Chuan Li
Overview
Chuan Li is a senior corporate partner based in the Firm’s mainland China offices, splitting his time between Beijing and Shanghai.
Chuan focuses his practice on cross-border mergers and acquisitions and other complex corporate and private equity transactions. Chuan has extensive experience in representing strategic and private equity clients in a variety of transactions including acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, leveraged buyouts, going private transactions, PIPEs, growth equity investments and formation of private equity funds in the U.S., Greater China and other Asian countries. Chuan has also represented Chinese companies in their outbound investments and other strategic and financing transactions outside China.
A native Chinese speaker with legal training in both China and the U.S., Chuan joined the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis in 2001 and is a founding partner of the Firm’s Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing offices. Chuan has been recognized as a leading lawyer in private equity and corporate/M&A in Hong Kong and China by Chambers Asia Pacific, Chambers Global, IFLR 1000, and Legal 500 Asia Pacific.
Experience
Representative Matters
Asia/China Deals
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Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK), a leading global real estate services firm, in the formation of a new asset services company with Vanke Service
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Shanghai RAAS (SZ: 002252), the largest Chinese blood products company, in its US$1.9 billion cross-border share swap transaction with Grifols, S.A. (NASDAQ: GRFS), one of the world’s top manufacturers of plasma- derived medicines
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Nan Fung Group in its US$110 million acquisition of a minority stake in Hong Kong International Construction Investment Management Group Co., Limited (HKSE: 687)
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Boeing in its joint venture with Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, a Chinese state-owned aerospace manufacturer based in Shanghai, to build an airplane equipping center in China as an integral supplier partner for Boeing’s 737 program
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Creat Group Corporation in its the EUR 940 million public takeover of Biotest AG
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A Chinese A-shares listed agriculture company in its proposed multi-billion dollar acquisition of a U.S. national beef company
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A Chinese A-shares listed lighting company in its proposed acquisition of the worldwide lighting business carved out by General Electric
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A Chinese private equity fund and its listed agriculture portfolio company in their proposed multi-billion dollar acquisition of multiple carve-out agriculture businesses from Bayer AG
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A Hong Kong listed pharmaceutical company in its proposed acquisition of a U.S. listed pharmaceutical company
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Bain Capital in its £820 million sale of Bio Products Laboratory to Creat Group Corporation
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Eternal Asia in its proposed acquisition of a U.S. supply chain services listed company
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Thoma Bravo in its acquisition of the Enterprise Software business from Lexmark International Inc., which was acquired by Apex Technology CO Ltd., PAG Asia Capital and Legend Capital Management Co, LTD
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Oriza Rivertown Capital in its investment in the US$2.5 billion Seres A Equity financing of JingDong Express, a Leading express delivery services provider in China affiliated with JD.com
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Founders of GPA Global in their sale of a co-control stake in GPA Global, a leading one-stop-shop specialty premium packaging and display solutions service provider, to EQT Mid Market
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MediaOcean, a portfolio company of Vista Equity Partners, in its acquisition of two Shanghai-based software companies
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Evergreen Capital in its sale of Thermal Dynamics International, LLC, a premier supplier of advanced technology heat exchangers in North America, to a Chinese listed company, Zhejiang Yinlun Machinery Co., Ltd.
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Towerbrook Capital Partners LP in its sale of AIM Altitude, a leading UK- based designer and manufacturer of aircraft cabin interiors, to AVIC International Holding Corporation, a Chinese multinational aviation company
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Kerzner International in its Atlantis resort project in Hainan, China with Fosun International Ltd
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Six Flags Entertainment Corporation in its China theme park project
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Hawker Beechcraft, a major U.S. business jet company, in its proposed sale to a Chinese buyer
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A Chinese investor in its proposed investment in an European soccer club
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Tudou Holdings Limited, a NASDAQ-listed company, in its US$2 billion stock-for-stock merger with NYSE-listed Youku Inc. This transaction created China's largest online video business and was named "2012 M&A Deal of the Year" by China Law & Practice and “2012 M&A Deal of the Year (Inbound & Domestic)” by China Business Law Journal
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Koor Industries in its US$2.4 billion going-private sale of Makhteshim Agan Industries to China National Chemical Corporation. This transaction was named "2011 Deal of the Year (Outbound M&A)" by China Business Law Journal
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Bristol-Myers Squibb in its US$4.3 billion sale to AstraZeneca of its interest in the companies' diabetes alliance, including the related sale of assets from its China joint venture to AstraZeneca
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Arsenal Capital Partners and its portfolio company, IGM Resins, in the acquisition by IGM of Insight High Technology Group, the leading manufacturer of photoinitiators, pharmaceutical intermediates and fine chemicals in China
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Tenneco Inc. in its acquisition of the equity interests in its PRC joint venture from its joint venture partner
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Jupiter Oxygen in its Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) project
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A U.S. company in its joint venture project with a Chinese SOE to develop, build and manage parking garages in certain cities in China
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FTV Capital in its growth equity investment in eBao Corporation
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Kellogg Company in its 50:50 joint venture between Kellogg Company and Wilmar International for the manufacture, sale and distribution of cereal and snacks in China
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Kellogg Company in its acquisition of a Chinese cookie and cracker maker and its subsequent sale of the business to a Malaysia food company
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Cartesian Capital Group and its portfolio company in their acquisition of Burger King China Business
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Xiu.com in negotiating services and trademark licensing agreements with eBay for the launch of a co-branded online shopping website in China
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Xiu.com in its Series B Financing from Warburg Pincus LLC and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
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Blue Point Capital Partners in its sale of its portfolio company, Callison Architecture, to ARCADIS
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Blue Point Capital Partners in its growth equity investment in Beijing based Haya Architects
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Callison in its acquisition of a controlling stake in Haya Architects, a Chinese architectural company
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Oaktree Capital Management in its consortium equity investment in and subsequent exit from a private Chinese mining company
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Bain Capital Asia in its PIPE into HKSE-listed GOME
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Oaktree Capital Management in its growth equity investment in a Chinese GPS technology company
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Merrill Lynch Private Equity Asia in its consortium equity investment in a public Japan financial institution
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STATS ChipPac in its S$2.3 billion going-private takeover by Temasek
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A U.S. private equity sponsor in its formation of a US$1 billion Asian private equity fund
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Bain Capital in its acquisition of three Chinese foreign invested companies in connection with a transnational leveraged buyout
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Sun Capital Partners in its purchases of assets from two Chinese joint venture companies
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Vestar Capital Partners in its acquisition of five Chinese foreign invested companies in connection with a transnational leverage buyout
Global and U.S. Deals
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Bain Capital Private Equity in its carve-out acquisition from Sealed Air (NYSE: SEE) of Sealed Air’s Diversey Care division and the food hygiene and cleaning business within Sealed Air’s Food Care division
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Bain Capital in its sale of Apple Leisure Group to KKR and an affiliate of KSL Capital Partners
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Huntsman Corporation in a significant restructuring of its Textile Effects division
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Sun Capital Partners in its acquisition of Arrow Tru-Line, Inc., the market-leading manufacturer and distributor of garage door hardware and fittings
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Thoma Bravo in its sale of LANDESK, a global leader in endpoint security and systems lifecycle and IT service management, to Clearlake Capital
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Bain Capital in its US$1.6 billion acquisition of Styron division from Dow Chemical
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Sentinel Capital Partners in its acquisition of TGI Fridays® Restaurants
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Accenture in its US$316 million acquisition of Acquity Group, LLC
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Arsenal Capital Partners in its acquisition of IGM Resins, a leading provider of intermediates to the global ultraviolet (“UV”) radiation cure coatings, inks and adhesives industry
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Sensata Technologies in its acquisition of automotive-on-board sensor assets of Honeywell S&C
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Blackstone Group in its proposed bid for acquiring Dell
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KKR in its US$1 billion acquisition of The Crosby Group and Acco Material Handling Solutions from Melrose Industries PLC
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Zebra Technologies in its US$3.45 billion acquisition of Motorola Solutions’ Enterprise business
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Bain Capital in its US$1.6 billion acquisition of Apex Tool Group, LLC from two publicly listed companies
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GTCR in its acquisition of Johnson & Johnson’s global breast care business
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Montagu Private Equity in its bid for the Thomson Reuters Trade and Risk Management business and assets
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ABRY Partner in its acquisition of Datapipe
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Sentinel Capital Partners in its acquisition of Chase Industries Inc.
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S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc. in its acquisition of the worldwide Shoe Care business of Sara Lee Corporation
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Summit Partners in its bid for SRAM
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Sun Capital in its acquisition of American Standards
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Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Bain Capital, Silver Lake Partners and AlpInvest in their US$10.2 billion leveraged buyout of the semiconductor business of Phillips Electronics N.V.
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Bain Capital in its US$3 billion leveraged buyout of the sensors and controls business of Texas Instruments
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Madison Dearborn Partners in its US$1.55 billion leveraged recapitalization of Cinemark, Inc.
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Conseco Finance Corp. in its US$1.37 billion asset sale to General Electric Capital Corporation and a joint venture of Fortress Investment Group LLC, J.C. Flowers & Co., LLC, and Cerberus Capital Management, L.P.
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NES Rentals Holdings, Inc. in its US$850 million going private sale to Diamond Castle Holdings LLC
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Bain Capital in its US$600 million senior credit financing of the acquisition of a controlling stake in Unisource Worldwide, Inc.
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NES Rental Holdings, Inc. in its US$575 million first lien and second lien senior credit facilities
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NES Rental Holdings, Inc. in its US$196 million sale of the tank rental business to Odyssey Investment Partners
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General Motors Corporation in its US$3.75 billion convertible bonds offering
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General Motors Acceptance Corporation in its US$55 billion long term strategic financing facility of involving sales of retail automotive assets to Bank of America over a five-year period
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Brantley Partners in its senior/subordinated debt and equity financing of a mezzanine investment company
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Code Hennessey & Simmons in its various matters with respect to KB Alloy: (i) equity and senior/subordinated debt restructuring; (ii) senior debt refinancing; (iii) structuring and implementation of a management equity incentive plan; and (iv) proposed auction sale of the company
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United Airlines in its restructuring of aircrafts lease financing and public debt financing in connection with its bankruptcy filing
More
Thought Leadership
Publications
"China's National Security Review for Inbound Acquisitions," Kirkland Private Equity Newsletter (PEN), March 11, 2011 (with Pierre-Luc Arsenault and Jing Li)
"RMB Funds: New Shanghai Pilot Program," Kirkland Private Equity Newsletter (PEN), January 11, 2011 (with Justin Dolling and Carol Liu)
"China's New Antitrust Law Puts New Burdens on Companies Doing Business in China," Kirkland Private Equity Newsletter, August 22, 2008, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP Alert, August 2008 (with Mark L. Kovner, Micah N. Hildebrand and David Patrick Eich)
"The Evolution of Entrepreneurialism: An Introduction to Private Equity," Private Equity, Does China Need It? April 2007 (with David Patrick Eich and Jesse Sheley)
"China Oks Equity Incentives for Managers," Buyouts, March 5, 2007 (with David Patrick Eich and Camden Hutchison)
"Private Equity Investments in China: Impact of Recent Legal Reforms," Venture Capital Review, Fall 2006 (with David Patrick Eich)
"A Moving Target: A Guide to Recent Chinese M&A and Private Equity Reform," International Finance & Law Review, October 2006 (with David Patrick Eich and Tai Hsia)
"New Rules for Chinese Company M&A Transactions Involving Foreign Investors," Kirkland Private Equity Newsletter (PEN), September 1, 2006 (with David Patrick Eich and Tai Hsia)
"Non-Performing Loans in China: A Potential Win-Win Opportunity for Foreign Investors and China's Economy," Financier Worldwide Global Restructuring & Insolvency Review, June 2004 (with James Sprayregen, Jonathan Friedland and Nicole Miller)
"Gauging the Hurdle to Strike Suits: Reconciling the Circuit Split over the Proper Interpretation of the Heightened Pleading Standard under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995," Journal Of Corporation Law, Winter 2001
Seminars
Lecturer, "Chinese Private Equity Investment Transactions and Legal Documentation," Beijing Private Equity Association, Beijing, China, October 22, 2010
Lecturer, "International Practice of Private Equity Funds," Shanghai Private Equity Association, Shanghai, China, September 28, 2010
Lecturer, "Doing the Deal: Emerging Issues in M&A by Outbound Chinese Investors," Tsinghua University China Center of Financial Research, Private Equity and Venture Capital Institute, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, May 14, 2010
Lecturer, "International Practice of Private Equity Funds," Beijing Private Equity Association, Beijing, China, April 15, 2010
Lecturer, "Doing the Deal: Minority Private Equity Investments in China," Tsinghua University China Center of Financial Research, Private Equity and Venture Capital Institute, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, March 23, 2010
Speaker and panelist, "Emerging Issues in Cross-Border Acquisitions: Japan, China and the U.S.," a joint client seminar by Mori Hamada & Matsumoto and Kirkland & Ellis International LLP, Tokyo, Japan, December 2009
Panelist, "Understanding Private Equity Investment in the PRC for Optimal Strategy Implementation," Private Equity Asia IQ 2009 Conference, Hong Kong, February 18, 2009
Speaker, "Amplifying Entrepreneurship: The Power of Private Equity," Inaugural Workshop of the Tsinghua University Private Equity Institute, Beijing, People's Republic of China, April 17, 2008 (with David Patrick Eich)
Moderator, "An Introduction to Private Equity in China," Inaugural Workshop of the Tsinghua University Private Equity Institute, Beijing, People's Republic of China, April 17, 2008 (with David Patrick Eich)
Recognition
“Leading Individual”, Private Equity: Foreign Firms – China, Legal 500 (2019–2023)
Recommended as a "Global Leader" for M&A, Who's Who Legal (2022)
Recommended as a “National Leader” for M&A, Mainland China & Hong Kong SAR, Who's Who Legal (2022)
Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- 2001Illinois
- 1999New York
Languages
- English
- Mandarin
Education
- University of Iowa College of LawJ.D.2001
- University of Georgia School of LawLL.M.1998
- School of Law, University of International Business and EconomicsLL.B.1994