Catherine Shen

• TK Group in its proposed acquisition of PRC business of a Singapore listed company engaged in mold production;
• Beijing Goodwill Trading in its sale of Stuart Weitzman retail business to Tapestry Inc;
• A Global Fortune 500 Chinese conglomerate in its acquisition of a hotel in Switzerland;
• Taj Hotels Group in its acquisition of a hotel in Kunming and conversion of the same into a five-star luxury hotel;
• Tata Communications in its acquisition of certain equity interest of a Stated-owned value-added VPN telecommunication services company and the establishment of a joint venture;
• A German investment group in its acquisition of over ten companies in China in the areas of TMT and electronics manufacturing;
• A HK listed green company in its acquisition of two bio-gas power generation projects in China;
• A leading Japanese conglomerate in its acquisition of a minority stake in three Chinese colleges offering degree academic education;
• A US education group in its acquisition of wireless English education business from Nokia;
• A leading European luxury auto OEM in its acquisition of certain equity interest in a Chinese on-highway and off-highway engine manufacturing enterprise and the establishment of a joint venture;
• A UK conglomerate group in its acquisition of the assets and equity of two auto electronic products manufacturing companies in Shenzhen;
• Chindex in its consolidation of medical devices manufacturing business with Shanghai Fosun;
• A leading German pharmaceutical group in its post-deal integration restructuring of five PRC subsidiaries, which involves intra-group share transfer, liquidation, absorption merger, group restructuring by contribution of equity interest, etc;
• A leading Chinese real estate group in its restructuring of over 100 companies both in China and abroad for the purpose of separating its commercial real estate development business and property management business.

Our corporate and commercial practice covers private equity, venture capital, initial public offerings of securities on domestic and international stock exchanges, bond issuances, mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganizations, cross-border investment and commercial real estate and financing.

Since early 1993, C&F (in Chinese Tongshang) has been extensively involved in M&A transactions in China. C&F is widely recognised as one of the best Chinese law firms in the areas of Capital Markets and Corporate M&A. C&F’s M&A practice is one of the most active among PRC law firms.

Our M&A lawyers are regularly involved in large scale and complex domestic and cross-border public and private M&A transactions, including acquisitions of material assets, mergers, equity acquisitions, restructurings and establishment of joint ventures across a wide range of industries. We represent sellers, purchasers, targets and financial advisors in these transactions. Our clients include leading multinational companies, State-owned and private enterprises (both public and private), investment banks, venture capital funds, private equity funds and commercial banks. Besides documentation support, we also provide clients with a full range of transactional support and advice, including application for government approvals, merger control clearance, intellectual property issues, employment, litigation, and tax matters in connection with public and private equity and asset sales.

Our lawyers have been involved in some of the biggest and most complex public and private M&A deals in China, many of which have won the awards of the Best M&A Deal of the Year, the Best Private Equity Deal of the Year from leading legal publications and organizations. For example, C&F acted on the merger of China South Railway and China North Railway (winner of “PRC Deal of the Year” and “M&A Deal of the Year” from Asian Legal Business (“ALB”) 2016).

Founded in Beijing in 1992, Commerce & Finance Law Offices was one of the first-generation private partnership law firms established in China. Headquartered in Beijing, we also have branch offices in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. From starting off as a small law office in Beijing, we have gradually grown to become an internationally recognized full-service PRC law firm. As a leading full-service “Red-Circle” Chinese law firm, we have a team of talented lawyers specialized in various practice areas who represent a wide range of foreign and domestic clients. We have also developed a close working relationship with the major law firms in many foreign jurisdictions outside of China.

We currently have over 400 legal professionals in our firm. All of our attorneys graduated from top law schools in China and abroad. Many of them previously worked with leading international law firms and other professional organizations in other jurisdictions. We have utilized our individual legal experiences gained in China and abroad to build a legal practice that meets international standards and the high expectations of our Chinese and foreign clients. Our team includes lawyers who are fluent in English, Mandarin, Cantonese and other Chinese dialects, Japanese, as well as German and French. Most of our partners and associates have good command of English as a working language and have the ability to draft, negotiate, and translate Chinese and English legal documents on behalf of our clients on a daily basis. Faithfully adhering to the principles of professional integrity and excellence, we strive to provide our clients with pragmatic and cost-effective legal solutions that meet their best interests.
While our practice has diversified over the years, our core practice areas continue to be securities, investment, corporate merger and acquisition, banking and financing and dispute resolution.