William Chua is a corporate partner based in Hong Kong. Mr. Chua is a broad-gauged transactional lawyer with deep experience in private equity and strategic M&A, finance and capital markets. He also has substantial experience counselling on corporate governance matters, including advising, structuring and implementing insider trading programs, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance procedures and board crisis management response plans, as well as designing and implementing due diligence programs under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and laws and regulations relating to economic sanctions. Mr. Chua leads Debevoise’s private equity investment, buyout and M&A practices in Asia.
Mr. Chua has advised on public and private M&A deals throughout Asia, including leveraged buyouts, such as the Focus Media LBO, and public company acquisitions, such as the Yue Xiu Enterprises-Chong Hing Bank transaction. His experience spans private equity and strategic deals and includes takeovers, buyouts, “going private” transactions, asset purchases, business combinations, divestitures, “carve-outs” and spin-offs. He also has a significant finance and capital markets practice, including debt and borrower-focused acquisition and leveraged finance, and IPOs.
Mr. Chua has significant experience in transactions involving financial institutions, including banks, insurance companies, asset managers and broker-dealers. In recent years, these matters have spanned acquisitions and other control transactions, securities offerings, strategic investments, financing transactions, asset sales and other divestitures as well as regulatory matters.
The major legal directories recognise Mr. Chua as one of the leading lawyers in the region, with Chambers Asia-Pacific (2022) and Chambers Global (2022) ranking him for M&A work. Chambers Global (2022) also recommends Mr. Chua for M&A in India, and in Chambers Asia-Pacific (2022), he is further recommended for private equity. The guides state that he is “a big talent and a very careful lawyer” and that he has a “strong M&A skill set,” “good interpersonal skills, and he’s always looking out for the client.” The guides have also stated that “he is very hands-on, meticulous and very thoughtful,” and “he offers a wealth of expertise on corporate transactions, spanning from private equity and acquisitions to going-privates and divestitures.” According to clients, he is “one of the most diligent US lawyers in town,” and “has substantial experience of handling PRC-related deals.” Mr. Chua is recommended by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific (2023) for M&A, Private Equity and for his India practice. The guide, which has described him as “proactive and responsive,” has also noted that he is a “go-to partner for all matters in Asia-Pacific.” IFLR1000 (2022) recommends Mr. Chua for Equity Capital Markets and M&A, and he is also recommended by Expert Guides for Capital Markets.
Mr. Chua has worked on some of the largest and most cutting-edge cross-border transactions, including: the largest global IPO ever (Alibaba Group); the largest LBO of a U.S.-listed Chinese company (Focus Media); the first takeover in the PRC Internet sector (Sohu-ChinaRen); the largest Hong Kong IPO in history and the largest IPO in the insurance sector (AIA); the largest Asian corporate bonds (Alibaba Group; Hutchison Whampoa); the first hostile takeover attempt in the PRC Internet sector (Shanda Interactive-Sina); the first control transaction involving a publicly listed company in Hong Kong using a partial offer structure under the Hong Kong Takeovers Code (Yue Xiu Enterprises-Chong Hing Bank); and the first successfully completed spin-off by a Nasdaq-listed company via a listing in Hong Kong (CHNR).
Mr. Chua is actively involved in various bar associations, including having served as an officer of the International Bar Association’s Corporate and M&A Law Committee, as Vice Chair of the Mergers & Acquisitions Subcommittee and as an officer of the IBA’s Securities Law Committee. He is also serving on the Asia Advisory Council of The Lawrenceville School and is a sub-committee member of the Diocesan Boys' School Foundation.
Mr. Chua joined Debevoise in 2015. He was previously a partner for over a decade at a leading Wall Street law firm, where at various times he was resident in the New York, Beijing and Hong Kong offices. A Hong Kong native, Mr. Chua began his career in New York and has practised in Asia for over 15 years.
Mr. Chua graduated from Princeton University with a bachelor’s degree in 1991, and from Harvard Law School with a J.D. in 1994. He is admitted to the bar in New York and Hong Kong, and speaks Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese.
蔡元文律师为本所香港办公室公司组合伙人。蔡律师的执业领域极为广泛，并在私募股权投资、战略性并购交易、投融资及资本市场方向积累了丰富经验。蔡律师提供法律服务的另一杰出领域为公司治理事务，包括咨询、构建和实施内幕交易流程、萨班斯-奥克斯利法案合规程序及董事会危机管理应对计划，并可就《海外反腐败法案》及与经济制裁相关的法律法规设计和实施相关尽职调查程序。蔡律师领导德普在亚洲地区的私募股权投资、收购以及并购业务团队。
蔡律师在亚洲广泛参与了各类公开和非公开的并购交易，其中包括杠杆收购（例如分众传媒的杠杆收购）以及上市公司收购（例如越秀集团-创兴银行交易）。蔡律师的执业领域涵盖私募股权投资和战略性交易两大类，交易类型包括收购、“私有化”交易、资产购买、企业合并、资产剥离及分拆、分立等。他亦在投融资和资本市场方向颇有建树，包括债务及借款人目标收购、杠杆融资及首次公开发行等。
蔡先生在涉及金融机构（包括银行，保险公司，资产管理公司和券商）的交易方面具有丰富的经验。近年来，这些事务涉及收购和其他控制交易、证券发行、战略投资、融资交易、资产出售和其他资产剥离以及监管事务。
蔡律师被众多主流法律媒体评为该地域的顶尖律师之一。《全球钱伯斯》（2022）和《亚太钱伯斯》（2022）高度认可蔡律师在并购领域的工作。《全球钱伯斯》（2022）将其列为印度并购领域的推荐律师，《亚太钱伯斯》（2022）将其列为私募股权领域的推荐律师。上述指南评价称他是“一位才华横溢且非常细心的律师”，并且有“很强的并购业务能力”，“很好的人际交往能力，而且总是为客户着想”。“他总是亲历亲为、一丝不苟、考虑周全”，并“提供了处理公司类交易的丰富专业知识与技巧，涵盖私募股权和收购以及私有化和资产剥离等交易。” 客户表示他是“城中最勤勉的美国律师之一”，“在处理中国相关交易方面具备丰富经验”。《亚太地区法律500强》（2022）称赞蔡律师是“亚太地区所有事务的首选合作伙伴”，将其列为并购、私募股权和印度业务的推荐律师，并称赞其“积极主动，回应迅速”；《国际金融法律评论1000》（2020）将其列为股权资本市场和并购领域的推荐律师；《专家指南》（Expert Guides）将其列为“资本市场”的推荐律师。
蔡律师曾为众多大规模并具里程碑式意义的跨境交易提供法律服务，包括迄今为止全球最大的首次公开发行项目（阿里巴巴集团）、针对在美上市中国公司规模最大的融资收购（分众传媒）、中国互联网行业内的首单收购（搜狐-ChinaRen）、香港史上最大亦为全球保险行业内最大的首次公开发行项目（友邦保险）、亚洲最大的公司债券项目（阿里巴巴、和记黄埔）、中国互联网行业内的首单敌意收购企图（盛大网络-新浪集团）、首单根据《香港收购守则》采用部分要约结构实施的香港上市公司控制权交易（越秀集团-创兴银行）以及首单成功完成的纳斯达克上市公司资产分拆（经香港上市）（CHNR）。
蔡律师积极参与各个律师协会，曾担任国际律师协会公司及并购法委员会委员，并购小组委员会副主席以及国际律师协会证券法委员会委员。蔡律师目前担任劳伦斯威尔中学的亚洲事务顾问，以及拔萃男书院基金会小组委员会委员。
蔡律师于2015年加入德普。在加入德普之前，蔡律师曾在华尔街一家顶尖律所担任合伙人超过十年，期间曾分别于该律所纽约、北京及香港办公室供职。蔡律师出生于香港，在纽约以律师身份开始执业，在亚洲执业超过15年。
蔡律师1991年毕业于普林斯顿大学，取得学士学位；1994年毕业于哈佛大学法学院毕业，取得法学博士学位。蔡律师具有纽约州和香港律师资格，并可使用粤语和汉语普通话进行会话。