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

Hogan Lovells' capital markets group continues to advise both issues and underwriters, and has worked on more than ten prospective Hong Kong IPOs this year. The team has a strong client base including UBS, Deutsche Bank, Macquarie, DBS, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Nomura and others. Recently, the firm was appointed co-counsel to advise Erdenes MGL holder of the Mongolian's state's interest in Tavan Tolgoi, on its proposed IPO in Mongolia, Hong Kong and/or London. The Tavan Tolgoi coal deposit is one of the largest thermal and coking coal reserves in the world, and the transaction will be groundbreaking in that it will be the first international IPO of a Mongolian state owned company.

"Hogan Lovells is excellent," says one client. "Terence Lau, the senior partner, is extensively involved and has been instrumental in advising us in coming up with solutions around technicalities. His involvement is instrumental to the success of the deal. In addition, his attention to detail is commendable. For example, the first draft of prospectus is the best I have ever seen in my life. There are many other examples that I can come up with."

Partners Andrew McGinty, Roy Zuo and Jun Wei support Hogan Lovells' banking practice on the ground in China, while practice Head Gary Hamp leads the team from Hong Kong. The past year has been marked by strong transactions for the firm, which seems to be finding good footing after the recent merger. The firm's Greater China banking group looks to focus on capitalising on its increased capacity for cross-border US and Latin America deals in the future.

Clients seem pleased with the firm's development: "I would definitely put Hogan Lovells towards the top of the "knowledge tree", both at the partner and senior associate level," says one client, "what I appreciate about Hogan Lovells is the investment that they have made in people who have a broad range of experience-especially their experience in recent innovative structures, which in turn reflects the quality of advice received. This was almost counter-cyclical; when most magic circle firms were laying off experienced lawyers, Hogan Lovells were busy beefing up their practice."

One particularly notable transaction this past year was the CITIC Bank International acquisition financing for the take-private delisting of the Tongjitang Chinese medical company. Tonson International, a Cayman Islands exempted company controlled by Fosun International and Hanmax Investment, targeted Tongjitang, a specialist pharmaceutical company that manufactures, markets, and sells modernised traditional Chinese medicine in China. The Hogan Lovells team, led by Gary Hamp and Senior associate Jenny Yim, acted as the New York and Hong Kong law counsel to the lender and advised on Hong Kong Long, Nyse Regulatory Issues and Chinese law. The deal was the first of its kind, a take-private transaction effected under the Cayman Islands merger statute.

The Hogan Lovells M&A team advised Ford in its sale of Volvo to Geely in one of the most sizeable and headline outbound China transactions this past year. They also represented Greentown China Holdings on a number of Chinese acquisition and disposal transactions with an aggregate value of over $230 million. Hogan Lovells M&A lawyers also assisted the International Finance Corporation on various equity investments in Hong Kong, China and India and represented the Marubeni Corporation on its acquisition of a minority stake in Acecook Vietnam Joint Stock Company in Vietnam.

Hogan Lovells' equity capital markets team advises issuers and underwriters in Hong Kong IPOs. Just this past year, the Hogan Lovells team has advised on at least ten prospective Hong Kong offerings.

Clients have special praise for partner Terence Lau. "Terence is excellent," one client tells us, "he is extensively involved and has been instrumental in advising us to come up with solutions around technicalities. His involvement was instrumental to the success of our deal. For example, the first draft of his prospectus was the best I have ever seen in my life. He is always accessible and available on short notice."

In 2010, the Hogan Lovells team represented Macquarie Capital Securities limited in its role as underwriter for the IPO of Global Dairy Holdings. The China-based milk powder company raised over $204 million on the Hong Kong exchange.

Hogan Lovells' debt capital markets team serves clients on an array of high-yield bonds, convertible securities and Rmb-denominated issuances.

Partner Philip Hyde works on an ongoing basis with Bank of New York Mellon, acting as trustee on a large number of bond issues throughout the Asia region – including high yield bonds, convertible bonds and eurobonds.

The Hogan Lovells team is also advising China International Capital Corporation (Hong Kong Securities) in its role as sole lead manager and bookrunner in connection with an issue of Rmb-guaranteed bonds issued by OCT Travel Investment due in 2014.

Banking practice head Gary Hamp leads Hogan Lovells' banking and finance team from Hong Kong. The past year has been marked by strong transactions for the firm, which seems to be finding good footing after the recent merger. "We're looking to do a lot more business with them. Hogan Lovells came up in ranking order quite fast and wasn't on our radar just a few years ago," says one client, "They are extremely responsive. A number of partners I have dealt with just delegate work to their associates, but I don't get that feeling at all at [Hogan] Lovells. They try way harder since they are smaller than the magic circle firms."

Along these lines, clients seem pleased with the firm's development in the past few years. "I would definitely put Hogan Lovells towards the top of the 'knowledge tree', both at the partner and senior associate level," says one, "what I appreciate about Hogan Lovells is the investment that they have made in people who have a broad range of experiences-especially their experience in recent innovative structures, which in turn reflects the quality of advice received. This was almost counter-cyclical; when most magic circle firms were laying off experienced lawyers, Hogan Lovells were busy beefing up their practice."

Another client adds that, "I would say they are without a shadow of a doubt the best in the market. On broadly similar topics the quality and speed of advice, their ability to reduce advice in a way that bankers can digest, means that they outstrip their competition. They provide highly practical and commercial advice for clients. They are innovative in China, are more than prepared to think outside the box and understand non-conventional new lending opportunities outside of Asia, bespoke advice. They're great guys to have on your side."

This past year, Hogan Lovells advised Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and the Venezuelan ministry of finance on two loan facilities from China Development Bank (CDB) valued at over $20 billion total. The loan included negotiations and sales contracts governed by three different legal jurisdictions, and the Hogan Lovells Greater China team advised on Chinese law. The financing represents the largest ever made in Latin America by a Chinese bank and the biggest investment ever made by CDB.

Another important transaction this past year was the CITIC Bank International acquisition financing for the take-private delisting of the Tongjitang Chinese medical company by Tonson International, a Cayman Islands exempted company controlled by Fosun International and Hanmax Investmen. The Hogan Lovells team was led by Gary Hamp and senior associate Jenny Yim, who acted as the New York and Hong Kong law counsel to the lender and advised on Hong Kong Law, Nyse Regulatory Issues and Chinese law. The first-of-its kind deal was the seminal take-private transaction effected under the Cayman Islands merger statute.

The Hogan Lovells M&A team has a solid practice that gets high marks for the firm's regional connectivity, accessibility and knowledge of the China market. "On advisory and risk quantification work they've always been really good," one client tells us, "I think that in an unfamiliar jurisdiction they're given a good degree of guidance. We've received strong support from the team, and they've been very clear in taking complex things and turning them into actionable advice that was highly practice in helping us understand the constraints and conditions we're operating in."

Last year, Hogan Lovells' M&A partners advised Hong Kong-listed Mascotte Holdings on its 50.1% interest in Taiwan-based photovoltaic cell manufacturer Sun Materials Technology, in a deal that was valued at $150 million.

Leading lawyers: Jamie Barr, Terence Lau, Thomas Man, Andrew McGinty

Hogan Lovells' Greater China private equity and venture capital team is the result of the recent merger, as the combination of the two well-established firms has led to a broader private equity client base and a deeper combined team.

Recently, partners Andrew McGinty and Jun Wei advised Intel Capital Corporation on the subscription of Series D Preference Shares and Warrants in United Information Technology. United Information Technolgoy provides enterprise-class storage to the telecommunications, media, financial services and energy sectors and has significant operations in China.

Hogan Lovells has a very strong reputation in the market with Neil McDonald in particular recognised by clients and peers at rival firms as a leader in the field. "I rate McDonald and his team extremely highly," says one client. "He's generally my first port of call when I've got a problem. He's done work for us on an extremely difficult China litigation, and without their help we wouldn't be able to resolve problems that easily. They never let us down and we never felt that we didn't have a good service."

Hogan Lovells' international network also seems also to be a real asset, and clients are impressed with the synchronicity achieved by the different offices: "They are incredibly responsive. Doesn't matter if you're dealing with someone in London or Dubai, you will always get an immediate response-and if they're not there right away, they will get someone else on the line to help you. I call them a "very joined up" firm. What I like about [Hogan] Lovells is that they work as a team. For example they're good at identifying conflicts and building relationships. They provide training/seminars to our staff here and another country, and they have excellent technical resources and partners."

This year, Neil McDonald led the team in representing Shinning Crown Holdings, the majority shareholder in GOME Electrical Appliances Holdings, in China's largest ever public company shareholder dispute. GOME is one of the China's largest retail chains, and has over 700 stores and revenue of approximately $3.7 billion. Hogan Lovells' team was instructed to safeguard the majority shareholder's rights, and since being instructed has been instrumental in the removal of the Board's general mandate to issue shares, the appointment of two client representatives as directors of the company, and the retirement of the Chairman of the Board. The mandate speaks to Hogan Lovells' reputation in protecting shareholder rights in high-profile disputes.

McDonald also led a team that advised a banking syndicate led by RBS in the restructuring of Asia Timber Products. The syndicate comprises Rabobank, WestLB, ING Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia), among others. The Hogan Lovells team has been advising the senior lenders on their restructuring and enforcement options.

"Philip Hyde, who's a partner, and Jonathan Green, who's a senior associate, are both reachable, responsive, and provide quite practical advice with consideration of commercial constraints," says a client of Hogan Lovells.

The firm leverages its strong international network to act for clients such as BNP Paribas, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and the Bank of New York Mellon. In a highlight this year, the firm, led by Hyde and Green, advised Morgan Stanley Japan Securities regarding its joint venture with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.

"I think they're legally very good, fair, quite commercially-minded," comments a banking client. "Specifically, the Tokyo office is quite commercially-minded, provides good practical advice and is quite a good value for money."

Noted partner Philip Hyde is the key contact for Hogan Lovells' structured finance and securitisation practice. A few market observers have questioned the team's depth in this practice area with the relocation of Andrew Carey from Tokyo to Singapore in April 2011. Senior associate Jonathan Green and associate Richard Bleackley filled in any gaps created by the move and were busy on several structured transactions. "Philip and Jonathan are both reachable, responsive, and provide quite considered practical advice," said a client. "I think they do so with consideration of commercial constraints."

The client continues: "To be honest, I'm pretty happy with their service. Also we have a relationship with them - if there were things they weren't doing well, I would feel comfortable picking up the phone and talking to them about it."

Hyde, Green and Bleackley continue to regularly advise a European lender on its structured finance deals, including regular issuances of collateralised loan notes (CLNs), collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) and repackagings. A venerable investment bank relies on the team for a number of its EMTN transactions.

"Hogan Lovells is very attentive to details and have significant bandwidth. Most importantly, they bring it to these projects," a pharmaceutical client says. "If they don't have the expertise, they get the expertise."

The firm's enormous resources throughout Asia ensure that it is involved in highlight M&A deals. In a transaction that closed in September 2010, partner Rika Beppu and recently promoted of counsel Jacky Scanlan-Dyas acted for German corporation HC Starck in a joint venture with Japanese company Chisso to produce and market Li-Ion Battery cathode products. The two companies established CS Energy Materials and created an initial consolidated capitalisation fund of ¥1.5 billion ($19 million).

Led by industry expert Anthony Raven the team at Hogan Lovells boasts an impressive client list including Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Sojitz, Shizuoka Gas, Metal One, Inpex, LNG Japan, JGC, Chiyoda, Toyo Engineering, Mitsubishi, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, IHI and Esso Australia. Since joining the firm almost three years ago, Raven has transformed the practice to create a full service projects and energy group. "Since Anthony Raven joined Hogan Lovells, the firm's energy and projects finance practice has clearly moved into the top tier in my view," says a corporate client of the firm.

"Raven is first rate, extremely well regarded in the market, has an excellent grasp of the law and industry and his advice is always practical and well thought through," says another client who has nothing but praise for the partner. "In my view, Anthony is one of the best energy and projects lawyers in town" he continues. One significant deal saw Raven, alongside team members from the Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam offices, advise the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) on the project financing of the Van Phong BOT (build-operate-transfer) greenfield power project in Vietnam.