Recently, In-House Community ("IHC") released its Counsel of the Year Awards, which include "External Counsel of the Year 2023-24". Five Han Kun partners, Yi Ding, Stephen Dong, Kelvin Gao, Jun Li, and Yuzhou Xu (in alphabetical order by surname) were selected for the award due to their outstanding performance.
Mr. Ding's practice focuses on debt financing transactions, in which he regularly advises lenders and borrowers on various types of onshore, offshore and cross-border, syndicated or bilateral, secured or unsecured financing matters, corporate loans, acquisition financing, real estate financing, and asset-backed financing. In aviation finance, Mr. Ding advises airlines, leasing companies, financial institutions, and arrangers on a wide variety of asset financings, structured financings, and operating or capital leases. Mr. Ding also acts for international banks and financial institutions in establishing their operations in China and their corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, and regulatory matters.
Mr. Stephen Dong has extensive practical experience in a number of practice areas, including real estate-related acquisition, real estate project finance, M&A, and offshore securities offerings. He advises major international and domestic real estate funds, investment banks, real estate enterprises, warehousing and logistics enterprises, multinational enterprises, listed companies, and insurance companies on their various equity acquisitions, asset acquisitions, real estate developments, real estate project financing, leasing operations, and property management in China. His services include deal structuring, legal due diligence, drafting transaction documents, and business negotiations. Mr. Dong has accumulated rich experience in practising PRC law and in handling complicated cross-border and onshore transactions.
Mr. Kelvin Gao has practised law for more than two decades and has extensive experience in a variety of fields and industries. His major practice areas include M&A, formation and deployment of private equity funds, securities offerings, and corporate restructuring. Mr. Gao has been legal counsel to numerous leading investment institutions, multinationals and unicorn companies, for which he has provided a full range of legal services, from deal structuring and legal documentation to closing, for their various cross-border M&A, joint ventures and financing projects in industries covering the internet, computer software, entertainment media, education and training, consumer and retail, as well as healthcare services. Mr. Gao routinely serves as counsel to many leading institutional investors.
Ms. Li specializes in domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, direct investment, and general corporate matters. She has extensive experience in cross-border transactions and investment and has successfully assisted numerous clients in setting up or acquiring various enterprises. She not only provides strategic decision-making and day-to-day operational advice to corporate clients, but also provides all-round legal support for Chinese clients in their overseas transactions. Moreover, Ms. Li also works in the area of data compliance. As a member of the data compliance and cybersecurity committee of the Shanghai Lawyers Association, she provides legal services in relation to cybersecurity and personal information protection to a large number of companies. She represents clients from a wide range of industries such as e-commerce, education, clean energy, consumer goods, information technology, and a variety of manufacturing.
Mr. Xu specializes in financial compliance, banking and insurance, asset management, SOE-related services, investment and financing. His services cover establishment of financial institutions, issuance of financial products, bank financing, trust schemes, use of insurance funds, establishment of insurance asset management products, establishment and operation of private equity funds, all kinds of structured financing, asset-backed securitization projects, issuance of bonds and debt financing instruments, etc. Mr. Xu advises various banks, trust companies, securities traders, insurance companies, funds, asset management institutions, and other financial institutions. Meanwhile, Mr. Xu has more than 20 years of experience in the area of legal services for SOE-related enterprises, and has extensive experience and a good reputation in state-owned enterprise compliance, restructuring, and establishment of state-owned fund investments.
The IHC's "Counsel of the Year Awards" cater to over 20,000 legal professionals from the Asia and Middle East region. The research results are based on respondents' direct votes and recommendations, with the aim of recognizing outstanding companies and external counsels in the legal profession.
