Latham & Watkins has shored up its corporate and finance practice in Asia with the hire of Simon Cooke, Gary Hamp and Amy Beckingham as partners at the firm’s Hong Kong office. In addition, London partner James Burnett and Chicago partner Josef Athanas have relocated to Hong Kong.

All five have extensive experience in private equity and leveraged finance – areas that the firm is looking to shore up in Asia.

Formerly with Clifford Chance, Cooke focuses on M&A and corporate finance, particularly on pan-Asian private equity transactions. He represents clients on a wide range of domestic and cross-border buy-outs, growth capital, pre-IPO, PIPE and other private equity transactions.

Hamp, who joins Latham from Hogan Lovells, specialises in acquisition and leveraged finance, distressed investments, structured secured lending and debt restructurings and workouts. He advises financial institutions, corporates and private equity sponsors, including several commercial and investment banks based in Hong Kong and London.

Beckingham, who was previously with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, acts on public and private M&As and structures joint ventures for private equity and other financial investor clients. Her practice also includes counseling clients on exits through IPOs in a number of jurisdictions, including Hong Kong and Southeast Asian countries.

Athanas and Burnett bring their practice-building skills – honed during their long-term stints with Latham’s U.S. and UK operations, respectively – to the Hong Kong office. 

For over 25 years, Athanas has acted for debtors, secured creditors, private equity firms and other parties in reorganisations, distressed M&A transactions, distressed investments as well as out-of-court and in-court restructurings.

Meanwhile, Burnett’s practice covers acquisition financing, bridge loans, liability management transactions as well as public and private debt offerings, with a focus on issuances of high-yield debt securities and leveraged transactions.

“We are laser-focused on building market-leading practices in the high-end transactional and disputes areas that strategically complement our global platform. We are excited by the opportunities we see in Hong Kong and Greater China, and we are committed to assembling the very best team to build on our successes in the region and to grow our market share,” said Latham Vice Chair David Gordon in a statement.