Asialaw Profiles
The Guide to the legal markets of the Asia-Pacific

Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison first opened its Beijing office in 1981, and thus has a long history in the China M&A space. The firm is particularly well known for its prowess in the telecom, IT and media sectors, and consistently advises on headline transactions. This year was no exception.

For example, corporate partner Jeanette Chan closed a joint venture agreement between Walt Disney and Shanghai Shendi for the development of the new Disney theme park in Shanghai that had been in negotiations for over a decade. The JV is slated to be one of the largest foreign investment projects ever in China, and Paul Weiss has advised the Shanghai Government and Shanghai Shendi from as far back as 2000.

Paul Weiss’ IT, Telco & Media practice is spearheaded by Hong Kong-based partner Jeanette Chan who has experience pushing transactions through legislative and regulatory obstacles. Her background and the firm’s historical interest in this sector mean that Paul Weiss is often seen at the forefront of many of the region’s transactions.

This past year, the US firm closed the landmark Shanghai Disneyland deal. The US$3.5 billion project was a joint venture between an international media and entertainment company and a state owned enterprise.

Paul Weiss is also known for its leading private equity practice, which complements its IT, Telco & Media expertise. For example, the firm recently advised Carlyle Group on the sale of its majority stake in a Taiwan cable TV business. Carlyle was able to sell 80% of its interest in Taiwan’s largest cable TV operator, KBRO, for US$2.4 billion.

A leader in both private equity and TMT sector deals, Paul Weiss has continued to advise on major mandates despite its relatively small size. The firm recently completed a decade of negotiations when it advised on the high profile Disney joint venture in Shanghai for the creation of Shanghai Disneyland. Jeanette K Chan is a leading M&A partner.

Paul Weiss is known in the market for its deep technical know-how when it comes to supporting clients on TMT related mergers and acquisitions and private equity investments in the sector. Leading light Jeanette Chan has over 20 years of experience working with clients in IT, Telco & Media, which is underscored by the firm’s impressive client list.

One particularly strong example of the firm’s prowess was last year’s completion of a joint venture agreement between The Walt Disney Company and state-owned Shanghai Shengdi Group for the development of Shanghai Disneyland. The new theme park will be the first of its kind in China, and the joint venture took 10 years to negotiate.

In 2010, Paul Weiss also advised Motorola as it sold its Hong Kong and PRC networks business to Nokia Siemens Networks.

Under the helm of Tong Yu and Kaye Yoshino, the modestly sized team at Paul Weiss has a strong record on high profile capital markets transactions. In the past year, it advised Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ on its senior note and senior bond offerings in September 2010 and March 2011 respectively. Kenedix, the largest independent real estate asset manager in Japan, also sought Yu’s advice on its ¥15.4 billion (US$177 million) global common stock offering.

Paul Weiss keeps a small team in Tokyo that concentrates on providing quality US law advice to clients on highly complex transactions. Tong Yu and Kaye Yoshino are the lead partners in the firm, and the duo are trusted counsel to clients such as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Citigroup, Sumitomo Corporation, NEC, NTT and Polo Ralph Lauren.

Yu worked on two share exchange transactions in 2010 for Nidec Corporation and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, which respectively touched upon issues to do with going private and turning a company into a wholly owned subsidiary. The team also advised Japan Rental Housing Investments on its merger with Prospect Reit Investment Corporation. With approximately ¥183.5 billion (US$2.1 billion) in assets, the merger created the second largest Reit in the Japanese residential property market.