Kirkland & Ellis Hires New M&A Pro In China

Kirkland & Ellis has hired private equity lawyer Peng Yu as a partner in Hong Kong as it continues to build its Greater China presence, the firm said Monday.

Yu was previously a partner in Ropes & Gray’s Hong Kong-based private equity transactions group where he advised e-commerce giant Alibaba, and U.S. private equity firms Bain Capital and Blackstone Inc on China-based transactions, according to an archived version of his bio on Ropes & Gray’s website.

Kirkland said in a statement that Yu works on a range of local and cross-border M&A transactions, particularly in Greater China – “a key region for our international strategy,” chairman of Kirkland’s global executive committee Jon Ballis said.

Kirkland’s Asia practice, which the firm says consists of 140 lawyers in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, focuses on high-value transactions and disputes, Hong Kong-based M&A partner David Zhang said in a statement.

The Chicago-founded firm said earlier this year it is advising a key group of property developer China Evergrande Group’s international creditors on potential debt recovery and enforcement action against the troubled company.

Earlier this month, Kirkland hired a former executive director of The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong as a partner in the firm’s Hong Kong-based transactional group.

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