Paul Hastings Adds Prominent M&A and Private Equity Duo in Hong Kong

April 22, 2015

Hong Kong -- Paul Hastings, a leading global law firm, announced today that Douglas Freeman and Victor Chen will join the Hong Kong office as partners in the Corporate practice. Mr. Freeman and Mr. Chen both join from Fried Frank, where they were private equity and M&A partners, and Mr. Freeman was head of the Asia practice.

“Doug and Victor’s addition highlights the firm’s strategy to continue to strengthen and broaden the reach of our Asia Corporate practice and our focus on key growth markets across our global network,” said Elizabeth Noe, chair of the Corporate practice at Paul Hastings. “Along with their former colleague David Shine, who recently joined as chair of the New York Mergers and Acquisitions practice, Doug and Victor will contribute to the prestige, scope, and dynamism of our Private Equity and M&A practices,” she added.

“Doug and Victor’s arrivals represent a further step towards providing our clients with much sought after strategic regional and cross-border transactional advice,” said Sammy Li, chair of the Hong Kong office. “Doug and Victor have worked together as a focused, effective team for seven years and I am confident that they will further enhance our Asia M&A and Private Equity practices by tapping into new opportunities whilst cross-selling other key practice areas which are natural business complements to their work,” he added.

Mr. Freeman's practice focuses on representing public and private companies, private equity firms and investment banking firms in connection with mergers, acquisitions, public offerings, leverage buyouts and other corporate transactions across a range of industries.

Mr. Chen represents private equity sponsors, multinational corporations and institutional investors in their M&A transactions and investments, with a particular focus on Asia cross-border deals. Mr. Freeman and Mr. Chen also have considerable experience advising on going-private transactions involving China-based companies listed in the U.S., international joint ventures and outbound investments into the U.S.

Prior headline deals that Mr. Freemen and Mr. Chen have advised on include: representing the buyer group in connection with the award-winning US$3.7 billion acquisition of Focus Media Holding Limited (NASDAQ: FMCN); representing FountainVest Partners and China Media Capital in their investment in the Greater China business of large-screen movie exhibitor IMAX Corp (NYSE: IMAX); representing Goldman Sachs in connection with the AsiaInfo-Linkage (NASDAQ: ASIA) going private transaction; and representing Lazard in connection with the Alibaba Group’s acquisition of AutoNavi Holdings (NASDAQ: AMAP).

The arrival of Mr. Freeman and Mr. Chen follow the recent additions of David Shine and Samuel Waxman in New York.

Paul Hastings is a leading global law firm with a strong presence throughout Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States. Through a collaborative approach, entrepreneurial spirit, and commitment to client service, the professionals of Paul Hastings deliver innovative solutions to many of the world’s top financial institutions and Fortune 500 companies.