Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is pleased to announce that Yi Zhang and Graham Winter will join the firm as partners.  Zhang was formerly with O’Melveny & Myers, and Winter will join the firm from Reed Smith Richards Butler.  Both Zhang and Winter will be based in Hong Kong.

Gibson Dunn’s Hong Kong office opened in August 2010 and is anchored by corporate partner Joseph Barbeau and litigation partner Kelly Austin.

“Both Yi and Graham are seasoned, senior lawyers, and their depth of experience in Hong Kong and China will be critical additions to our capacity,” said Joseph Barbeau, Partner in Charge of Gibson Dunn’s Hong Kong office.  “Over his 16 years in Hong Kong, Yi has built a well-established, China-focused practice that includes very significant foreign investment, M&A, private equity and project development transactions in China in a wide range of industries. In Hong Kong since 1992, Graham is a Hong Kong-qualified lawyer with a leading Hong Kong practice specializing in advising on complex corporate transactions, including cross-border M&A transactions, privatizations, joint ventures, private equity transactions and international corporate finance transactions. Outside Hong Kong, Graham has extensive experience across the Asia Pacific region, including China, Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia.” 

“We are extremely pleased to have Yi and Graham join our firm,” said Ken Doran, Managing Partner and Chairman of Gibson Dunn.  “Yi and Graham are highly regarded in the business and legal communities in Hong Kong and China, and their experience will enhance our ability to field the most complex transactions across most of Asia.  Their arrival is another important step forward for our Asia strategy, which is focused on strengthening our Hong Kong and Singapore offices and looking for the right opportunities in China.”

Formerly the head of O’Melveny’s Hong Kong office, Zhang has a China-focused corporate practice covering a broad range of transactions, including investment funds, foreign direct investment, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital, real estate and distressed asset transactions, and large-scale project development and infrastructure.  He has represented multinational companies, commercial and investment banks, and international private equity funds making investments in China and Chinese companies making outbound investments.  His clients have included AES, BP, Carlyle, China Development Bank, Citic PE, Darby Asia Investors, D.E. Shaw & Co., Deutsche Bank, Dow Chemical, Export-Import Bank of China, General Electric, Goldman Sachs, Guangdong Dapeng LNG Company, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, SOCAM Development, Sithe Global Power, Temasek, UBS and Yida Group, among others.

Zhang practiced in the Hong Kong office of O’Melveny since 1999 and in the New York and Hong Kong offices of Chadbourne & Parke from 1993 to 1998.  He received his law degree from the University of Michigan in 1993.  He has native fluency in Mandarin.

Admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong in 1992, Winter has extensive experience in a wide range of complex corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, private equity, capital markets and securities, corporate governance, compliance, joint ventures and restructurings.  He has particular experience with transactions governed by the Hong Kong Takeovers Code and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Listing Rules.  In addition to his Hong Kong practice, Winter has experience across Asia, including China, Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Winter is recognized as a leading practitioner in his areas of practice by various industry publications, including Chambers and Partners, Legal 500 Asia Pacific and Practical Law.

Winter has advised on a number of ground-breaking transactions, including representing SABMiller in relation to its US$750 million proposed takeover of Harbin Brewery, Hong Kong’s first contested takeover under the Hong Kong Takeovers Code; and, most recently, representing PCCW Limited in relation to the proposed spin-off and separate listing of its telecommunications business in the form of a novel structure involving a listed trust, which would be the first listing of its kind in Hong Kong.

Winter has represented multinational companies, commercial and investment banks and international private equity funds.  He has represented PCCW Limited, First Pacific Company Limited, Melco International Development Limited, 3i Group plc, Baring Private Equity Asia Limited, SABMiller and The Royal Bank of Scotland, among others.

Winter has practiced in Hong Kong since 1992 with Richards Butler (which became Reed Smith Richards Butler in 2008).  He is also admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales, since 1990.  He holds a post-graduate degree from Oxford University, Pembroke College, having graduated in 1987.