Review Committee of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and sits on the Takeovers and Mergers Panel and the Takeovers Appeal Committee of the Securities and Futures Commission.
Mr. Freeman is recognized as one of the leading public M&A practitioners in Hong Kong with a strong market reputation for advising on complex cross-border takeovers, privatizations, and contested transactions. He brings an outstanding track record of leading transformative deals across industries for corporates, private equity firms, and financial advisers. His representative transactions include leading the USD 7.1 billion consortium take-private of ESR Group, advising on the take-private of Shanghai Henlius Biotech, the privatization of Razer, the privatization of L'Occitane with Blackstone acting as a lead investor, and the USD 5.4 billion acquisition of Amer Sports by a consortium led by Anta Sports and FountainVest Partners.
Joining alongside the two partners, Ms. Kwong focuses her practice on equity capital markets and listed company compliance where she regularly advises corporates and financial institutions on highly complex matters.
Posit Laohaphan, Managing Partner of the Asia offices at Latham & Watkins, noted that the highly complementary practices of the new arrivals and their strong synergies with the global platform will further enhance the market-leading transactional offering of the firm. Amy Beckingham, Vice Chair of the Global Corporate Department, added that they bring strong commercial acumen and invaluable connections throughout the wider region. Stelios Saffos, Global Chair of Capital Markets, and Paul Kukish, Global Co-Chair of M&A and Private Equity, both emphasized that this integrated approach and 360-degree view of the market perfectly complement the cutting-edge advice for which clients turn to Latham.
The addition of Ms. Huang, Mr. Freeman, and Ms. Kwong follows recent strategic hires across the region including prominent antitrust partner Angie Ng in Singapore and leading technology transactions partner Rhys McWhirter in Hong Kong, further cementing the elite status of Latham & Watkins in the Asia-Pacific market.
