Baker McKenzie has hired leading capital markets and M&A partner Victoria Lloyd, as part of the Firm's continuous efforts to bolster its bench strength in Hong Kong and its transactional capabilities in Asia Pacific. Victoria joins from Ropes & Gray where she was a partner of the Strategic Transactions Group.
Victoria has over 25 years of experience advising major Chinese and multinational corporations, investments banks and private equity investors on a wide range of corporate and commercial, corporate finance, and M&A matters, including fund raising exercises, international securities offerings and joint ventures. She has worked on a number of headline transactions, including the listings of China Lesso Group, Vinda International, Uni-President China Holdings, and Sinopec.
Victoria is a member of the Takeovers and Mergers Panel and Takeovers Appeals Committee of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission. She is also a member of the Listing Committee of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which approves listings in Hong Kong, addresses disciplinary matters of securities market players, and determines Hong Kong securities policies, rules and regulations.
"With ample market liquidity and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s ongoing efforts to streamline the IPO process, Hong Kong continues to be the destination of choice for IPOs, particularly for Chinese issuers with international ambitions. In addition, with the large number of existing special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) seeking acquisition targets, SPAC transactions are likely to pick up pace as existing SPACs increasingly look to target Asia Pacific companies to complete business combinations," said Helen Bradley, Baker McKenzie’s Global Chair of Capital Markets. "Victoria's strong capital markets and public M&A experience not only complements our global practice well, but also provides us with an opportunity to further strengthen our broad-based capital markets service offerings and meet our clients' growing needs as they seek for fund raising and investment opportunities across Asia Pacific and globally. We are thrilled that Victoria is joining us."
Steven Sieker, Managing Partner of the Firm's Hong Kong and Mainland China offices, added, "Victoria's appointment further demonstrates our Firm's commitment in growing our transactional capabilities in Hong Kong. Her arrival is most timely as Hong Kong's economy bounces back considerably from the COVID-19 pandemic amidst the global economic recovery led by Mainland China and the US. Victoria's track record combined with her entrenched relationships with regulators in Hong Kong and many of the key corporations, private equity investors and financial institutions will help us build and expand the strength of the Firm today and emerge even stronger in the years to come."
For her part, Victoria said, "I am excited to be joining Baker McKenzie. I find the Firm's strong presence in Hong Kong and Mainland China and its leading transactional practice and full-service global platform particularly attractive. I look forward to working with my colleagues in Hong Kong and also around the world to further develop and grow our Capital Markets Practice, and to bring the Firm's full-service offerings to clients to serve their transactional, regulatory compliance and other advisory legal needs in Hong Kong and internationally."
Victoria's appointment follows a number of recent significant lateral appointments in keeping with the Firm’s strategy to grow its transactional practice in key global money and business centers, including most recently the onboarding of M&A Principal Kay Moon in Singapore, Private Equity Partner Derek Poon, leveraged finance Partner Kenneth Ching and media and entertainment lawyer Lex Kuo in Hong Kong, M&A Partner Addy Herg in Kuala Lumpur and Corporate Partner Lance Sacks in Sydney.