Kirkland & Ellis has hired Ram NarayanRam Narayan as a corporate partner in Hong Kong from Sullivan & Cromwell, where he was an associate.

Narayan, who joined Kirkland in March, advises on corporate matters including corporate finance, joint venture, M&A and private equity transactions, and is experienced in advising cross-border M&A transactions involving companies based in China, India and Southeast Asia. He also advises on U.S. securities, corporate governance, anti-bribery (FCPA) and OFAC sanctions laws.

During his eight-year stint at S&C, Narayan worked in the firm’s Hong Kong, Melbourne and New York offices, and was part of the team that advised Alibaba Group on its additional $1 billion investment in Southeast Asian online retailer Lazada Group in June 2017.

Kirkland’s hire of Narayan comes shortly after the firm added securities specialist Meng Ding in Hong Kong from Davis Polk & Wardwell in January. However, the firm has also seen some departures: corporate partner Henry Cheng left for DLA Piper last month and capital markets partner Benjamin Su returned to Latham & Watkins in February.

Related Articles

Deals

Kirkland, N&A, NO&T, MHM advise on $835 mln Carlyle offer for KFC Japan

by Mari Iwata |

Kirkland & Ellis and Nishimura & Asahi are advising Crispy Holdings, a fund wholly owned by Carlyle Group, on a 135-billion-yen ($863 million) tender offer for shares of Tokyo-listed KFC Holdings Japan.

Appointments

Long-time Kirkland HK cap markets partner leaves for in-house role

by Mari Iwata |

Kirkland & Ellis capital markets partner Nicholas Norris has left the firm to become a senior legal adviser at alternative asset management company GLP Capital Partners.

Deals

7 law firms advise on Hong Kong’s first de-SPAC merger

by Mari Iwata |

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Maples and Calder have advised special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Aquila Acquisition Corporation on its HK$10 billion ($ 1.27 billion) de-SPAC merger with ZG Group, marking Hong Kong’s first-ever de-SPAC transaction. Kirkland & Ellis, Shihui Partners and Maples and Calder have acted for ZG Group.