Corporate/M&A: The Elite (International Firms)

Latham & Watkins LLP's corporate practice is recognised for its work on high-profile transactions and regularly assists major Chinese clients with regional and global investments. The team has the ability to marshal teams across the globe to provide a well-rounded offering. It is well equipped to handle cross-border M&A, both inbound and outbound, including matters relating to Asia-Pacific jurisdictions such as South Korea, Japan, Singapore and Thailand as well as the USA. The team increasingly handles deals involving clients from the private equity and technology sectors. Trustar Capital, China Jinmao and Platinum Equity are among the firm's key clients.

"Latham & Watkins's team are quick and responsive, and show great effort and extraordinary commercial sense."

"The M&A team produced perfect documents and valuable guidance on the execution of the transaction."

Latham & Watkins advised Silicon Motion Technology on its take-private acquisition by MaxLinear in a merger valued at USD3.8 billion.

Simon Cooke retains his position in the corporate market as a transactional lawyer with additional regulatory expertise. He demonstrates proficiency handling cross-border acquisitions, equity investments and privatisations. "Simon Cooke is very well regarded, particularly in English M&A circles." "He has a good reputation and stands up to that reputation in practice."

Frank Sun acts on cross-border mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures for Chinese corporates and private equity firms. He frequently serves clients from the fintech, technology and manufacturing sectors. "He'll always put himself in others' shoes, which helps me balance the cons and pros. He also has the courage to raise issues that sometimes can be avoided by others, something I value highly." "He is very well connected in the China market."