Yang Zhao is a counsel in Dechert’s global finance practice. He has extensive experience in advising private equity sponsors, credit funds and corporates on cross-border leveraged finance, margin loans, structured financing, direct lending, restructuring and special situations financing transactions. Mr. Zhao has also advised corporate borrowers and commercial banks in both domestic and international commercial bank lending and structured trade and commodity finance.

Mr. Zhao also spent time on secondment to the Transaction Management Group of HSBC in London.

  • Leveraged Finance

    • Alvotech Holdings SA in connection with its negotiations with its first lien private credit investors and equity holders in connection with its dual New York and Iceland initial public offering.
    • Blackstone Capital Partners and Blackstone Real Estate Partners on the leveraged financing for their U.S. P2P acquisition of Global Sources Inc, including opco/propco facilities.
    • Blackstone Capital Partners on the leveraged financing for its buy-out of Shya Hsin.
    • Bain Capital in connection with its acquisition of Xiamen Qinhuai Technology Company Limited (ChinData), a leading operator of hyperscale data centers in China, from Wangsu Science & Technology Co. Ltd., as well as in connection with the combination of ChinaData with Bain Capital’s existing Bridge Data Centres platform.
    • KKR on the leveraged financing for its acquisitions of non-controlling interests in various portfolio companies.
    • Advent International on the leveraged financing for the business combination of King Koil China and Serta China.
    • New Frontier on the leveraged financing for the business combination with United Family Healthcare in China.
    • New Frontier Public Holding Ltd., the lead investor in the buyer consortium, on the RMB equivalent of US$500 million debt financing for the take private of New Frontier Health Corporation (NYSE: NFH), operator of the premium healthcare services provider United Family Healthcare.
    • BroadPeak Global and Asia Green Fund on its debt financing to purchase the clean technologies business of DuPont.
    • JD Property Group Corporation on its debt financing to acquire a controlling interest in, and the related takeover of, China Logistics Property Holdings Co., Ltd. (HKSE: 1589).
    • Centurium Capital and other co-sponsors, on its debt financing for the take-private of China Biologic Products Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBPO).

    Credit Funds

    • Summer Capital Limited on the financing for the acquisition of a hospitality school in Europe.
    • A consortium of investors on the mezzanine financing for the acquisition of real estate assets originated by a key developer in PRC.
    • Bain Capital Credit on various investments in the Asia Pacific region.

    Restructuring and Special Situations

    • Noble Group in relation to the restructuring of its capital structure.
    • HNA Group International & CWT International Limited in connection with the restructuring of their offshore group debts.
    • An ad hoc committee of holders of the US$200 million 7.125% senior notes due 2022 issued by Jain International Trading B.V., a subsidiary of Indian listed multinational micro-irrigation, food processing and plastic products conglomerate Jain Irrigation Systems Limited, in connection with the restructuring of the notes through a UK scheme of arrangement.
    • A key developer in Hong Kong on restructuring of its existing debt.

    Includes matters handled at Dechert or prior to joining the firm.

    • Assistant to Senior English Judges – assisted senior English judges to build further links between the judiciary in the PRC and that in England and Wales, both at the Supreme Court level and at lower levels of the judiciaries.
    • Rapporteur – acting as rapporteur to the first expert working group on commercial dispute resolution between the UK and Chinese judiciaries. This working group was established pursuant to the Letter of Exchange for Judicial Exchange and Co-operation between the Supreme Court of China and the Supreme Court of the UK and the Judiciaries of England and Wales and Northern Ireland.
    • Sri Lanka debt restructuring woes: no end in sight (IFLR.com, November 16, 2022)
    • Sri Lanka debt restructuring woes no end in sight (Winter 2022 edition of the International Financial Law Review)
    • Worse Things Happen at Sea? - Genting Hong Kong Limited (Second Quarter 2022 edition of INSOL World (the quarterly journal of INSOL International))
    • Arbitrating financial disputes - are they different and what lies ahead? (Arbitration International, March 2022)