Baker McKenzie and its joint operation partner, FenXun, announced today that a team of transactional lawyers headlined by Partners Dan Ouyang, Winfield Lau and Ke (Ronnie) Li and Zhenzhen Bao, is joining the Greater China Capital Markets team in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, further bolstering the Firm’s capabilities across Hong Kong and US IPOs and other international capital markets transactions. This team hire closely follows that of Alexander Stathopoulos, who joined the Singapore Capital Markets team on 3 April. These additions reflect the Firm’s ongoing commitment to building our transactional bench strength in Asia.
Based in Beijing and Shanghai, Dan will serve as co-head of Baker McKenzie's Asia Pacific Capital Markets Practice, jointly with Christina Lee, and as co-head of the Firm's Greater China Capital Markets Practice, jointly with Hang Wang. Dan brings extensive experience in Hong Kong and US equity offerings, Rule 144A and Reg S bond offerings, and private equity and M&A transactions. She has represented clients across a range of industries, including technology, healthcare, education and entertainment, in more than 100 IPOs and follow-on offerings in Hong Kong and the US. She is a widely recognized lawyer, including being named "Woman Lawyer of the Year" at the Asian Legal Business China Law Awards 2024 and as a leading practitioner in the 2024 IFLR1000 Women Leaders list.
Winfield, based in Hong Kong, has a broad corporate and finance practice, including pre-IPO financing rounds, IPOs, follow-on offerings of equity and debt securities, public takeovers, privatizations and general corporate regulatory and compliance counselling. He has extensive experience representing clients in China through the key stages of their development. He has advised major investment banks in dozens of high-profile capital markets transactions, covering a variety of industries including TMT, healthcare, consumer and insurance. Winfield has been named to the LexisNexis 2024 “40 Under 40 Asia” list and “Under 40 2024 Greater China” list, and the IFLR " Rising Stars Partner 2023" list.
Ronnie, who joins FenXun in Beijing, focuses on capital markets and private equity transactions, including public offerings of securities of public and private companies, venture capital and private financings, M&A, and corporate governance for public companies, private companies and investment funds. Ronnie has advised both companies and financial institutions on many high-profile capital markets transactions, including initial and follow-on offerings on the NYSE, Nasdaq and the HKSE, private placements in public equity, public reverse takeovers, SPACs and de-SPACs, and going-private transactions. Ronnie was recognized in "Rising Stars 2023” by China Business Law Journal.
Zhenzhen, who also joins FenXun in Beijing, focuses on corporate finance and securities law matters. She has extensive experience in Hong Kong and U.S. capital markets, M&A, and general corporate regulatory and compliance matters, and regularly advises corporate clients in China.
With extensive experience in a wide variety of capital markets transactions, including IPOs, SPACs, De-SPACs, going private transactions, and follow-on offerings, the team is consistently recognized as a leading legal adviser for Hong Kong and US IPOs. In 2024, the China Business Law Journal ranked the team third among international legal advisers based on the accumulated deal value for HKEX listings. Furthermore, the team has a strong presence in advising on US IPOs for Asian issuers, being acknowledged by legal publications such as Chambers and Partners (China) as one of the top performers in handling US listings for the clients.
Christina Lee, co-head of the Asia Pacific Capital Markets Practice, said: "We are thrilled to welcome Dan, Winfield, Ronnie, and the team to our practice. This team hire evidences our continuous commitment to the Greater China market and our dedication to growing our bench strength in strategic areas aligned with clients' needs."
Christina continued: “We remain confident that Hong Kong will continue to be the preferred destination for mainland China issuers with international ambitions seeking to raise funds. Dan’s team has extensive experience representing issuers and investment banks across a full range of capital market transactions and their arrival fuels our existing robust capital market practice, an area in which we excel and is renowned for providing excellent services. We cannot wait to let our clients see and experience our capabilities and services which we are able to offer with our enlarged team."
Hang Wang, chief representative of Baker McKenzie's Beijing office and co-head of the China Capital Markets Practice, said: "Dan’s team has extensive expertise, especially on the US side, in advising technology, healthcare and life sciences companies will be a valuable enhancement to our existing expertise. The wealth of experience that this team brings perfectly complements and integrates with our existing team and will generate a multiplier effect to the value that we bring to our clients. I look forward to collaborating with the team to support our Chinese clients as they pursue fundraising and investment opportunities offshore."
Yingzhe Wang, managing partner of FenXun Partners, said: "This year marks the 10th anniversary of our joint operation with Baker McKenzie, and it continues to grow from strength to strength. Adding this team to our platform reflects our dedication to delivering holistic legal solutions of the highest quality to clients."
Dan commented: "I am thrilled to be joining Baker McKenzie. The Firm's outstanding market reputation in Greater China, along with its well-established joint operation with FenXun, supported by Baker McKenzie's global platform, were significant draws. I look forward to working with my colleagues in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and around the world to bring the Firm’s global, full-service offering to our clients."
Winfield said: "The Firm's enviable global platform offers me the ideal platform to further support my clients. I am excited to join the Baker McKenzie team and look forward to collaborating with my new colleagues to provide exceptional service to our clients."
Ronnie added: "I am delighted to be joining FenXun. The Joint Operation established with Baker McKenzie presents an exciting opportunity for me and the team to deliver first-class legal services, combining Chinese and international law advice."
With more than 2,700 deal practitioners in 45 jurisdictions, Baker McKenzie is a transactional powerhouse. The Firm excels in complex, cross-border transactions; over 65% of our deals are multijurisdictional. The teams are a hybrid of ‘local’ and ‘global’, combining money-market sophistication with local excellence. Over the past three years, Baker McKenzie have helped clients raise capital across more than 40 stock exchanges world-wide. The Firm has been ranked for capital markets in more jurisdictions than any other by Chambers.
This elite team adds to a growing list of partners who have joined Baker McKenzie and its member firms in Asia Pacific since the start of 2024, including Alexander Stathopoulos, Shirin Tang and Ang Lip Kian in Singapore, Chris Milliken in Vietnam; Bima Sarumpaet in Indonesia; Sean Lim, John Kwak, Doug Suh and Sunyoung Kim in Seoul; Melanie Harwood in Brisbane; and Bryan Paisley in Sydney.