Global law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges recently announced that leading corporate attorney Du Shu (杜枢) has officially joined its Hong Kong office as a partner. With her arrival Weil is launching its Asia Capital Markets practice. This strategic launch significantly expands the capabilities of the firm in the region broadening its global corporate platform and further strengthening its transactional offering across the Asia-Pacific which has traditionally been renowned for private equity and bankruptcy restructuring.
Ms. Du focuses on equity and debt capital markets, corporate M&A, and private equity transactions consistently advising major companies, financial institutions, and private equity sponsors on high-profile cross-border matters. She has extensive experience handling sophisticated securities offerings including high-yield debt, investment-grade debt, IPOs, secondary and follow-on offerings, convertible and exchangeable securities, and acquisition financing. Recently she has led numerous landmark capital markets projects including the USD 1.7 billion Hong Kong IPO of Shein in September 2026, the USD 4.6 billion Hong Kong IPO of Midea Group in 2024, the USD 390 million Hong Kong IPO of JD Industrials in 2025, the USD 3.2 billion Hong Kong IPO of JD Logistics in 2021, and the USD 531 million Hong Kong IPO of Yidu Tech. In the realms of debt financing and M&A she spearheaded the RMB 10 billion (approximately USD 1.4 billion) bond issuance by JD.com in April 2026 and the USD 2 billion exchangeable bond issuance by Baidu in March 2025 representing JD.com in the privatization of Nasdaq-listed Dada Group and advising MINISO on its RMB 6.3 billion acquisition of a 29.4 percent stake in Yonghui Superstores.
Prior to joining Weil Ms. Du practiced at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom for over 18 years where she served as the Head and Chief Representative of its Beijing office acting as its sole resident partner. She began her legal career at Coudert Brothers and joined the Hong Kong office of Skadden in 2008 before eventually relocating to Beijing. Expressing her enthusiasm Ms. Du noted that the exceptional global corporate platform, collaborative culture, and deep regional knowledge of Weil provide an ideal platform to serve clients and deliver seamless globally connected counsel.
Barry Wolf Executive Partner at Weil stated that Ms. Du is one of the most highly regarded corporate attorneys in the Greater China market bringing exceptional experience and longstanding relationships with many leading Chinese companies. Gary Holtzer the Management Committee Member overseeing Asia strategy emphasized that Asia is an important part of the global strategy of the firm. Mr. Holtzer added that establishing an on-the-ground capital markets capability further connects the global platform with regional opportunities and enhances the ability of the firm to support clients on their most sophisticated cross-border matters.
Hong Kong currently serves as the only branch of Weil in the Asia-Pacific region following the closure of its Shanghai and Beijing representative offices in 2024. Meanwhile the departure of Ms. Du brings further implications for the Greater China footprint of Skadden. Following the closure of the Shanghai office of Skadden in 2024 former Shanghai head Wu Yuting (武玉挺) relocated to Beijing before departing in July 2025 to join Xiaohongshu as General Counsel after which Ms. Du took over the Beijing office. With her transition to Weil the Skadden Beijing office currently operates without a resident partner. This talent movement notably coincides with a significant rebound in the Hong Kong capital markets driving international commercial law firms to accelerate the reinforcement of their Asian transactional practices to meet active demand from large Chinese enterprises and new economy leaders.
