Ming Kong
Overview
Ming Kong is a registered foreign lawyer in the Hong Kong office and also a partner in Kirkland & Ellis LLP (U.S.). He acts as the lead drafting counsel representing industry-leading companies in connection with a wide variety of capital markets transactions, including some of the most high-profile and high-value deals in the market. He also advises corporate clients, investment banks and private equity funds on various structurally-complex financing transactions and general corporate matters.
From September 2013 to February 2022, Ming worked in the New York and Hong Kong offices of another major international law firm.
Experience
Representative Matters
Since joining Kirkland & Ellis, Ming has been involved in the following:
- Super Hi International Holding Ltd. (HKSE: 9658; NASDAQ: HDL) on its initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Market, making it the first high-profile company to list first in Hong Kong and then in the United States in recent years. This transaction was named “Best IPO – APAC & Hong Kong SAR” and “Most Innovative Deal - Hong Kong SAR” by FinanceAsia Achievement Awards 2024
- iMotion Automotive Technology (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. (“iMotion”) (HKSE: 1274) on the initial public offering of H shares and listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. As the first company specializing in autonomous driving listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, iMotion is an autonomous driving solution provider with a focus on AD domain controllers
- Will Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Shanghai (SHA: 603501), a global leading fabless semiconductor company, in its US$445 million offering of 31,000,000 global depositary receipts. This transaction marked the largest offshore listing by a China-based semiconductor company since 2005. This transaction was named “Deals of the Year 2023” by China Business Law Journal
- ZX Inc. (HKSE: 9890), a leading online game products publisher in China, on its global offering and listing on the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited on September 28, 2023
- NIO Inc. (NIO) (NYSE: NIO; HKEx: 9866; SGX: NIO) in its offering of US$500 million in aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2029 (2029 Notes) and US$500 million in aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2030 (2030 Notes). This transaction was named “Deals of the Year 2023” by China Business Law Journal and “Debt & Equity-linked Deal of the Year” by IFLR Asia-Pacific Awards 2024
- Wynn Macau, Limited (HKSE: 1128), a developer, owner and operator of destination casino resorts in Macau, in its issuance of US$600 million of convertible bonds due 2029 with an interest rate of 4.5%
Prior to joining Kirkland & Ellis, Ming’s representative matters have included:
Chinese Company Matters
- JD.com, Inc. in its US$4.27 billion secondary listing of ordinary shares on the HKEx. This was the largest global offering on the HKEx and the second largest globally in 2020
- JD Health International Inc. in its US$3.47 billion initial public offering of ordinary shares and listing on the HKEx. This was the largest primary IPO in Hong Kong in 2020
- JD Logistics, Inc. in its US$3.2 billion (HK$24.6 billion) initial public offering of ordinary shares and listing on the HKEx
- Beijing Yuanxin Technology Group Co., Ltd. in its ongoing initial public offering of H shares and listing on the HKEx. A-1 proof was submitted in October 2021
- HBM Holdings Limited in its US$221 million initial public offering of ordinary shares and listing on HKEx in reliance on Chapter 18A, December 2020
- Everest Medicines in its US$451 million initial public offering of ordinary shares and listing on the HKEx in reliance on Chapter 18A, October 2020
- Transcenta Holding Limited in its initial public offering of ordinary shares and listing on the HKEx in reliance on Chapter 18A, October 2021
- I-Mab in its US$104 million initial public offering of American depositary shares and listing on Nasdaq, January 2021. This was the first U.S. IPO by a China-based biotech company since 2017
- Bairong Inc. in its US$507 million initial public offering of ordinary shares and listing on the HKEx, March 2021. Bairong Inc. is the third successful company (after Xiaomi and Meituan) to complete a primary listing with a WVR structure
- Goldman Sachs and CICC in connection with the US$260 million initial public offering of ordinary shares and listing on the HKEx of Clover Biopharmaceuticals, Ltd. in reliance on Chapter 18A, November 2021
- Missfresh Limited in its US$273 million initial public offering of American depositary shares and listing on Nasdaq, June 2021
- Xiaomi Corporation in the issuance of US$1.2 billion investment-grade bonds by its subsidiary, Xiaomi Best Time International Limited (Hong Kong), in reliance on Rule 144A/Regulation S, July 2021
- JD.com, Inc. in its public offering of US$1.0 billion investment-grade notes, January 2020
- iQiyi, Inc. in its issuance of US$1.2 billion convertible senior notes in reliance on Rule 144A/Regulation S, April 2019
- NIO Inc. in its issuance of US$750 million convertible senior notes in reliance on Rule 144A/Regulation S, February 2019
- Innovent Biologics Inc. in its US$484 million initial public offering of ordinary shares and listing on the HKEx, October 2018
- China Renaissance Holdings Limited in its US$350 million initial public offering of ordinary shares and listing on the HKEx, September 2018
- BeiGene, Ltd. in its US$903 million public offering of ordinary shares and listing on the HKEx, August 2018
- Uxin Limited in its US$225 million initial public offering of American depositary shares and listing on Nasdaq, June 2018
U.S. Company Matters
- Theravance Biopharma Inc. and Innoviva Inc., leading respiratory drug developers, in connection with their innovative US$250 million and US$450 million pharmaceutical royalties securitization programs, November 2018
- Hooters of America, Domino’s Pizza, Inc. and Sonic Corp., leading restaurant franchisors and wholesale distribution companies, in connection with their innovative whole-business securitizations, including the issuance of a series of structurally innovative fixed rate and variable funding notes (US$2 billion) backed by substantially all of their existing and future franchise agreements, company-operated restaurants and related intellectual property, from 2014 to 2018
- Fortress Investment Group in connection with its US$3.3 billion acquisition by SoftBank Group, December 2017
- Lendmark Financial Services, LLC, a leading consumer finance company controlled by Blackstone, in a series of structurally innovative loan facility and warehouse and purchase facility transactions, from 2016 to 2018
- Mars Limited in connection with its global business restructuring, 2017
- 1st Financial Bank USA in connection with its credit-card securitization program, including the issuance of a series of structurally innovative credit card receivables-backed, senior, subordinated and retained notes, from 2015 to 2017
- Och Ziff, Allstate, and Guardian, each as collateral manager, in connection with the issuance of a series of senior notes backed by collateralized commercial loans, from 2016 to 2018
- Mitsubishi Motor Corporation of America in connection with the sale of its auto financing business to a leading American automotive financing provider, September 2015
- The Coca-Cola Company in connection with a series of notes offering, including the landmark largest-ever notes offering (€8.5 billion, approximately US$9.62 billion) by a U.S. issuer and the second-largest deal in the single currency on record, from 2014 to 2015
- Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and BofA Merrill Lynch, as joint bookrunning managers, in connection with the US$200 million initial public offering and listing on the NYSE by GrubHub Inc., the holding company of Seamless, the leading online food ordering service provider in the United States, June 2014
- Morgan Stanley and BofA Merrill Lynch, as joint bookrunning managers, in connection with the initial public offering of common stock by a portfolio company of Starwood, March 2015
- Sensata Technologies, Inc., a leading aircraft sensor provider, in the issuance of US$400 million of senior notes in connection with its acquisition of Schrader International, Inc., October 2014
Prior Experience
More
Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- 2019Hong KongRegistered Foreign Lawyer
- 2014New York
Languages
- English
- Mandarin
Education
- University of Michigan Law SchoolJ.D.2013
- Renmin University of ChinaLL.B.2009