Justin You Zhou

Kirkland & Ellis represented Ascletis Pharma Inc. (Ascletis Pharma, Stock Code: 1672) on its placing of 69,256,000 shares. The Placing was announced on February 3, 2026 and completed on February 10, 2026. Citigroup Global Markets Limited acts as its sole placing agent. The net proceeds (after deducting the commissions and estimated expenses) from the Placing are expected to be approximately HK$835.3 million in aggregate. Read the transaction announcement The Kirkland team included capital markets lawyers Mengyu Lu, Justin Zhou, Sierra Tao and Claire Chen.

Feb 10

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis is advising Webull Corporation, a leading digital investment platform, on its business combination with SK Growth Opportunities Corporation (NASDAQ: SKGR), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company. The transaction values the combined business at a pro forma enterprise value of approximately $7.3 billion, assuming no further redemptions by SK Growth shareholders. Webull’s shareholders are expected to maintain 100% of their existing equity holdings in the combined company and, assuming gross proceeds of approximately $100 million to Webull from funds held in the SPAC trust account, are expected to own approximately 98% of the combined company immediately following the closing. The transaction was signed on February 28, 2024, and is expected to close in the second half of 2024, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals and other customary closing conditions. The Kirkland team was led by corporate partner Jesse Sheley, capital markets partners Christian Nagler, Steve Lin and Justin You Zhou.

Feb 29

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised Shanghai Longcheer Technology Co., Ltd. (Longcheer, SH: 603341, HKEX: 9611) on its global offering and listing on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited on January 22, 2026. The joint sponsors are Citigroup Global Markets Asia Limited, Haitong International Capital Limited and Guotai Junan Capital Limited. Longcheer successfully raised approximately HK$1.62 billion by offering 52,259,100 H Shares at a price of HK$31.00 per H Share, prior to the exercise of the over-allotment option, with the Hong Kong public offering tranche oversubscribed by approximately 1,150 times and international offering tranche oversubscribed by over 9 times. The offering also attracted significant interest from a prestigious group of cornerstone and industrial investors including Qualcomm and OmniVision. Longcheer is a leading global provider of smart devices and services, offering solutions, including product research, design, manufacturing, and support, for renowned smart device brands and leading technology companies worldwide. The Kirkland team included capital markets lawyers Mengyu Lu, George Zheng, Justin Zhou, Jingwen Dong, Luna Wang and Jiawei Zhao; investment funds lawyer Phil Giglio; and tax lawyers Anne Kim, Jessica Yeh and Maggie Carr.

Jan 22

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised Axera Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (Axera, HKEX: 0600) on its global offering and listing on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited on February 10, 2026. The joint sponsors are China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Securities Limited, Guotai Junan Capital Limited and BOCOM International (Asia) Limited. Axera successfully raised approximately HK$2.96 billion, prior to the exercise of the over-allotment option. The offering also attracted significant interest from a prestigious group of 16 cornerstone and industrial investors, including OmniVision, Youngor, Desay SV, Joyson Electronics, NGS Super, etc. Axera is a provider of AI inference SoCs, delivering cutting-edge perception and computing platforms for edge and endpoint AI applications. According to CIC, Axera ranked as the first in the mid-to-high-end visual on-device AI inference chips and fifth largest provider of visual on-device AI inference chips globally, and the third largest provider in China in the realm of edge AI inference in terms of shipment volume in 2024. The Kirkland team included capital markets lawyers Mengyu Lu, George Zheng, Justin Zhou, Yuchen Han, Jiawei Zhao, Luna Wang and Patty Zhu.

Feb 10

1 min