Biography
Hong Zhang has abundant experience in corporate affairs, especially in the areas of cross-border M&A (including PE and VC) and joint ventures. She focuses on domestic and overseas cross-border M&A and related legal issues including complicated PE and VC investment and financing, the restructuring involved in dismantling or setting up 'red-chip' structures, pre-IPO equity financing and employee incentives for various types of corporations, as well as strategic cooperation and joint venture business. She has accumulated extensive experience and unique insight across a wide range of sectors such as TMT, fintech, healthcare, real estate, financial institutions, high tech and high-end manufacturing.
Before joining the Firm, Hong worked in major Chinese and international lawyer firms. She advised numerous Chinese companies in high-profile overseas M&A, and assisted multiple prominent international PE firms’ significant M&A transactions and equity investments in the Greater China and Asia region. Hong is particularly skillful in advising clients on complicated cross-border transactions and providing input of high commercial value. She has also advised large multinational companies on their M&A and restructuring issues in Greater China and Asia, as well as acting as perennial legal counsel for several large Chinese state-owned enterprises (including government control investment companies).
Practice Focus
Hong's practice focus are private equity/venture capital, outbound investment and foreign direct investment.
Representative Legal Matters
- A well-known sovereign wealth fund on its various china investment deals (relevant industries including BioPharma, TMT and logistics)
- A well-known sovereign wealth fund on its co-investment in China data center assets
- A leading crypto assets trading and exchange platform on its Series C financing
- Permira on its acquisition of majority interest in EF's kids& teens English training business in China and Indonesia
- Actis on multiple investments and exit transactions (including for its private equity and real estate investment arms)
- TR Capital on certain secondary market investment deals (including its subscription of limited partnership interest in Kinzon-sponsored USD fund for the purpose of RMB-USD restructuring of Kinzon’s selected RMB fund portfolio)
- A leading secondary fund on certain China investment deals (relevant industries including consumer and healthcare)
- EQT Partners Asia on its US$136 million buyout of China F&B Group, which operates the PRC franchise of Dairy Queen and Papa John’s Pizza
- CVC Asia Pacific Limited on its leveraged buyout of South Beauty Investment Company Limited
- HOPU Investment Management Co., Ltd. as the lead investor in a consortium on the consortium’s investment of RMB1,421,000,000 in Sinopec Marketing Co., Ltd., the refined oil retail subsidiary of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation
Professional Honors
- Leading Lawyer: Corporate/M&A (PRC Firms), Chambers Greater China, 2025
- Next Generation Partner in Corporate/M&A, The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, 2023–2024
- Next Generation Partner in Private Equity, The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, 2020
- Next Generation Lawyer in both China Corporate and M&A and Private Equity/Venture Capital practices, The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, 2018-2019
- China Top 15 Female Lawyers, Asian Legal Business (ALB), 2023
- The A-List Elite 2023-24: Growth Drivers, China Business Law Journal (CBLJ), 2023-2024
Admission
PRC
New York
Education
Columbia Law School (LL.M., Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar) (2009)
East China University of Politics and Law (LL.B.) (2004)
Languages
Mandarin
English