Karen Ho

Kirkland & Ellis advised KKR-backed EQuest Education Group on its debt financing for its acquisition of a controlling stake in Khoi Nguyen Education Group (KNE), an education services provider operating international and bilingual schools in Vietnam. EQuest Education Group is KKR Global Impact Fund’s fourth investment globally in the educational and workforce development space and is one of the largest private educational institutions in Vietnam with a diversified portfolio across Vietnam’s education sector. Established in 2010, KNE is the owner of the Canadian International and Bilingual School System with four member schools in Ho Chi Minh City and three professional education service companies. The transaction completed in December 2022. The Kirkland team was led by debt finance partner Karen Ho, and included debt finance partner Jacqueline Zheng and associate Sean Zhang.

Jan 10

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis recently advised an investor consortium on its acquisition and development of Subway’s China business, which operates the quick-service-restaurant business in mainland China under the master franchise granted by the SUBWAY® brand owner. The SUBWAY® brand is the world’s largest submarine sandwich chain with more than 40,000 locations around the world. The master franchise granted for the China market is the largest master franchise in Subway history and reportedly one of the largest across the global quick-service-restaurant industry. The Kirkland team was led by corporate partners Peng Yu and Vincent Zhou and technology & IP transactions partners Jeff Norman and Min Wang. The team also included government, regulatory & internal investigations partners Cori Lable and Yue Qiu; tax partner Mike Carew; environmental transactions partner Michael Saretsky; ESG & impact partner Alexandra Farmer; investment funds partner Nicholas Liew; debt finance partner Karen Ho; and litigation partner Yi-Chin Ho.

Jun 19

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised Bain Capital Private Equity in its significant equity investment in EcoCeres, Inc., an Asia-based innovative biorefinery company with leading R&D capabilities. EcoCeres is incubated by The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited, a main energy supplier in Hong Kong, which remains as a strategic shareholder in EcoCeres following the transaction. Read Bain Capital’s press release The Kirkland team was led by transactional partners Nicholas Norris, Joey Chau, Pierre-Luc Arsenault and Stacey Shen, with assistance from transactional associate Serene Lu. Debt finance partners Jacqueline Zheng and Karen Ho led the financing aspect of the transaction, with assistance from debt finance associates Dora Cheung and Rachel Kwong. The team also included capital market partners Mengyu Lu and Kelvin Chu, antitrust partners Paula Riedel and Athina Van Melkebeke and associates Samantha Jones and Ankita Gulati, banking regulatory of counsel Julie Kunetka, environmental transactions partner James Dolphin and associate Cheyenne Overall, ESG & Impact partners Abbey Raish and Sara Orr and associates Maddy Foote and Andy Burnett, government, regulatory & internal investigations partners Cori Lable, Yue Qiu and associate Nan Hu, tax partners Mike Carew and Christine Lehman and associate Joe Morley and technology & IP transactions partner Min Wang and associate Noah Shier.

Jan 13

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis is acting as international counsel to FountainVest, a leading private equity firm in China, on its acquisition of Ziwi, a leading New Zealand-based pet food exporter and the global leader of air-dried pet nutrition. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. Read the Ziwi press release The Kirkland team is led by corporate partners Daniel Dusek and Maurice Conway and included associates Ray Wong and Serene Lu. They were supported by corporate associate Zhixin Liu, debt finance partners Manas Chandrashekar and Karen Ho and associates Sean Zhang and Kibbeum Kim, antitrust partners Mark Gardner and Carla Hine, technology & IP transactions partner Min Wang and associates Andrew Abokhair and Aseem Jha, government, regulatory & internal investigations partner Cori Lable and associate Grace Zhu, international trade and national security partner Daniel Gerkin, investment funds partners Justin Dolling and Jennifer Feng, employment benefits partner Maureen O’Brien, executive compensation associate John Kleinjan, employment & labor partner Christine Lacku and associate Nick Ustaski, and tax partner Mike Carew and associate Simona Brooks.

Sep 21

1 min