DLA Piper has hired Henry Cheng as a corporate partner in Hong Kong from Kirkland & Ellis.

Cheng represents issuers, book runners, lead managers and global sponsors on initial public offerings, as well as on issuance and overseas acquisitions. While at Kirkland, he advised on several high-profile deals, including representing the joint bookrunners on Sinopec Engineering’s $1.8 billion IPO in Hong Kong in 2013.

Previously, Cheng worked in banking. He was a secondee in Goldman Sachs’ legal and compliance department earlier in his legal career, and also had banking experience at Citibank prior to practicing law.

“As we expect the IPO market to be buoyant and our corporate practice to see an increase in deal flow, [Cheng’s] market knowledge and experience will be immensely valuable to our clients,” Terry O'Malley, chair of DLA Piper's Asia Committee, said in a statement.

Cheng is DLA’s second lateral hire in Hong Kong from Kirkland in less than a year, with finance and projects partner Doug Murning joining the firm in August.

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