Legal Week Quotes Gregory Puff on Chinese Outbound M&A, Legal Marketplace

In its article “International firms aim to cash in on Chinese companies' appetite for outbound M&A deals,” Legal Week quoted Hong Kong partner in charge and Asia practice head Gregory Puff on the upward trend in outbound mergers and acquisitions by Chinese companies.

Puff stated that it is “people’s hope” that the trend, both as it expands to new industries and increases in value, will continue, adding “There is plenty of noise in the marketplace about an interest in outbound deals, and we've seen evidence, not yet announced, of a number of interested buyers. As more of these big deals get announced, it gives other companies the courage to go ahead and try for a similar thing on their own. If financing is available and the Chinese buyers learn how to act quickly and participate meaningfully in those deals, then we'll see more.”

On the topic of the legal marketplace and those firms that are stepping up to counsel dealmakers, Puff noted that no firm is dominating the marketplace yet and that location is an important consideration.  He said, “If it's a deal in Germany, for example, certainly [a client] is going to be looking for someone [with offices] in both China and Germany.”  He added, “In the U.S., it depends on your track record in the industry you're talking about as well as your ability to bring a good M&A team to that project in China.”