Tag: new-york
Written by John on 15 April 2013.
♦ Recent Deals ♦ Hong Kong, London, New York
Davis Polk is advising affiliates of Warburg Pincus and Alliance Tire Group in connection with the sale of Alliance Tire Group to affiliates of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., a global private equity firm. Certain existing shareholders, including the founding Mahansaria family, will continue to maintain an ownership stake in Alliance Tire Group. The transaction is subject to certain closing conditions. Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. Headquartered in Mumbai, Alliance Tire Group is a global developer, manufacturer and supplier of a wide range of off-highway tires. Founded in Israel in 1950, it employs more than 2,500 people worldwide and specializes in the development, manufacturing and marketing of tires for agriculture, forestry, construction, industrial, earth moving and OEM applications. Alliance Tire’s products are available in more than 120 countries and it sells under the brand names Alliance, Galaxy and Primex. Headquartered in New York, Warburg Pincus is a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing. The firm has more than $30 billion in assets under management and has raised 13 private equity funds, which have invested more than $40 billion in over 650 companies in more than 30 countries. The Davis Polk corporate team includes partners Kirtee Kapoor and Simon Witty and associate Winnie Ling. Partner John D. Paton and counsel Alon Gurfinkel are providing tax advice. Counsel Stephen M. Pepper and associate Rebecca Tracy Rotem are providing antitrust and competition advice. John T. Wright and associate Jessica Lutrin are providing executive compensation advice. Counsel Hayden S. Baker is providing environmental advice. Members of the Davis Polk team are based in the Hong Kong, New York, London and Washington DC offices.
Written by Robert on 07 February 2013.
♦ Associates' Corner ♦ Hong Kong, New York
Please note that Robert Kinney and Robert Kinney will be in New York today through Saturday. Their schedule is pretty tight at this point, but they can probably squeeze in a few more meetings with US associates interested in a future Asia move. Feel free to reach out to them at asia@kinneyrecruiting.com. Robert and Robert will also both be at the CBLA Lunar New Year Banquet on Friday, along with Danielle Cyr. Feel free to stop by their table. We hesitate to make big predictions on the China economy, since we don’t employ economists at Kinney and even those folks have a hard time making such predictions with any accuracy recently. However, we do have our own set of data points to go on that are unique in the US biglaw industry in Asia. We have been cautiously optimistic since late October that ’13 looks to be a very good year HK / China. 
Our Asia team is in daily contact with partners at top US and UK firms in Asia, especially in HK / China, where our Asia team has made more US associate placements than any other recruiting firm over the past 5 years. In fact, our Robert Kinney has alone made more than 150 US associate placements in Asia in the past five years. All of this activity gives our Asia team the opportunity to have close relationships with most of our firm clients in Asia. Robert Kinney and Robert Kinney have developed friendships or at least close business relations with most of the key US hiring partners in HK / China over the years and this enables them to get on the phone and have in person meetings with such persons on a regular basis. Since November, we have noticed a much more positive outlook in HK / China from our US partner contacts there. Robert Kinney and Robert Kinney make frequent trips to Hong Kong and other Asia markets and it is not unusual for them to have 8 meetings per day with US partners while on such trips (its a lot of coffees, beers and diet cokes). These conversations usually focus in large part on how busy the partner’s practice has been and expectations in coming months and the following year, as well as the state of the market in general. Of course, we also are in regular contact with a large number of US associates in HK / China, many of whom we placed there, and speaking to them on a daily basis. Most of these persons have seen a significant uptick in their workload and deal flow coming into their group, since November. Further, we tend to make more placements when the market heats up. This week alone we have made four US associate placements in Hong Kong, which is a good indicator. Thus, after countless positive conversations with US partners and associates in Asia since November, an increase in the number of US associate openings, and a sudden increase in the number of placements we are making in HK / China, we are confident in our belief that we are in the beginning stages of an up cycle in HK / China. How long will the improved market conditions last? We hope that the mood will remain positive through ’13 and most of ’14, but that may be wishful thinking. Also, its important to note that deal flow at our client firms, and the market outlook from our clients, is not at the levels of ’10 and early ’11. We have a long way to go before getting back to that boom market. We have new US associate openings in HK / China in the following practice areas: Cap Markets, M&A, Fund Formation, FCPA / White Collar, Arbitration, Finance, Project Finance. There are a number of new openings in the past two weeks, but we expect a higher number of new openings in March and April if (and that is the key word) the market continues to improve. There is a big difference in the hiring climate between today and spring / early summer ’09 (the last time we were at the beginning of a new up cycle in the market in HK / China). When the Asia hiring market suddenly boomed back in ’09, most of the US transactional practice groups affected in HK / China had their pencils down for 7+ months prior to IPOs booming again. Further, in ’09 US and UK firms were dealing with an historic recession back home and thus it was very difficult for partners in Asia to get clearance from firm managements to make new lateral hires (while layoffs were happening at the mother ship and also many in US and UK were skeptical in mid and late ’09 of China’s market upturn). Today, however, US transactional groups in HK / China have already been somewhat busy for a few months, with a combination of work, including a lot of public to private deals and an M&A market that is getting stronger. If the IPO market returns to boom levels in HK / China in ’13, as some think it may, the practice groups handling this work are already going to be somewhat busy going into the new IPO boom. Also, because the era of the mega IPO is pretty much over in HK / China (simply because most of the possible mega IPOs have already happened), any new IPO boom this year will be one of practice groups taking on more deals in order to bring in the same amount of revenue of the mega IPOs of recent years. Its going to take a bit more manpower to bring in that amount of revenue. Today, while US and UK firms are still very cautious in their hiring, due mainly to the slow recovery from the Great Recession in the West, firm management is not going to impose hiring freezes on their Asia offices during an upturn in the market where certain groups may be understaffed. Its a different environment to ’09 and its easier for firm partners in Asia to get clearance to make hires for a number of reasons. There is a lot more confidence in the China market than was the case in ’09 (a lot of “the bubble will burst” theories were prevalent then), and a number of top firms learned a tough lesson from holding off in hiring in HK / China in ’09 and ’10. Most top-end US corporate / cap markets practices in HK / China became understaffed in ’09 and ’10 while hiring freezes (or at least heavy restrictions on hiring) were in place and i-banks were heavily recruiting from top firms’ ranks in the region. It was difficult for some of these firms to recruit all the help they needed when they finally had the full green light to hire away as needed in late ’10 and early ’11 (this is why first half of ’11 was an historic hiring boom of US associates in HK / China). Please note that the market is still a very selective one. While we have recently placed non Mandarin speakers in Hong Kong, most of the new US cap markets and corporate associate openings in HK / China are going to require Mandarin fluency and most of the interviews will probably be of associates coming from top 15 US firms. The HK / China market is just starting to wake up, regarding US associate hiring, so it will be some months before we could be in a hiring boom (only if the market were to keep improving and another IPO boom would be upon us in HK / China). As always, please feel free to reach out to us at asia@kinneyrecruiting.com and we will be more than happy to set up a phone call to discuss the Asia markets, including job relevant job openings if you are ready to start a search, in detail. Most of our US to Asia associate placements started a job search 6 months to 2 years after we started discussions with them. We recommend getting as much information about your target market as you can before starting a job search, especially a US to Asia move.
Written by Editor on 12 November 2012.
♦ Associates' Corner ♦ New York
As our readers and clients know, Kinney Recruiting and the Asia Chronicles have always been a big supporter of the Chinese Business Lawyers Association. We are institutional members of the CBLA and over the years have advised, represented and placed in Asia a large number of attorney members of the organization, including former board members. We support the CBLA because it is a great source of information on the Asia biglaw markets for US associates based in the US who are considering or seeking a lateral move or transfer to Asia. The CBLA is having a seminar on Wednesday November 14 that deals with U.S. publicly traded Chinese companies going private. This is a very relevant topic in today’s market, as there is currently a large pipeline of such public to private deals at Private Equity downstream practices of U.S. firms in Hong Kong / China. While the deal flow in the HK / China markets at U.S. firms has been significantly down over the past 15 months, Private Equity practices have been relatively busy, with M&A deals as usual, but also recently very busy with public to private deals. In fact, some of our firm clients in Hong Kong are currently seeking US associate lateral hires with such experience. During Robert Kinney and Robert Kinney’s most recent visit to Hong Kong, for a few weeks in September, they met with a number of US senior partners of top PE transactional practices and in each case the discussion included the significant pipeline of public to private deals (thought to be a two year pipeline). Part of these discussions on public to private deals dealt with the nice career benefits to mid-level PE associates who have the good fortune to work on such complex deals during this time in their careers. Two partners told us that their having these deals to work on as mid-level associates years ago was a significant fortunate break in their career development. Clearly, this is a new recruiting trend that we dealing with now and are going to continue to be involved in during ’13 and likely ’14 as well. Here below are the details on the CBLA event on Wednesday at NYU School of Law. Hope you can make it! Please RSVP by November 9. Going Private and Going Dark: Considerations for U.S. Publicly Traded Chinese Companies Dorsey & Whitney LLP and the Chinese Business Lawyers Association cordially invite you to a seminar on U.S. publicly traded Chinese companies that have considered going private or going dark. In light of the challenges many U.S. publicly traded Chinese companies face under the current regulatory and market conditions, an increasing number of Chinese companies are considering leaving the U.S. reporting system by going private or going dark. Going private and going dark are complex processes that involve many business, legal and accounting issues. Restructuring those companies after the completion of a going private transaction also involves tax and corporate issues that require careful planning. An expert panel consisting of senior investment bankers, lawyers and accountants with real case experience will discuss the topic with the audience. Please see the details below and register by November 9, 2012 if you would like to attend. Wednesday, November 14 4:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. | Registration and Refreshments 4:30 p.m. – 6:15 p.m. | Panel Discussion 6:15 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. | Reception Panelists • Ted Farris, Partner – Dorsey & Whitney LLP • Catherine X. Pan-Giordano, Partner – Dorsey & Whitney LLP • Christy Shue, former Executive Vice President & Corporate Secretary, Harbin Electric, Inc. • Dennis Galgano, Vice Chairman, Head of International Investment Banking – Morgan Joseph TriArtisan LLC • Helen Cheng, Director – Houlihan Lokey • Anthony Tomaro, CPA, Managing Director, UHY Advisors NY, Inc. Moderator • Geoffrey Sant, Special Counsel – Dorsey & Whitney LLP Location New York University School of Law Vanderbilt Hall, Classroom 220 40 Washington Square South New York, NY 10012
Written by Editor on 24 October 2012.
♦ Associates' Corner ♦ New York
***UPDATE – PLEASE NOTE THIS EVENT HAS OF COURSE BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO HURRICANE SANDY. WE WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN THE EVENT WILL BE RESCHEDULED. ALL OUR READERS IN THE NORTHEAST BE SAFE!!*** As Kinney Recruiting has done for years, we are again happy to help out the Chinese Business Lawyers Association with their upcoming career panel event at Columbia Law School. If you are interested in lateraling to HK / China in the future and have the time to attend the event on Monday, October 29, we can easily recommend it. The CBLA career panel events over the years have been quite informative to both law students and associates who attend. Robert Kinney will be participating on the upcoming panel and will also be available in New York most of Oct. 29 ad 30 for meetings with associates interested in moving to Asia. Feel free to reach out at asia@kinneyrecruiting.com to arrange a meeting with Robert or simply come to the CBLA event and meet with Robert there. NYC to PRC — Challenges and Opportunities in International Practices The Chinese Business Lawyers Association, in conjunction with Columbia Law School and the Society for Chinese Law, is presenting “NYC to PRC — Challenges and Opportunities in International Practices” on Monday, October 29. The panelists include partners and counsel from leading law firms in the United States and the PRC, as well as recruiters specifically focused on the China market. The discussion focuses on developing international careers, and particularly career paths relating to China. Topics include how to advance within a firm, how to make a lateral move, how to build a useful network, as well as legal trends and opportunities in China. Panelists include: • Xiaowen Qiu, Partner, Sidley Austin • Alex Hao, Partner, Jun He • Robert Kinney, Managing Director, Kinney Recruiting • Efraim Chalamish, Of Counsel, Dorsey & Whitney; Professor, NYU School of Law • Justin Flowers, Principal, Lateral Link • Ko-Yung Tung, Senior Counsellor, Morrison & Foerster; Professor, Yale Law School Moderator: • Geoffrey Sant, Special Counsel,Dorsey & Whitney; Director,Chinese Business Lawyers Association Light refreshments will be served. The reception will commence at 6 PM on Monday, October 29, 2012 in Jerome Greene 102 at Columbia Law School. We look forward to seeing you on October 29, 2012!
Written by Robert on 15 February 2012.
♦ Associates' Corner, Market Updates ♦ New York
As our readers know, members of our Asia team each year participate in numerous seminars related to US biglaw recruiting in Asia. We record these events from time to time and will begin sharing them on the Asia Chronicles since most of our readers cannot attend such events. Please follow the links below for excerpts of the most recent career development seminar held on Nov. 17, 2011 at NYU. The event was organized by the Asian Practice Committee of the New York County Lawyer's Association, and co-organized by the Asian-Pacific American Law Students Association, the US China Legal Exchange Foundation, the Chinese Public Company Advisory Committee of UCCA, the Culture and Career Club, and the Asian Financial Society. The discussion focuses on the job market in Asia for lawyers. The panelists are Robert Kinney, head of Kinney Recruiting's Asia team; Julie Guo, associate at a major US law firm; Alex Hao, US partner at a top PRC firm's NYC offices; and Kevin Pollack, a fund manager with a focus on Asia.
NYU Law Seminar: Career Development in the Legal and Finance Fields - Part 1 NYU Law Seminar: Career Development in the Legal and Finance Fields - Part 2 NYU Law Seminar: Career Development in the Legal and Finance Fields - Part 3
NYU Law Seminar: Career Development in the Legal and Finance Fields