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Cross-border M&A

Buying, selling and partnering in China

In sectors where the licence, team and pipeline already exist, acquiring or partnering beats a three-year greenfield build. But a China deal runs through gates a market entry never meets. We take foreign buyers and sellers through them.

What we handle

Across the deal

From the first look to closing and integration, on the buy-side or sell-side.

Diligence

Legal due diligence

Corporate, contracts, IP, employment, data, licences and litigation exposure — surfacing the risks that change price or structure.

Structure

Deal structuring

Share vs asset deals, cross-border share swaps, earn-outs and holding structures, weighed against tax, FX and approvals.

Approvals

Regulatory gates

Merger control, national-security review, foreign-investment filings and foreign-exchange registration — mapped and sequenced.

Documents

Negotiation & docs

SPA/EPA, shareholders' and JV agreements, warranties and conditions — negotiated in English and Chinese.

Governance

Post-deal control

Board and chop control, minority protections, and the governance that makes the investment actually work day-to-day.

Exit

Divestiture & exit

Selling or reshoring a China operation is its own regulated process — we run it cleanly on the sell-side too.

FAQ

Common questions

What extra approvals does an acquisition need versus setting up fresh?

An acquisition can run through merger control, national-security review and foreign-exchange steps that a greenfield entry never meets. The door to buying is more open than it was — but the doorway is still narrow, and getting the approvals right is where deals succeed or unwind.

Can a foreign buyer acquire a Chinese company with shares instead of cash?

Cross-border share swaps are increasingly workable and the rules are being simplified, but they sit inside the foreign-investment and FX framework. Whether it fits your deal depends on structure, sector and the parties — we assess it early, not late.

Do you act on both buy-side and sell-side?

Yes. We advise foreign buyers entering by acquisition, and foreign groups divesting or reshoring a China business — including the regulated exit process that a sale involves.

Weighing build vs buy for China?

Tell us the target or the sector. We'll flag the approvals, the structure options, and the diligence that matters most.