Layton Z. Niu

Some of Mr. Niu’s recent experience includes advising: Baidu, Inc. in its proposed US$3.6 billion acquisition of JOYY Inc.’s livestreaming business in China; Baidu, Inc. in the divestment of its financial services business and sale of a majority stake of that business for US$1.9 billion 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 an affiliate of Tencent Holdings Limited and Hammer Capital Opportunities Fund L.P.; Ctrip.com International, Ltd. in a share exchange transaction with Naspers Limited, in which Naspers exchanged its stake in the Nasdaq-listed MakeMyTrip Limited for newly issued shares in Ctrip; JD.com, Inc. in its strategic partnership with Google, including Google’s US$550 million investment in JD; JD.com, Inc. in its strategic cooperation with Tencent Holdings Limited valued at over US$800 million; LexinFintech Holdings Ltd. in its issuance and sale of US$300 million convertible notes to PAG; Meituan Dianping in its acquisition of the bike-sharing firm mobike Ltd; NIO, Inc. in its issuance and sale of convertible notes to various investors; Pinduoduo Inc. in its issuance and sale of US$1.1 billion of Class A ordinary shares to certain investors; 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’s chairman Mr. Charles Chao, in its US$2.6 billion going-private acquisition of Sina Corporation; WeWork Companies, Inc. in a US$500 million investment in WeWork China led by Trustbridge Partners, Temasek, SoftBank, SoftBank Vision Fund and Hony Capital; ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance Co. Ltd. in its US$100 million joint venture with SoftBank Vision Fund; and ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. in a strategic agreement with Alibaba and Cainiao Network, 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: FountainVest Partners in its establishment of a joint venture in China with WME | IMG together with Sequoia Capital China and Tencent, and in other investments in leading China-based businesses, such as DIH Technology Limited and Codoon; Horizons Ventures Limited, the private investment arm of Li Ka-Shing, in its investments in various early-stage technology companies based in the U.S. and Canada; LionRock Capital in connection with several investment and acquisition transactions; Ping An ZQ China Growth Opportunity Limited in a US$210 million strategic investment in the NYSE-listed Nu Skin Enterprises; Princeville Capital in its equity investments in multiple private companies; and ZQ Capital Limited in a leveraged buyout transaction for the acquisition of Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, a medical device manufacturer.

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