Sonia Li
Sonia Li is an associate at the firm’s Hong Kong office. Ms. Li’s practice focuses on corporate finance and commercial matters. She has experience in mergers and acquisitions, regulatory compliance, PRC–related transactions and initial public offerings of Main Board and GEM companies in Hong Kong.
Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Li practiced with the Hong Kong office of one of the leading PRC firms where she worked on a mixture of merger & acquisition, regulatory compliance, initial public offerings and general commercial matters.
Firm Overview:
K&L Gates’ Hong Kong office was established more than 15 years ago as the first of our offices in Asia. The office provides the full range of business law services to our clients.
Our core practices are corporate and securities law, private equity investments, cross-border M&A, private client and intellectual property law. In addition to the contingent of Hong Kong qualified lawyers, we have a number of PRC trained and qualified lawyers on staff in Hong Kong to provide support on cross-border transactions involving the PRC. We also offer experienced litigation and real estate teams that work closely with the other groups in the office to round out the services available to our clients.
Our Hong Kong corporate and securities practice acts for issuers across the region, underwriters and sponsors on equity and debt capital markets transactions and compliance matters. We frequently advise issuers and underwriters on listings, rights issues and other fund raising on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. We also act for China-based companies in listings and compliance matters in international markets. We frequently represent clients on inbound investments into China as well as exits from these investments, devising structures to meet tax, foreign ownership, protection of intellectual property, currency transfer and other requirements. Our private equity team acts for some of the most active funds and strategic investors in the region. Working with our capital markets group, we take founders and investors from their initial investment through listing, further M&A and continuing compliance matters. We have assisted companies in growing from small local enterprises to leading global businesses. We are noted for our use of innovative deal structures to achieve our clients’ objectives. As an example of our many “firsts,” we acted for the first Chinese company to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Hong Kong office has also been at the forefront in the redevelopment of the adjacent city of Macau. Since representing the successful bidder in the first tender for a gaming license in 2003, we have represented clients in all major facets of Macau’s continuing development including hotel acquisitions and developments, infrastructure projects, formation of local operating companies for foreign investors, entertainment specialists and other new entrants into the market.
Our intellectual property practice plays an integral role in many of our clients’ M&A, private equity, and listing transactions as well as outsourcing and direct investments into China. We provide IP counseling and licensing advice as well as litigation, enforcement and prosecution services where necessary.
Our Hong Kong office has one of the leading private client practices in the region. Much of Asia’s wealth is held by families, and we count among our clients many of the individuals and families on the Forbes wealthiest and similar lists. We work closely with the largest financial institutions in the world and other intermediaries and our offices around the world to provide integrated strategic counsel for clients in tax, succession planning, corporate reorganization, and private investments, asset protection and the management and mitigation of risks.
