Ropes & Gray today announced it has opened a new office in Shanghai, its third in Asia, to support clients with business and investment interests in China.
Lawyers in the Shanghai office serve clients in private equity, investment funds and life sciences—practices for which Ropes & Gray has received international acclaim as a leading law firm for its experience, knowledge and client service. The firm already advises international clients, including Chinese companies, from its offices in Hong Kong, Tokyo, London and throughout the United States.
The expansion to Shanghai, one of the world’s most dynamic centers of finance and commerce, reinforces Ropes & Gray’s commitment to Asia and to advising clients with interests in China. Since opening offices in Hong Kong in 2008 and Tokyo in 2007, Ropes & Gray has quickly established itself as a leading firm in Asia, handling some of the region’s largest and most complex transactions.
“Our clients’ businesses intersect more and more with the powerful economic engine of China,” said Brad Malt, chairman of Ropes & Gray. “Establishing a team of experienced China lawyers with a presence in Shanghai means that we can serve these clients more fully across Asia and around the world.”
The firm’s Shanghai office will be led by partner Arthur Mok, who joined the firm in 2010 and is an experienced corporate lawyer in China with a focus on M&A and private equity transactions.
Mr. Mok, who has been based as a lawyer in China since 2004, has been recognized as a leading lawyer for private equity by Chambers Asia and Legal 500. His clients include China- and U.S.-based companies, as well as private equity firms and venture capital funds operating in the healthcare, life sciences and technology industries.
“With a strong team in Shanghai working alongside our colleagues around the world, we are positioned to provide the type of exemplary service for clients with interests in China that Ropes & Gray is known for,” said Mr. Mok. “Our clients in Japan, the United States and Europe will also benefit from on-the-ground counsel on their strategic initiatives in the mainland.”
Joining Mr. Mok in Shanghai is partner Geoffrey Chan, a leading investment funds lawyer in China with a practice focusing on the creation of Chinese offshore USD funds and domestic RMB private investment funds. Active in China funds since 2005, Mr. Chan has represented fund sponsors in China and throughout Asia in fund formation and other related internal funds issues.
Ropes & Gray’s global footprint, with about 1,000 lawyers, allows it to serve clients from bases in major world financial centers – Hong Kong, Tokyo, London, New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Boston, Silicon Valley and San Francisco – and to provide global execution of transactions.
Asian Legal Business in 2010 honored the firm’s Hong Kong-based lawyers for their role in China’s “M&A Deal of the Year,” GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd.’s $3.4 billion acquisition of Jiangsu Zhongneng. In 2009, the firm represented long-term client Bain Capital in its acquisition of Bellsystem24 in the largest buyout by a foreign private equity firm in Japan in nearly two years.
