David Kalani Lee

Sidley partners Constance Choy and Lei Li have been featured by China Business Law Journal in its 2025-26 list of “Visionaries” practicing in foreign law firms. The annual feature celebrates the “trailblazers whose insight, leadership and influence are shaping the future of the legal profession.” Constance is a member of Sidley’s Management Committee and Executive Committee, the managing partner for the Asia Pacific region, and the senior partner in Sidley’s Hong Kong office. She is also the global leader of the firm’s multidisciplinary China Corporate and Finance practice. Her practice covers a broad spectrum of securities, mergers and acquisitions, and Hong Kong-listed companies work, including initial public offerings, secondary equity and equity-linked offerings, public company takeovers, and reverse takeovers, as well as restructurings of listed companies. Lei is the managing partner of Sidley’s Beijing office. Since 2007, Lei has been advising companies on a broad range of regulatory, compliance, and government enforcement matters in China and international markets, with a particular focus in the high-tech and life sciences industries, and is one of the most respected legal practitioners in China in his areas of practice.~~Sidley partners Constance Choy and Lei Li have been featured by China Business Law Journal in its 2025-26 list of “Visionaries” practicing in foreign law firms. The annual feature celebrates the “trailblazers whose insight, leadership and influence are shaping the future of the legal profession.” Constance is a member of Sidley’s Management Committee and Executive Committee, the managing partner for the Asia Pacific region, and the senior partner in Sidley’s Hong Kong office. She is also the global leader of the firm’s multidisciplinary China Corporate and Finance practice. Her practice covers a broad spectrum of securities, mergers and acquisitions, and Hong Kong-listed companies work, including initial public offerings, secondary equity and equity-linked offerings, public company takeovers, and reverse takeovers, as well as restructurings of listed companies. Lei is the managing partner of Sidley’s Beijing office. Since 2007, Lei has been advising companies on a broad range of regulatory, compliance, and government enforcement matters in China and international markets, with a particular focus in the high-tech and life sciences industries, and is one of the most respected legal practitioners in China in his areas of practice.

Nov 26

2 min

Sidley is representing Squirrel Enlivened International Co., Ltd. (Squirrel), a brand marketing and strategy consulting solutions provider in China, as U.S. counsel in its business combination with Horizon Space Acquisition I Corp. (Nasdaq: HSPO), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company. The board of directors of both Squirrel and HSPO have approved the business combination, and Squirrel and HSPO entered into the business combination agreement on September 16, 2024. Upon the completion of the business combination of Squirrel and HSPO, Squirrel will be listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals as well as other customary conditions. Squirrel is a holding company of Shenzhen Squirrel Enlivened Media Group Co., Ltd. (Shenzhen Squirrel). Shenzhen Squirrel helps brands expand and grow their businesses by providing a combination of brand marketing solutions, including digital marketing, blockbuster product development, and brand image enhancement, as well as strategy consulting solutions. It harnesses the power of technology, innovation, and creation to drive significant business growth for a wide array of blue-chip and startup companies in China. The Sidley team was led by partners David Kalani Lee and Meng Ding and includes managing associates Gilbert Han and Misha Yang, and senior legal assistants Iris Lau and Sancy Chen. Partners David Ni, Ruchun Ji, Michael Heinz, and Joshua G. DuClos also provided support.~~Sidley is representing Squirrel Enlivened International Co., Ltd. (Squirrel), a brand marketing and strategy consulting solutions provider in China, as U.S. counsel in its business combination with Horizon Space Acquisition I Corp. (Nasdaq: HSPO), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company. The board of directors of both Squirrel and HSPO have approved the business combination, and Squirrel and HSPO entered into the business combination agreement on September 16, 2024. Upon the completion of the business combination of Squirrel and HSPO, Squirrel will be listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals as well as other customary conditions. Squirrel is a holding company of Shenzhen Squirrel Enlivened Media Group Co., Ltd. (Shenzhen Squirrel). Shenzhen Squirrel helps brands expand and grow their businesses by providing a combination of brand marketing solutions, including digital marketing, blockbuster product development, and brand image enhancement, as well as strategy consulting solutions. It harnesses the power of technology, innovation, and creation to drive significant business growth for a wide array of blue-chip and startup companies in China. The Sidley team was led by partners David Kalani Lee and Meng Ding and includes managing associates Gilbert Han and Misha Yang, and senior legal assistants Iris Lau and Sancy Chen. Partners David Ni, Ruchun Ji, Michael Heinz, and Joshua G. DuClos also provided support.

Sep 19

2 min

Sidley represented US Tiger Securities, Inc. (US Tiger), as the exclusive placement agent in the private placement of a total of 1,117,420 shares of common stock of Ispire Technology Inc. (Ispire) (NASDAQ: ISPR), raising gross proceeds of approximately US$8 million. The transaction was completed on June 26, 2023. Ispire intends to use the funds to support its long term growth strategy, including the development of manufacturing operations in Vietnam and California, research and development activities, and marketing and promotion. Los Angeles, California-based Ispire Technology is engaged in the research and development, design, commercialization, sales, marketing, and distribution of branded e-cigarettes and other vaping products. The Sidley team was led by partners Meng Ding and David Kalani Lee and included senior managing associate Liming Xu and senior legal assistant Alice Liu. Partner David M. Katz and counsel Benjamin L. Nager (both based in New York) advised on FINRA-related issues. In April 2023, the Sidley team also advised US Tiger as the lead underwriter in the Nasdaq IPO of Ispire.~~Sidley represented US Tiger Securities, Inc. (US Tiger), as the exclusive placement agent in the private placement of a total of 1,117,420 shares of common stock of Ispire Technology Inc. (Ispire) (NASDAQ: ISPR), raising gross proceeds of approximately US$8 million. The transaction was completed on June 26, 2023. Ispire intends to use the funds to support its long term growth strategy, including the development of manufacturing operations in Vietnam and California, research and development activities, and marketing and promotion. Los Angeles, California-based Ispire Technology is engaged in the research and development, design, commercialization, sales, marketing, and distribution of branded e-cigarettes and other vaping products. The Sidley team was led by partners Meng Ding and David Kalani Lee and included senior managing associate Liming Xu and senior legal assistant Alice Liu. Partner David M. Katz and counsel Benjamin L. Nager (both based in New York) advised on FINRA-related issues. In April 2023, the Sidley team also advised US Tiger as the lead underwriter in the Nasdaq IPO of Ispire.

Jun 28

1 min

DLA Piper has hired two senior partners and a sizeable capital markets team as it steps up its push into premium capital markets and private equity work across Asia. The firm has recruited Charles Ching, formerly Asia managing partner at Weil Gotshal & Manges, alongside a Hong Kong–based capital markets and corporate team from Sidley Austin, led by senior partner and executive committee member Sherlyn Lau. The moves underscore DLA Piper’s belief that there is significant room to build a stronger private equity pipeline and expand its footprint in high-end Hong Kong capital markets transactions. Lau, previously deputy head of Sidley’s China corporate and finance practice, joins DLA Piper with a team of 13, including eight other qualified lawyers. She is recognized for advising on Hong Kong IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, secondary equity fundraisings, listing rules compliance, and pre-IPO private placements. Her recent work includes advising on the $215 million Hong Kong IPO of Guangdong Tianyu Semiconductor Co., Ltd., the $153 million dual primary listing of Jiaxin International Resources Investment Limited in Hong Kong and on Kazakhstan’s Astana International Exchange, and a roughly $30 million share placement by iMotion Automotive Technology (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. "We thank Sherlyn for her contributions to the Hong Kong office and wish her well in her new role," a Sidley spokesperson said. "We continue to be committed to our Hong Kong office and APAC as we have been for over 40 years." At DLA Piper, Lau is expected to strengthen the firm’s Hong Kong capital markets bench. Research by Law.com International last month showed DLA Piper advising on 13 live Hong Kong IPO filings as of January 19 this year. “The firm’s strategy is very clearly to invest and grow in those markets which we think have the greatest opportunity to benefit the whole of the DLA pipeline and certainly there are a number of those markets in Asia, of which Hong Kong is one of them,” said Jonathan Kenworthy, a London-based partner and global co-chair of the firm’s corporate practice. According to Kenworthy, the firm’s growth plan is anchored around several “key limbs,” including geographies, practice areas and sectors. “For us, Sherlyn ticks all of those boxes.” “This is a step change in the practice from our perspective, and we are looking to move up the value chain,” he added. A Sidley lifer, Lau spent nearly two decades at the firm. She was appointed deputy head of Sidley’s China corporate and finance practice in 2021 and joined its executive committee the following year. Her departure comes amid broader changes at Sidley’s Hong Kong office, which has seen a number of corporate partners leave after the firm significantly reduced its local lawyer head count over the past year. Ching, meanwhile, will be primarily based in DLA Piper’s Washington, D.C. office, while traveling frequently to Greater China. He brings extensive experience in private equity and cross-border M&A, advising sponsors and corporates on acquisitions, minority investments and PIPE deals, particularly those involving China. Ching joined Weil in 2015 from Freshfields, where he was a partner, and previously practiced at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York. Ching left Weil in December after more than a decade at the firm. Recent highlights of his practice include advising the chairman and senior management of Smart Share Global Limited as part of a buyer consortium led by Trustar Capital on the $327 million take-private of Energy Monster, as well as acting for Advent International on its investment in VNU Exhibitions Asia. The Asia-Pacific private equity market was valued at around $2.7 trillion in 2025 and is projected to reach approximately $5.4 trillion by 2030, Joseph Silver, partner and U.S. chair and global co-chair of DLA Piper’s private equity practice, told Law.com International. “That’s a [compound annual growth rate] of about 12%, and this growth is driven primarily by institutional investors and a widening bank funding gap, which enables more institutional investment transactions in the Asia Pacific region and U.S. funds that are looking that way, and vice versa,” he said. “Charles in particular, with his connectivity to the U.S. and Asia, really helps fill a strategic need for us.” The firm’s private equity practice has expanded steadily year on year, with deal volumes growing exponentially over the past five years to become the second- largest globally, trailing Kirkland & Ellis, according to Pitchbook. As sponsors scale up and move into larger, more complex transactions, demand has increased for advisers with experience at the top end of the market, Silver said. “Our sponsors are getting bigger and bigger, and moving up the value chain. So they have got to have practitioners that are used to doing the bigger transaction, and Charles fits right in that mold,” he added. Formerly based in Shanghai, Ching was appointed co-Asia managing partner at Weil in 2017 alongside former Weil partner Tim Gardner, who left in 2024, leaving Ching as the firm's sole regional head. He later relocated to Hong Kong following Weil’s decision to close its Shanghai and Beijing offices, consolidating its Asia operations in Hong Kong after more than two decades in mainland China. "We know several U.S. firms have reduced presence in Asia and shifted some resources to the U.S. and London, but we believe that's opened up a real opportunity for us to capture more market share and a growing Asia market,” Silver said. According to the Hong Kong Law Society, DLA Piper currently has close to 90 registered lawyers in the city, including 22 partners. One partner focuses on capital markets work, while three advise on M&A and general corporate transactions. The firm plans to continue expanding its presence in the region. “Although growth predictions in China have maybe been tempered a bit in recent years, they’re still very, very strong, certainly by global standards, so we see it as a tremendous opportunity,” said Kenworthy. Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Lau is joining DLA with nine other lawyers when the correct number should be eight. This has been corrected. We regret the error.

Feb 9

4 min

Sidley represents noco-noco Pte. Ltd. (noco-noco), an early-stage decarbonization solutions provider focused on technologies to accelerate the global transformation to a carbon-neutral economy, in its business combination with Prime Number Acquisition I Corp. (Nasdaq: PNAC), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company. With X-SEPA™, a battery separator technology designed for long-lasting and high heat-resistant performance, and its carbon-neutral leasing platform, noco-noco expects to address the need for clean, affordable, and sustainable energy solutions. noco-noco is valued at US$1.35 billion and closes the business combination with a redemption rate only slightly over 50% and immediately available transaction financing of up to US$150 million. Upon closing of the business combination, the resulting combined company will be renamed “noco-noco Inc.,” and its shares and warrants are expected to be listed on Nasdaq under the new ticker symbol “NCNC” and “NCNCW,” respectively. The Sidley team was led by partners Meng Ding, Raymond Oh, and David Kalani Lee and includes senior managing associate Liming Xu, managing associate Misha Yang, associates Gilbert Han and Yiming Chen, and senior legal assistants Iris Lao and Alice Liu. Partners Sonia Gupta Barros, David Ni, Michael P. Heinz, and Joshua G. DuClos also provided support.~~Sidley represents noco-noco Pte. Ltd. (noco-noco), an early-stage decarbonization solutions provider focused on technologies to accelerate the global transformation to a carbon-neutral economy, in its business combination with Prime Number Acquisition I Corp. (Nasdaq: PNAC), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company. With X-SEPA™, a battery separator technology designed for long-lasting and high heat-resistant performance, and its carbon-neutral leasing platform, noco-noco expects to address the need for clean, affordable, and sustainable energy solutions. noco-noco is valued at US$1.35 billion and closes the business combination with a redemption rate only slightly over 50% and immediately available transaction financing of up to US$150 million. Upon closing of the business combination, the resulting combined company will be renamed “noco-noco Inc.,” and its shares and warrants are expected to be listed on Nasdaq under the new ticker symbol “NCNC” and “NCNCW,” respectively. The Sidley team was led by partners Meng Ding, Raymond Oh, and David Kalani Lee and includes senior managing associate Liming Xu, managing associate Misha Yang, associates Gilbert Han and Yiming Chen, and senior legal assistants Iris Lao and Alice Liu. Partners Sonia Gupta Barros, David Ni, Michael P. Heinz, and Joshua G. DuClos also provided support.

Aug 28

2 min