Language:
Grace Tso

Grace Tso

Partner
Baker & McKenzie

Biography

Grace Tso is a partner in Baker McKenzie’s Hong Kong office. She is also the lead for Asia Pacific Consumer Goods & Retail industry. She has completed an attorney transfer program in the Chicago office.

Practice Focus

Grace’s practice focuses on cross-border mergers and acquisitions for foreign investors and foreign direct investment into China and Hong Kong. She also advises multinational companies on the planning and implementation of multi-country corporate restructuring projects.

Representative Legal Matters

Reorganization / Carve-out

  • Advised Advent International on the carve-out of Laird Thermal Systems business from the other business Laird Performance Materials business in China.

  • Advised Abbott Laboratories in the spin-off of its research-based pharmaceutical business and the formation of a new publicly-traded biopharmaceutical company, AbbVie Inc.

  • Advised Baxter International on its USD 21 billion spinoff of its biopharmaceutical division (now Baxalta) in China and Hong Kong.

  • Acted for Emerson Electric Co. in the China and Hong Kong portions of the USD 4 billion sale of its Network Power business to Platinum Equity and the pre-spin off restructuring.

  • Acted for Emerson Electric Co. in the China and Hong Kong portions of the USD 1.2 billion sale of its Leroy-Somer and Control Techniques business units to Nidec Corporation and the pre-spin off restructuring.

  • Acted for Johnson Controls in carve-out of automotive seating business (now Adient).

  • Advised Emerson on the USD 14 billion sale of its Climate Technologies business to Blackstone.

M&A

  • Advised Unilever Prestige on its e-commerce related joint venture with Hangzhou Golong Holding Co., Ltd. for the distribution of certain Prestige brands products in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

  • Advised Mizuho Financial Group on the acquisition of an aircraft leasing business from Ping An International Financial Leasing and to enter into a joint venture with Ping An to form the newly-named leasing company Clover Aviation Capital.

  • Advised Mitsui-Soko Holdings Co., Ltd. on the acquisition of freight-forwarding business from Prime Cargo in China.

  • Advised METRO AG on the establishment of a strategic partnership with Wumei Technology Group (Wumei), a leading retailer in China involving the sale of its entire stake in METRO China for EUR 1.9 billion to an investment vehicle of Wumei against cash and a 20% stake in the resulting joint venture.

  • Acted for AkzoNobel in its buy-out of its decorative paint business in Hong Kong and China from Swire Industrial Limited.

  • Advised Tencent on its joint venture with other key investors such as ICBC, HKEx and Hillhouse.

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Law Society of Hong Kong

Admissions

  • England & Wales~United Kingdom
  • Hong Kong

Education

  • The University of Hong Kong (P.C.LL.)
  • Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Master of Science)
  • Chinese University of Hong Kong (B.S. Computer Science, Honors)
  • Manchester Metropolitan University (C.P.E.)

Languages

  • Cantonese
  • English
  • Mandarin

Previous Offices

  • Chicago