K&L Gates hires Asia corporate partner

• Stephen Tan joined K&L Gates as a corporate and transactional partner in the law firm's Asia practice. He will be based in the firm’s Taipei office. Tan joins K&L Gates from Baker & McKenzie, where he was a partner and advised clients on private equity transactions, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, and other securities aspects of commercial transactions. 

• Latham & Watkins appointed Frank Sun as a partner in the firm’s corporate practice. Sun joins the firm’s Hong Kong office from Kirkland & Ellis, where he worked for three years on China-focused transactions spanning private equity investments, private and public M&A, joint ventures and structured corporate financing transactions. He regularly advises clients on private equity investments in China-based targets, Chinese outbound acquisitions, US privatizations, Hong Kong public takeovers, and a broad range of M&A transactions involving US or Hong Kong-listed companies.

•Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton hired David Passey as partner in the firm’s tax, employee benefits, and trusts and estates practice group. He will be based in the firm’s New York office. Passey joins the firm from Sullivan & Cromwell, where he worked with both private and public companies on sales and acquisitions, and regularly advised private equity funds on fund formation and acquisitions, with an emphasis on the tax and ERISA aspects of these transactions.

• Mourant Ozannes promoted 12 lawyers across the firm's six offices to counsel. The promotions have been made in the firm’s finance and corporate, litigation and employment and property practices. The promotions include Alistair Horn, Andrew Peedom, Carla Benest, Chantal Barrett, Jon Woolrich, Mathew Cook, Pamela Doherty, Stephen Alexanderand Vic Cabot. Three further promotions are currently subject to immigration approval. Horn advises a number of hedge, real estate and private equity funds and fund promoters on an on-going basis and has launched a number of investment funds and open and closed ended investment structures.

• Weil, Gotshal & Manges appointed James MacArthur as partner in the firm’s corporate practice. MacArthur joins the firm’s London office from Herbert Smith Freehills, where he headed the private equity practice. He specializes in global private equity and M&A infrastructure and real estate transactions. At Weil, he will work closely with the firm’s private equity, banking and funds teams across its international offices.

• Dentons hired three partners from Norton Rose Fulbright to run the firm’s new office in Munich. The office will open on July 1 and will be Dentons’ third office in Germany, adding to existing offices in Berlin and Frankfurt. The team will be led by Alexander von Bergwelt, who will serve as managing partner for the Munich office and will be responsible for building the new team. Von Bergwelt is a corporate partner with experience in corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, private equity, business restructuring, and litigation. He will be joined by Michael Malterer, a corporate, M&A and securities partner, and Igsaan Varachia, a corporate and tax partner. 

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