The new office will be headed by newly recruited Kristy Calvert – a native Mandarin and Shanghainese speaker – who Ogier says has extensive corporate and commercial law experience in Asia Pacific and China in particular where she was previously legal director for Rio Tinto China/Asia.
Ogier said the new office’s main services will include:
- Capital Markets (debt and equity initial public offerings): we have considerable experience in advising on listing offshore companies on the HKEx together with pre-IPO restructuring and investment
- Mergers and acquisitions and general corporate transactional advice: structuring advice, due diligence and investor protection issues
- Banking and finance: lending to groups with offshore companies including taking and enforcing security and opinions
- Investment funds: offshore legal advice and associated fiduciary services, including trustee services, corporate administration and directorships to hedge funds, long only funds and private equity funds
- Trusts and private wealth: legal advice and trustee services, administration and directorships to trusts, asset holding companies, private trust companies, limited partnerships and foundations used in private wealth structures
The law firm now has operations in the British Virgin Islands, The Cayman Islands, Guernsey and Jersey. The company also claims to be the first offshore firm to have an office in mainland China and the only offshore firm in Asia with lawyers qualified to advise on the aforementioned offshore jurisdictions.