SNR Denton announced today that Sarah Zeng has joined the firm as a partner in the firm’s Beijing office.
She advises clients in the electricity, power, energy, infrastructure and auto-manufacturing industries. Zeng joins SNR Denton from Weichai Power, where she served as General Counsel, a position she also held with Weichai’s parent company, SHIG. She had previously held positions at CNTIC, a State Owned Enterprise (SOE) trade company formerly owned by MOFTEC, and The Coastal Corporation.
“Sarah is a great addition to our team,” said Jonathan Cahn, a member of SNR Denton’s Energy, Transport and Infrastructure sector team and US head US head of the firm’s Emerging Markets Energy Strategies (EMES). “Her familiarity with companies looking to make outbound investments in the Middle East, Central Asia, the Americas and Africa, combined with our presence and expertise in those regions, only adds to our ability to provide the highest level of service to our clients.”
At Weichai Power, Zeng worked as the General Counsel where she provided strategic legal and business advice in the company’s outbound and in-country transactions, including the acquisition of Ferretti, the top-end yacht maker in Italy for €374 million through debt restructuring. Zeng also had significant roles in transactions with Manitowac, Caterpillar and Volvo. Prior to Weichai, Zeng worked for eight years as a country manager with The Coastal Group, El Paso Corporation and Genting Group. She was responsible for their power project developments as well as management of their portfolio of power plants totaling $900 million (USD) in China. Zeng was also an associate at Pepper, Hamilton and Scheetz in Washington, D.C.
“We are excited to have Sarah join us in the Beijing office,” said Alex Wang, managing partner of SNR Denton’s Beijing location. “Her arrival is just the most recent evidence that our growing work in China, coupled with our global platform, is attracting the highest caliber talent.”
“I was attracted to SNR Denton because it has assembled one of the most respected energy teams in the world,” Zeng said. “Clients realize that our knowledge of the key energy markets coupled with doing business in China gives them a competitive edge and that’s always going to create exciting opportunities.”
Zeng earned her LLB from the Law School of Beijing University and an LLM from Washington College of Law at American University. She is admitted to the PRC and New York Bars.
