Shanghai law firm Llinks Law Offices has ended its three-year-long association with boutique Hong Kong law firm Vivien Teu & Co, and entered into a new tie-up with Dennis Fong & Co.

Following a string of departures, Vivien Teu, which had 14 lawyers in April, now has just two: Founding partner Vivien Teu and senior associate Christina Suen.  Llinks and Vivien Teu established their association in April 2015, shortly after the Hong Kong firm was launched.

Llinks said that back then the two firms had the same vision of offering specialist and one-stop China and Hong Kong legal services with a focus on funds, asset management, IPOs and M&A.  “However, we decided to terminate the association as we found we no longer shared the same vision,” said David Yu, managing partner of Llinks.

Dennis Fong, the new alliance firm, was formed after a five-lawyer team led by Fong left Viven Teu & Co. Fong specializes in IPOs, M&A and general corporate finance and commercial matters, which is in line with Llinks’ main areas of practice in Hong Kong.  The firm now has nine lawyers, including two partners.

Managing partner David Yu said Dennis Fong was on the lookout for partner and associate-level hires in four practice areas: Corporate/M&A, capital markets, asset management and dispute resolution.