China

Practice Strengths

• Antitrust & Competition
  • The Asia Antitrust & Competition team routinely advises multinationals and local operators on competition policy challenges in Mainland China, Hong Kong and across the Asia region. The practice encompasses merger notifications (particularly to MOFCOM), strategic counseling on compliance and enforcement risks with respect to restrictive provisions in distribution, franchise, and supply agreements, IP licensing agreements, participation in trade associations, abuse of substantial market power/unilateral conduct claims, price-fixing allegations, representation in regional regulatory investigations and proceedings, and support for antitrust proceedings and investigations in jurisdictions elsewhere in the world.
    
    Whether it be merger filings, strategic counseling, advocacy in regulatory proceedings and policy matters, assistance with market investigations, competition litigation and investigation defense in the region, or providing support to O’Melveny teams in antitrust-related matters arising in other jurisdictions, the Asia Antitrust & Competition practice is uniquely situated to handle the challenges faced by multinational businesses active across Asia.
• Business Tax
  • O’Melveny is one of few law firms in China (including international and domestic firms) with a long-standing strength in China Tax. Our team offers both cross-border and local capabilities, with a strong transactional emphasis. A recognized thought leader on transactional tax matters specific to China, our tax lawyers operate as an integral component of virtually all of our deal teams. Perennially awarded a top-tier ranking in Chambers and Partners’ tax section, our lawyers regularly interact with the State Tax Administration, local tax bureaus across China, and leading Chinese tax academics on live matters as well as legislative and emerging guidance initiatives.
    
    We focus on addressing the increasingly sophisticated tax planning needs relating to China-oriented cross-border mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, private investment transactions, joint ventures and strategic alliances, and project financings. The team is well equipped to take on large-scale China tax due diligence matters for M&A, private equity, and capital market transactions, and advises on a diverse range of China tax disciplines, including the enterprise income tax, business tax, value-added tax, real estate related taxes, customs, and other significant tax matters applicable to a wide variety of both traditional and newly emerging transactions in China.
• Chinese Company Public Offerings in the United States and Hong Kong
  • We feature a robust capital markets team, described by Chambers Asia as “a solid name for both Hong Kong and US IPOs, giving it excellent reach in its work for issuers and underwriters.” Our practice is truly transnational, with our strong team of Mainland and Hong Kong-resident capital markets lawyers working seamlessly with China-experienced practitioners in our US offices.
    
    Our equally strong debt capital markets team has advised on various types of bond offerings, and is particularly experienced in advising Chinese companies on their offshore RMB bond issuance in Hong Kong.
• Dispute Resolution
  • Unquestionably the market leader among US firms in China in dispute resolution, we are ranked in the top tier of Chambers and Partners' China Dispute Resolution category. The guide describes our team as “unquestionably proficient,” and “highly skilled in international and China arbitration.”
    
    Our team offers clients a China-wide network of multinational and multilingual lawyers experienced in cross-border litigation, arbitration, and alternative dispute resolution proceedings, as well as trade remedy, regulatory, and investigation work. We have experience handling matters before virtually all of the significant arbitration institutions in Asia, including the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association (JCAA), and the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB), as well as various ad hoc arbitrations in major venues throughout Asia, Europe, and the United States.
• Foreign Direct Investment and Market Entry
  • We have a long history of successfully representing multinational entities with their foreign direct investment and acquisition projects in China. Chambers and Partners noted that we “garnered particular praise from clients for [our] representation of US companies looking to enter the Chinese market or to expand and diversify their existing operations there through M&A deals.” Our team offers the full suite of relevant legal strengths in corporate, finance, intellectual property, government approvals, labor and employment, and tax law. Our experience reconciling relevant US and Chinese legal practices affords our clients cutting-edge insights into what will and will not work in the China market. And our track record of handling some of the most innovative transactions in this area is testament to that ability.
• Infrastructure Projects
  • We are familiar with the complex structuring and regulatory aspects of financing an infrastructure project in China. Our team handles a large number of power plant, natural gas, alternative energy, petrochemical, and other infrastructure projects in China (including the representation of a major Chinese energy company with its gas pipeline and distribution business in China). We also represent independent energy producers in connection with numerous electric power projects throughout China as well as developers of airport and seaport projects.
• International Trade and Other Regulatory Matters
  • We have represented many Hong Kong and Chinese exporters in US antidumping cases; we have advised exporters from the United States, Japan, and Russia on Chinese antidumping and safeguards investigations; and we have counseled many clients on China's obligations under the WTO.
• Mergers and Acquisitions
  • O’Melveny’s China team has built a long track record of handling some of the most groundbreaking and complex cross-border acquisitions in the region. Legal 500 calls us a “large and active team,” and “a definite leader.” Chambers and Partners echoed this praise, calling us “very active and very well regarded in the market,” and noting our “solid grounding in China.”
    
    Our value proposition is our ability to handle the myriad complex issues involved in cross-border transactions. From large teams on the ground in China handling due diligence and documentation work to thoughtful structuring, tax, intellectual property, and employment law advice to navigating through the thicket of required regulatory and government approvals (whether in Beijing or Washington, DC), O’Melveny’s China M&A group has the resources and experience to provide a competitive edge to buyers and sellers in China-focused cross-border transactions.
• Private Equity and Venture Capital
  • We are a market leader in private investment-related counseling. Our lawyers regularly publish articles and speak on new investment trends and regulations—including China’s M&A regulations—and have been profiled in such publications as Time Magazine, Financial Times, and Forbes for their work. Chambers and Partners cites our “strong knowledge of the Chinese market.”
    
    Our robust team represents many of the most active investment firms and most promising companies operating in China, and we regularly work together with colleagues in our US and European offices to provide true global counseling for innovative startups and investors looking at the China space. We have substantial experience in all stages of private investment work, including fund formation (particularly formation of renminbi-denominated funds), early and late stage equity investments, buyouts, and mezzanine financings. We also work with many portfolio companies with respect to their financing and exit transactions.
• Real Estate and Distressed Asset Transactions
  • O'Melveny is one of the few US law firms in China with the requisite strengths in international law and documentation, knowledge of local law, and Chinese language capabilities to provide effective counsel in this area. We have long been a player in this field, representing a variety of leading developers, financiers, purchasers, managers, and hotel groups with their real property projects in China. Our lawyers have worked on some of the largest and most high-profile real estate and distressed asset transactions, including our representation of a Morgan Stanley-led consortium in their winning US$1.3 billion bid in the first large-scale portfolio sale of non-performing assets in China’s history.
• Technology, Media and Intellectual Property
  • O’Melveny is a market leader in handling complex China-oriented cross-border technology and other intellectual property transactions. Our broad knowledge of intellectual property law as it relates to China is unique among US law firms, as is our track record of negotiating and structuring sophisticated and frequently first-ever transactions that drive the realization of IP-related value.
    
    We counsel a variety of high-technology, media, and entertainment companies on their legal matters in China. Our clients rely on our ability to synthesize multi-jurisdictional issues relating to intellectual property, employment, and corporate law, as well as non-corporate issues specific to China, such as government incentives for high-technology projects and special regulatory regimes and intellectual property protection measures. From intellectual property-heavy cross-border acquisitions to technology joint ventures and strategic alliances to global licensing agreements, we offers an unparalleled depth and breadth of legal knowledge to clients seeking to exploit technology-related opportunities in China.