Layton Z. Niu

In recognition of his work, IFLR1000 has named Mr. Niu a Rising Star in the Corporate and M&A category.

Some of Mr. Niu’s experience includes advising: Baidu, Inc. in the divestment of its financial services business and US$1.9 billion sale of a majority stake of that business to a consortium of investors led by TPG Capital and The Carlyle Group; the special committee of the board of directors of Bitauto Holdings Limited in its US$1.1 billion going-private acquisition by an investor consortium led by Tencent and Hammer Capital; Dada Auto Inc. in a “reverse merger” with Nasdaq-listed company RISE Education; JD.com, Inc. in its strategic partnership with Google; JD.com, Inc. in its strategic cooperation with Tencent valued at over US$800 million; Meituan in its acquisition of bike-sharing firm mobike Ltd; NIO, Inc. in its issuance and sale of convertible notes to various investors; PDD Holdings Inc. in its issuance and sale of US$1.1 billion of Class A ordinary shares; Renren Inc., the owner of Kaixin Auto Group, in Kaixin’s US$454 million combination with CM Seven Star Acquisition Corporation; Sina Group Holding Company Limited, an entity led by Sina Corporation Chairman Charles Chao, in its US$2.6 billion going-private acquisition of Sina Corporation; Trip.com Group Limited in a share exchange transaction with Naspers in which Naspers exchanged its stake in Nasdaq-listed MakeMyTrip Limited for newly issued shares in Trip. com; WeWork Companies, Inc. in a US$500 million investment in WeWork China led by Trustbridge Partners, Temasek, SoftBank and Hony Capital; and ZTO Express in a strategic agreement with Alibaba and Cainiao, pursuant to which investors led by Alibaba and Cainiao invested US$1.38 billion in ZTO in exchange for an approximately 10% equity stake in ZTO.

In addition, Mr. Niu has acted as counsel to: Chengwei Capital in its venture capital investments and disposals in multiple private companies; FountainVest Partners in its establishment of a joint venture in China with WME | IMG, together with Sequoia Capital and Tencent, and in other investments in leading China-based businesses; Horizons Ventures Limited in its investments in certain early-stage technology companies based in the U.S. and Canada; LionRock Capital in connection with various investment and acquisition transactions; Princeville Capital in its equity investments in multiple private companies; and ZQ Capital Limited in a leveraged buyout transaction for its acquisition of Angiotech Pharmaceuticals.

Mr. Niu also has experience in other areas of law, including Rule 144A and Regulation S private placements, SEC-registered securities offerings and private investment fund formation. He started his career at Skadden’s New York office in 2013 before relocating to the Hong Kong office.