26 ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS CHINA • 亚洲法律杂志-中国版 SEPTEMBER 2024 2024 ALB CHINA M&A RANKINGS EMERGING OPPORTUNITIES IN A SHIFTING LANDSCAPE Wu Dong, senior partner at Hui Ye Law Firm, reveals to ALB that the firm’s M&A business has been on an upward trajectory since the end of the pandemic in 2023, though it has yet to reach the peak transaction volumes seen pre-pandemic. Despite the relatively subdued market, several bright spots remain. Wu notes, “With IPO channels currently facing obstacles, more investors and private equity funds are turning to M&A as their primary exit strategy, making this segment relatively active.” Gao Donghua, senior partner at Tiantai Law Firm, points out that while overall M&A activity during ALB’s research period was not high, some opportunities have emerged. Firstly, due to tightening IPO policies, “the difficulty and uncertainty of going public have increased, making industrial M&A the mainstream for listed companies’ mergers and restructurings.” The second opportunity stems from a June 2023 special meeting held by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) on improving the quality of listed companies and M&A restructuring of central enterprises. Since then, “state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have become more active in the capital market. This year, central SOEs have further engaged in M&A activities within their traditional domains and strategic emerging industries to optimize the layout of stateowned capital,” says Gao. Wu has also observed the increasingly prominent role of SOEs in the M&A space. “In recent years, SOEs have gained advantages in industries, capital, scale, and credit. Besides expanding their presence overseas, they have also been heavily involved in domestic industrial and strategic M&A.” Consequently, “Hui Ye has strengthened its collaboration with SOEs over the past two years, providing them with comprehensive, one-stop M&A legal services. We have also actively cooperated with local SASACs, such as hosting the State-owned Enterprise Compliance Management Forum in Nanchang in 2023, which focused on introducing boast large teams with over 150 members, emphasizing their strengths in ecosystem building, strategic overview, and cost-effectiveness. Others maintain more streamlined operations, with around a dozen partners and teams of fewer than 50 members, allowing them to deepen their expertise in specific industry sectors. While the booming transaction market up to 2021 offered business opportunities for M&A legal service teams of all sizes, the current M&A market operates under a different paradigm. Service teams must now clearly understand their strengths and continually find ways to amplify them. Only through precise positioning can they drive sustainable business growth. The research period for the 2024 ALB China M&A Rankings spanned from May 2023 to May 2024. As in previous years, the rankings are categorized into four tiers: Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3, and Firms to Watch, with a total of 45 law firms making the list. Among these, eight firms are new entrants, and three firms achieved category upgrades. This indicates that despite the numerous challenges in China’s M&A market during the research period, the evolving landscape has also created opportunities for newcomers. Those who can effectively “read” the market are finding ways to gain an advantage amidst the changes. The M&A teams at the ranked law firms vary in size and focus. Some 过去一年，受到宏观经济趋势、国际政治局势、资本市场监管趋严等因素影 响，中国的并购市场经受极大挑战，也面临着多重变化。在这一背景下，今年 上榜ALB并购业务排名的律师事务所展现出强大的业务韧性，以及跟随市场 需求而变的灵活性。 Over the past year, China’s mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market encountered significant challenges and underwent multiple shifts. These changes were driven by macroeconomic trends, international political dynamics, and stricter capital market regulations. Against this backdrop, the law firms featured in this year’s ALB China M&A Rankings demonstrated strong resilience and adaptability in response to evolving market demands. RANKING BY: ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS, TEXT BY: HU YANGXIAOXIAO 排名：《亚洲法律杂志》，作者：胡阳潇潇 M&A RANKINGS 并购排名
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