IFLR 1000
The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms

Orrick's capital market's team can be especially proud of their leading issuer-side status in representing companies on Hong Kong IPOs. "We often see Orrick across the table when we're on the underwriters' side and they're acting for issuers," says a partner at a rival firm. "They are well known in the market for representing issuers in top deals." From January 2010 to March 2011, Orrick advised on 14 IPOS for Chinese companies - nine where they acted as company counsel and five on the underwriters side.

The team advised China Hongqiao Group in its $822 million IPO and global offering, which was one of the largest IPOs of 2011. In August 2010, Orrick's team also represented Chinese issuer West China Cement on the first transfer of a Chinese issuer listing from the London Aim market to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The firm's Greater China capital markets team has seen expansion with the recent hires of partners Jeffrey Sun in Shanghai and William Woo in Hong Kong.

Recently the team at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe advised Thang Long Thermoelectric (Thang Long) as investor and sole developer of an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract. The contract with Wuhan Kaidi Electric Power was worth $645 million. This was the first coal-fired thermal power project that has been undertaken by a privately owned Vietnamese power generation company and a Chinese contractor.

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe's Hong Kong M&A team advises their growing base of large privately-held Chinese companies through their entire growth cycle. The Hong Kong office also fields strong Korea partners who help to facilitate inbound and outbound cross-border Korea transactions. The firm's US base and strong connections in Silicon Valley prove to be a special advantage to clients in tech sector-related transactions.

In a deal that closed in January 2011, Orrick advised Atlanta-based chemical and energy holding company OCI Enterprises (owned by Korea-based OCI Company) on the $36 million acquisition of Chicago-based solar power plant development company CornerStone Power Development.

Orrick also recently advised B&L Motor Holding (B&L) in its Rmb1.1 billion ($170 million) equity sale to a subsidiary of a leading Chinese automobile dealership group Zhongsheng Group Holdings. B&L provides automobile sales and services and is a large distributor of automobile brands including Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Lamborghini and GZ-Toyota in China.

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe stands out in the equity capital markets space in Hong Kong for its leading issuer-side practice. The firm does a substantial volume of deals and is known as a go-to practice for issuer's counsel, though Orrick represents its share of issues as well. One partner at a rival firm notes that, "Orrick really does do a huge amount of issuer-side work in Hong Kong. They are very well known in that area." The firm's Greater China capital markets team has recently grown with the addition of partners William Chun Fei Woo (Latham & Watkins) in Hong Kong and Jeffrey Sun in Shanghai.

Recently, Orrick's team recently acted as issuers counsel for Boshiwa International Holdings on its $320 million Hong Kong IPO and simultaneous Rule 144A/Reg S placement. The capital markets team advised Boshiwa on both Hong Kong and US law aspects.

Orrick has an experienced structured finance and securitisation practice based out of its greater China offices, with peers and clients both particularly noting its market-leading status in acting for arrangers across the region and leading the market in Korea securitisation work. Orrick's team is led by Michelle Taylor, who is leader of the China office and also a member of the firm's global finance group. Taylor is widely recognised for her active structured finance practice that focuses on structuring difficult cross-border financings. Of counsel Donna Healy also receives praise from peers. "The combination of Michelle Taylor and Donna Healy is really what makes Orrick's practice market-leading, especially when we see them on the securitisation side. There are very few other people in Hong Kong or Greater China that have that kind of experience in the Asian markets, and they're always professional and 'on the ball'. No wonder so much of the work goes to them!"

Orrick's team has a particular focus on Chinese-structured transactions with real estate-related underlying assets.

Over the last year the firm's Hong Kong-based Korean work has been particularly strong. The team represented Korea Development Bank as credit facility provider in the securitization of ¥40 billion ($520 million) of future flow airline cargo receivables originated by Korean Airlines. Taylor and Healy also advised the originator and servicer in connection with the securitisation of Korean consumer auto loans originated by Hyundai.

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe's M&A leverages its US base and strong connections in Silicon Valley prove to be a special advantage to clients in tech sector-related transactions. The firm also has a large team of lawyers who are bilingual, which aids the firm in conducting cross-border China transactions and developing relationships with local Hong Kong and Chinese companies.

This year, Orrick advised B&L Motor Holding (B&L) in its Rmb1.1 billion ($170 million) equity sale to a subsidiary of a leading Chinese automobile dealership group Zhongsheng Group Holdings. B&L is an automobile sales and services provider, and distributes automobile brands including Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Lamborghini and GZ-Toyota in China.

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe has a sizeable list of international private equity clients, including some of the top PE funds presently active in Asia. The firm also has a relative strength in representing IPO candidates as they accept investments from major private equity firms, as Orrick has a strong presence in representing issuers in Hong Kong.

In November 2010, partner Maurice Hoo advised Warburg Pincus in its investment in the leading Chinese education company Xueda Education Group. The investment closed concurrently with Xueda's US IPO and was a deal of first impression. Hoo also led Orrick's team in advising Warburg Pincus in its investment in leading Chinese classifieds advertising website 58.com.

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe's private equity team is led by experienced partner Sook Young Yeu, and the team has experience advising on a broad range of fund formation from private equity to real estate to hedge funds. The firm's strong China capability also means that it has been involved in advising on a number of Rmb-denominated China funds with offshore components, and the team represents clients in China and across Southeast Asia.

Orrick has advised a number of (confidential) clients on fund formation in Hong Kong and other jurisdictions this year. The practice also includes representing funds in investments, representing issuers, fund management regulatory work and investor representation.

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe's Hong Kong and Greater China project finance team is involved in many inbound and outbound China-related projects, including power generation, distribution and infrastructure projects across Greater China and Southeast Asia. The firm is presently involved in nearly all of the active projects in Vietnam.

Recently, Orrick advised Thang Long Thermoelectric JSC (Thang Long) in its role as investor and sole developer of an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract with Wuhan Kaidi Electric Power which was valued at $645 million. The project represented the first time a coal-fired thermal power project has been undertaken by a Chinese contract of and privately-owned Vietnamese power generation company.

Orrick's team has also represented JAKS Resources Berhad of Malaysia in the development of a $2 billion power project in Vietnam's Hai Duong province. The project represents the largest cross-border power project between Malaysia, China and Vietnam in the history of the three countries.

Clients of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe's M&A practice shower managing partner Mark Weeks with praise. "I have a preference for the foreign law firms. Orrick stood out largely because of Mark Weeks," comments a banking client, "If there's one skill that really distinguishes Mark, it's his ability to really understand the differences between Japanese clients & foreign counterparts. He bridges the gap in a very calm way."

The firm advised Posco regarding its first foreign acquisition outside the steel and natural resources industries this year. The steelmaker bought a 51% stake in Xenesys, a Japanese waste heat recovery company, for ¥610 million ($7 million). Well-regarded senior counsel Eugene Chang led the transaction.

Clients are buoyant about Orrick's Korean experts, namely Hong Kong-based M&A partners David Cho and Mark Lee. These two seem especially popular: one client says, "I have known these guys for an awful long time," while another admits, "I think Mark and David are, hands down, the best legal minds I've ever seen."

Cho and Lee advised OCI Enterprises, an American subsidiary of Korean chemical company OCI, on its $36 million acquisition of Cornerstone Power Development, which develops solar power plants. Cornerstone Power Development will form part of a new division of OCI, OCI Energy.