King & Wood Mallesons has bolstered its corporate and securities practice with the hire of Gary Lock from Herbert Smith Freehills as a partner in Hong Kong.

Specialising in China-related work, Lock advises both local and international clients on their M&A and capital markets transactions. He has advised on several notable IPOs in recent months, including the $360 million Hong Kong listing of Chinese custom chip maker Hua Hong Semiconductor’s last October, and China’s Luye Pharma Group’s $764 million offering last July.

Lock joins King & Wood Mallesons from Herbert Smith Freehills’ Hong Kong office, where he was a partner.

He will work closely with the firm’s 16-partner corporate and securities team in Hong Kong, which includes recently appointed partners Christine Chen and Zili Shao, who joined from J.P. Morgan, and Hao Zhou, a former counsel at Linklaters.

King & Wood Mallesons now has 25 partners in its Hong Kong office.