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Rankings published in 2026
Banking - Foreign
Tier 3
13 firms ranked
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Tier 1

A&O Shearman
16 practice areas
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Clifford Chance
16 practice areas
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Linklaters
15 practice areas
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Tier 2

Baker McKenzie
14 practice areas
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Kirkland & Ellis
8 practice areas
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Norton Rose Fulbright
13 practice areas
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White & Case
12 practice areas
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Tier 3

Hogan Lovells Cadwalader
15 practice areas
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Latham & Watkins
15 practice areas
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Paul Hastings
16 practice areas
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Reed Smith
7 practice areas
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Ropes & Gray
8 practice areas
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Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
9 practice areas
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Capital markets - Foreign
Tier 2
25 firms ranked
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Tier 1

Clifford Chance
16 practice areas
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Davis Polk & Wardwell
8 practice areas
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Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
13 practice areas
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Tier 2

A&O Shearman
16 practice areas
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Freshfields
12 practice areas
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Kirkland & Ellis
8 practice areas
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Latham & Watkins
15 practice areas
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Linklaters
15 practice areas
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Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
9 practice areas
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Tier 3

Baker McKenzie
14 practice areas
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Cooley
5 practice areas
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DLA Piper
14 practice areas
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Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer
13 practice areas
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O'Melveny & Myers
8 practice areas
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Paul Hastings
16 practice areas
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Sidley Austin
11 practice areas
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Slaughter and May
6 practice areas
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Sullivan & Cromwell
8 practice areas
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Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
5 practice areas
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Tier 4

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
10 practice areas
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Milbank
12 practice areas
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Morgan Lewis & Bockius
5 practice areas
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Reed Smith
7 practice areas
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Notable

Dorsey & Whitney
6 practice areas
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Ropes & Gray
8 practice areas
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M&A - Foreign
Tier 2
45 firms ranked
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Tier 1

Clifford Chance
16 practice areas
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Freshfields
12 practice areas
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Kirkland & Ellis
8 practice areas
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Linklaters
15 practice areas
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Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
13 practice areas
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Tier 2

A&O Shearman
16 practice areas
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Baker McKenzie
14 practice areas
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Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
10 practice areas
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Davis Polk & Wardwell
8 practice areas
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Latham & Watkins
15 practice areas
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Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
6 practice areas
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Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
9 practice areas
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Weil Gotshal & Manges
7 practice areas
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Tier 3

DLA Piper
14 practice areas
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Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
8 practice areas
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Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer
13 practice areas
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Hogan Lovells Cadwalader
15 practice areas
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Morgan Lewis & Bockius
5 practice areas
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Morrison & Foerster
11 practice areas
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Norton Rose Fulbright
13 practice areas
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O'Melveny & Myers
8 practice areas
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Paul Hastings
16 practice areas
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Sidley Austin
11 practice areas
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Slaughter and May
6 practice areas
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White & Case
12 practice areas
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Tier 4

Ashurst Perkins Coie
8 practice areas
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CMS
4 practice areas
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Cooley
5 practice areas
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Jones Day
11 practice areas
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Milbank
12 practice areas
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MinterEllison
6 practice areas
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Pinsent Masons
9 practice areas
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Reed Smith
7 practice areas
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Ropes & Gray
8 practice areas
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Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
5 practice areas
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Notable

Cuatrecasas
4 practice areas
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Dorsey & Whitney
6 practice areas
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GRATA International
6 practice areas
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Garrigues
6 practice areas
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Gide Loyrette Nouel
9 practice areas
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Goodwin Procter
5 practice areas
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LPA Law
3 practice areas
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Nishimura & Asahi
3 practice areas
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Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
3 practice areas
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Taylor Wessing
7 practice areas
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Private equity - Foreign
Tier 2
26 firms ranked
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Tier 1

Clifford Chance
16 practice areas
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Kirkland & Ellis
8 practice areas
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Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
6 practice areas
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Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
9 practice areas
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Tier 2

A&O Shearman - China
16 practice areas
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Davis Polk & Wardwell
8 practice areas
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Freshfields
12 practice areas
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Goodwin Procter
5 practice areas
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Latham & Watkins
15 practice areas
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Morrison & Foerster
11 practice areas
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Paul Hastings
16 practice areas
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Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
13 practice areas
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Weil Gotshal & Manges
7 practice areas
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Tier 3

A&O Shearman
16 practice areas
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Baker McKenzie
14 practice areas
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Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
10 practice areas
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Cooley
5 practice areas
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DLA Piper
14 practice areas
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Debevoise & Plimpton
5 practice areas
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Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
8 practice areas
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Hogan Lovells Cadwalader
15 practice areas
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Morgan Lewis & Bockius
5 practice areas
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O'Melveny & Myers
8 practice areas
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Ropes & Gray
8 practice areas
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Sidley Austin
11 practice areas
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Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
5 practice areas
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Linked Reviews
Financial and corporate

Established in California in 1934, Latham & Watkins is an international firm with 2700 lawyers across 29 offices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The firm’s office in Hong Kong leverages off its Asia network of offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore and Tokyo.  

Focusses / specialisms

Latham & Watkins traditional strength in Hong Kong is in M&A and capital markets, but in recent times, it has made its presence felt in regional private equity, restructuring and insolvency, regulatory and leveraged finance, where it has a unique practice that acts for lenders, sponsors and borrowers.  

Key clients

Key clients of the firm include Zhengzhou Zhongrui Industrial Group, China National Chemical Corporation, ESR Cayman, Bank of America, Vipshop Holdings, Huachen Energy and China Life Insurance (Overseas) Company.

Research period review: 30th edition (2019/2020)

The firm’s capital markets team kept busy advising on Hong Kong and US IPOs, high-yield bond issuance, corporate and convertible bonds and programme updates. 

In finance the firm acted in a range of conventional finance mandates, lender and sponsor leveraged finance, margin financing and bridge loans. 

The corporate team were busy with take-private mandates, investments, mergers, joint ventures, spin-offs, and acquisitions in the transport, automotive, telecommunications, data centres, healthcare, technology, pharmaceuticals, and food and beverage industries. 

The private equity team assisted clients in various rounds of funding while the regulatory team handled a host of contentious and non-contentious mandates. 

In restructuring and insolvency, the firm acted for bondholders and advised in financial restructuring mandates alongside other matters in energy, mining and medical industries. 

The firm’s corporate team was hit with the departure of its Beijing office managing partner Yilong Du to private equity firm Warburg Pincus. 

Deal highlights: 30th edition (2019/2020)

-China Biologic Products Holdings $4.6 billion take-private

-China National Chemical Corporation $2.5 billion multiple-tranche (3.125%, 3.375%, 3.875%, 4.75%) bond issue 

-Chongqing Sincere Yuanchuang Industrial $230 million 10% high-yield bond issue 

-DouYu International Holdings NYSE IPO

-ESR Cayman HKSE IPO

-Ruangguru $150 million series C financing 

-Shanghai Huaxin insolvency

-Tencent Asset Management $6.5 billion term loan and revolving credit facility 

-Vipshop Holdings Rmb3.4 billion acquisition of Shan Shan Commercial Group 

2 results2 results
Deal Highlights
40 results40 results
Deal Name Deal Date Firm Name Jurisdiction Deal Type Lawyer Names Client Names Client Role
Shenwan Hongyuan Group - Bond Issue
2021-07-01
Latham & Watkins
China (National)
Bond issue
Citigroup, China Merchants Bank, Bank of Communications, Agricultural Bank of China, GF Securities Co Ltd, CCB International (Holdings) Ltd, Haitong Securities Co Ltd, Bank of China, ICBC, CSC Financial Co Ltd, Shanghai Pudong Development (Group) Co Ltd, China Minsheng Banking, Shenwan Hongyuan Group, Standard Chartered Bank, Central China International Capital Ltd, Huatai Securities Co Ltd, China Everbright Bank, Industrial Bank Co Ltd, Société Générale
Underwriter
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank - Bond Issue
2021-03-01
Latham & Watkins
China (National)
Bond issue
Barclays, HSBC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Toronto-Dominion Bank
Underwriter
Anhui Transportation Holding Group Co Ltd - Bond Issue
2021-08-01
Latham & Watkins
China (National)
Bond issue
Anhui Transportation Holding Group Co Ltd
Issuer
Shenzhen Expressway Co - Bond Issue
2021-06-01
Latham & Watkins
China (National)
Bond issue
Shenzhen Expressway Co
Issuer
Wanda Group Overseas Ltd - Bond Issue
2021-09-01
Latham & Watkins
China (National)
Bond issue
Orient Securities, Bank of Communications, Credit Suisse
Underwriter
XD Inc - Bond Issue
2021-04-01
Latham & Watkins
China (National)
Bond issue
CITIC Group Corp, Credit Suisse
Underwriter
China Maple Leaf Educational Systems Ltd - Bond Issue
2021-01-01
Latham & Watkins
China (National)
Bond issue
UBS
Underwriter
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank - Bond Issue
2021-01-01
Latham & Watkins
China (National)
Bond issue
Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays
Underwriter
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank - Bond Issue
2021-05-01
Latham & Watkins
China (National)
Bond issue
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Bank of Montreal, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, HSBC
Underwriter
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank - Bond Issue
2021-02-01
Latham & Watkins
China (National)
Bond issue
Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, HSBC, Barclays
Underwriter
Zhongyuan Yuzi Investment Holding Group Co Ltd - Bond Issue
2021-07-01
Latham & Watkins
China (National)
Bond issue
Bank of Communications, Central China International Capital Ltd, Bank of China, China Minsheng Banking, CISI Financial, Hua Xia Bank Co Ltd, China Everbright Bank, CITIC Group Corp, Sheng Yuan Securities Ltd, China Merchants Bank, China Zheshang Bank Co Ltd, Industrial Bank Co Ltd, Guotai Junan Capital, Credit Suisse, Shanghai Pudong Development (Group) Co Ltd
Underwriter
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank - Bond Issue
2021-04-01
Latham & Watkins
China (National)
Bond issue
Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Barclays, HSBC
Underwriter
Hopson Development Holdings Ltd - Bond Issue
2021-06-01
Latham & Watkins
China (National)
Bond issue
Hopson Development Holdings Ltd
Issuer
Hopson Development Holdings Ltd - Bond Issue
2021-05-01
Latham & Watkins
China (National)
Bond issue
Hopson Development Holdings Ltd
Issuer
Guangzhou Finance Holdings Group Co Ltd - Bond Issue
2021-04-01
Latham & Watkins
China (National)
Bond issue
Guangzhou Finance Holdings Group Co Ltd
Issuer
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank - Bond Issue
2021-09-01
Latham & Watkins
China (National)
Bond issue
China International Capital Corp, Barclays, Bank of Montreal, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Toronto-Dominion Bank
Underwriter
Kunming Public Rental Housing Development Construction & Management Co Ltd - Bond Issue
2021-07-01
Latham & Watkins
China (National)
Bond issue
Bank of Communications, Central Wealth Securities Investment Ltd, China Everbright Bank, Hua Xia Bank Co Ltd, CNCB (Hong Kong) Capital Ltd, Guotai Junan Capital
Underwriter
Jiujiang Municipal Development Group Co Ltd - Bond Issue
2021-06-01
Latham & Watkins
China (National)
Bond issue
China Minsheng Banking, Central China International Capital Ltd, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, Hua Xia Bank Co Ltd, China Everbright Bank, Bank of Communications, CEB International Capital Corp Ltd, CNCB (Hong Kong) Capital Ltd, Shanghai Pudong Development (Group) Co Ltd, Industrial Bank Co Ltd, Shenwan Hongyuan Group, China Merchants Bank, CITIC Group Corp, Guotai Junan Capital
Underwriter
ASIAN INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT BANK - Bond Issue
2021-08-01
Latham & Watkins
China (National)
Bond issue
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, HSBC, Goldman Sachs
Underwriter
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank - Bond Issue
2021-06-01
Latham & Watkins
China (National)
Bond issue
Barclays, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, HSBC, Goldman Sachs, Standard Chartered Bank
Underwriter
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M&A
We round up top lateral hires across the PE, antitrust, M&A and corporate practices in London and New York
M&A
New hires were made in the finance, corporate and M&A practices in the UK and the US
New hires were made across corporate, M&A, regulatory, finance and antitrust practices in the UK, US, Italy, Belgium, Germany and Asia-Pacific
M&A
New hires were made across PE, M&A, capital markets and finance practices in key hubs including Milan, New York and London
M&A
New hires and promotions were made across the PE, corporate, M&A, finance and capital markets practices in Frankfurt, Munich, London, New York and São Paulo
M&A
New hires were made across the PE, banking and financial services practices in Milan, London, Frankfurt, Chicago and Boston
New hires were made across the finance, M&A and funds practices in New York, London and Paris
M&A
Two of the firm’s partners in Frankfurt and London talk about sector trends and how the firm continues to bolster its internal capabilities to meet demand
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