Latham & Watkins added Grace Huang and Edward Freeman as partners in the Hong Kong office. Huang will join the capital markets practice, while Freeman will join the M&A and private equity practice.
“We are delighted to welcome Grace and Ed to the firm,” Posit Laohaphan, managing partner of Latham’s Asia offices, said. “Not only do they have highly complementary practices, but their experience and strong synergies with our platform in Asia and globally will further enhance our market-leading transactional offering across capital markets and public M&A. Grace and Ed are fantastic additions to our team and will bring a wealth of experience to our existing capabilities.”
Amy Beckingham, vice chair of Latham’s global corporate department, added, “Ed and Grace are a great fit for our practice. Beyond adding two very talented partners to our team, they also bring strong commercial acumen and deep connections throughout the market and wider region that are invaluable. It is an exciting development for our practice, and they will be significant contributors to the growth and continued success of our firm in Asia and beyond.”
Huang brings extensive experience advising on high profile and complex dual and triple primary listings, secondary listings, SPAC listings and listings of overseas companies. She also serves as a member of the Hong Kong stock exchange’s listing review committee and a member of the Hong Kong securities and futures commission’s takeovers and mergers panel and appeal committee.
“We are thrilled to welcome Grace to our strong and growing team. She has a standout reputation in the Hong Kong market for advising on first-of-their-kind transactions and other landmark equity capital markets mandates,” Stelios Saffos, global chair of Latham’s capital markets and public company representation practices and global chair of the hybrid capital practice, said. “Grace is widely recognized as one of the leading equity capital markets partners in Asia, with a practice distinguished by complex issuer-side mandates, trusted relationships with many of the region’s leading corporates and leadership within the Hong Kong legal and regulatory community. With Grace joining our market-leading team, no other firm offers the breadth, depth and sophistication we deliver in equity capital markets work in Hong Kong and across Asia.”
Freeman is one of Hong Kong’s leading public M&A practitioners, with a strong market reputation for advising on complex, cross-border takeovers, privatizations and contested transactions, acting for offerors, targets and financial advisers. He has extensive experience advising companies, private capital investors, financial intermediaries and insurers on acquisitions, disposals, investments, joint ventures and advisory matters throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
“Ed brings many complementary strands to our practice in Asia that support our strategic priorities in the region and our position as one of the world’s elite M&A firms,” Paul Kukish, global co-chair of Latham’s M&A and private equity practice, said. “He has an outstanding track record leading transformative deals across industries for both corporates and private equity firms. His integrated approach and 360-degree view of the market perfectly complements our practice and the type of cutting-edge advice for which clients turn to Latham.”
Cindy Kwong will join as counsel alongside Huang and Freeman. Kwong’s practice focuses on equity capital markets and listed company compliance, and she regularly advises corporates and financial institutions on high‑profile and complex matters.
Huang, Freeman, and Kwong will join Latham & Watkins from Freshfields.
