Jay Tai and Ren Yong join Stephenson Harwood

Jay, who joins the firm in Singapore, is a private equity and M&A lawyer whose practice is focused on representing global and regional investors in private equity transactions, M&A, fundraisings, financings, restructurings and liquidity events across Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Jay's specific focus in recent years has been advising on secondary transactions in the Asian private equity space for a number of blue-chip clients.

Yong, who joins the firm in Hong Kong, is an investment funds lawyer whose practice focuses on the representation of fund sponsors, investors and managers in the formation of investment funds in Asia.

Stephenson Harwood provides a full-service platform across key investment geographies in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. With Jay and Yong both well-known for their award-winning private equity and fund formation work, their move is expected to provide them with a platform to work across practice groups to provide expertise beyond traditional corporate areas, from sophisticated credit arrangements and ESG guidance to insolvency advice.

Jay and Yong will be joined by private equity and investment funds of-counsels, Carol Fan and Lijuan Hou, who join Stephenson Harwood in Hong Kong and Shanghai respectively. Carol joins from her own firm, Carol Fan Law Office, having been formerly with Herbert Smith Freehills LLP and King & Wood and having also enjoyed various in-house and commercial roles throughout her career. Lijuan joins from Proskauer Rose LLP.

"The secondaries market across Asia has been developing at pace. We are seeing a significant appetite among existing, and new, private equity clients, sponsors and financial institutions for high-quality legal advice in a market which is relatively under-served in Asia at the moment, "said Tom Platts, head of M&A, Southeast Asia at Stephenson Harwood. "Stephenson Harwood already has an award-winning private equity and secondaries practice in Europe, and Jay and Yong will provide the firm with real momentum and additional firepower to continue to advise on some of the highest profile private equity and sponsor-led transactions across the Asia Pacific region."

"Growing our private capital and funds capabilities aligns with Stephenson Harwood's strategic objectives to strengthen its key areas of focus," said Evangeline Quek, Greater China office managing partner, Stephenson Harwood.

"Jay and Yong are well-known across the Asian private equity markets, and their arrival marks a step-change for the firm's Asian private equity and investment funds offering," added Daryll Ng, Singapore office managing partner.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for the firm in Asia and gives us the potential to mirror the success of our award-winning private equity and investment funds teams in London and Paris," said Tom Nicholls, global head of corporate, Stephenson Harwood. "We are confident that Jay and Yong will be a great addition to the firm's global corporate practice."

Stephenson Harwood has deep roots in Asia, and is able to provide a comprehensive one-stop Asian and international law service to clients. The firm has been established in Greater China for more than forty years, and working in association with PRC law firm Wei Tu Law, can provide PRC law assistance. The firm also has a substantial presence in Singapore, where its lawyers – alongside its alliance partner Virtus Law LLP – covers international and permitted areas of Singapore law.