Ashurst has announced the appointment of Lance Jiang as a partner in its restructuring, insolvency and special situations practice in Hong Kong. His appointment is effective December 1.
The new hire forms part of the team’s expansion plans to capture the rapidly growing opportunities and client demands in Asia, the announcement detailed. The firm currently counts 86 lawyers, including 20 partners, in its Hong Kong office, a spokesperson confirmed with FinanceAsia.
Jiang’s appointment makes him the firm’s third restructuring, insolvency and special situations partner in Asia, alongside Hong Kong-based Sophie Lyall and Singapore-based Rob Child.
He was most recently a partner at Addleshaw Goddard, which he joined in 2018, and prior to this, he served as an in-house lawyer for China Minsheng Investment Group. Earlier in his career, he was a counsel at King & Wood Mallesons in Beijing, and an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell.
Throughout his career, Jiang has advised funds and financial institutions in greater China on complex cross-border special situation matters including non-performing loans, restructurings, bankruptcies, insolvencies and reorganisations.
Among other examples, he advised an ad hoc committee of over 100 bondholders on a claim against Peking University Founder Group (PUFG) for English law-governed keepwell bonds worth $1.7 billion, and later acted on behalf of the liquidators. The deal won an award for the year’s best insolvency and restructuring deal, the spokesperson said.
Liang also advised bondholders on the restructuring of $2.45 billion worth of keepwell bonds backed by Tsinghua Unigroup, and led a cross-border team to initiate proceedings in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and Hong Kong courts. He has also taken part in on a number of structured corporate finance transactions, including acquisition financings, equity margin financings, pre-IPO and leveraged financings, and real estate financings.
In the release, APAC head of restructuring, insolvency and special situations, James Marshall, noted that Jiang’s established relationships with Chinese funds and financial institutions would help the firm capture growing opportunities in the market. The Ashurst team declined to elaborate on the opportunities and factors that are contributing to the need for insolvency and restructuring advice in the region.
Last month, Ashurst announced its launch in Korea thought a joint venture (JV), and throughout the year, the company has added senior executives to its international projects group and corporate M&A and private equity practices in Japan, Singapore and Shanghai.
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