Chengzhi Yu

Practice Areas

Mainly focus on cross-border merger & acquisition, investment and financing businesses, including:

• Assist Chinese enterprises in their overseas investment and cross-border merger and acquisitions;

• Represent multinational corporations in relation to their investment, merger and acquisition, joint venture and other business operations in China.

Career

After completing her J.D. at New York University, Paula Yu practiced law in Maryland for nearly a decade.

2003-09-01~2007-07-31 Whiteford Taylor & Preston LLP, Associate;

2007-08-01~2013-01-01 Kaye Scholer LLP, Senior Lawyer, Associate;

2013-01-01~2014-06-30 Jade & Fountain PRC Lawyers, Partner;

2014-02-07~2019-09-30 Grandall Law Firm (Shanghai), Partner;

2019-10-01~2022-02-28 Shanghai SF Laywers (the affiliated law firm of KPMG China), Senior Partner；

2022-03-01 till now Beijing Dacheng Law Offices, LLP (Shanghai) Senior Partner.

Professional Memberships

Chinese Bar Association

Maryland Bar Association

Publications

• Phoenix International Think Tank

Report on risk mnagement of cross-border investment

• China M&A Association Zhejiang Branch

Introduction to overseas M&A practice

• Shanghai Pudong International Finance Institute

Introduction to overseas M&A practice

Personal

Paula Yu is a partner of Dentons’ Shanghai office with a focus on cross-border investment, M&A and restructuring. Paula obtained her Master Degree from Johns Hopkins University and Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law. Having studied and worked in the United States for ten years, Paula was seconded by Kaye Scholer to its Shanghai office in 2007 and has practiced in China ever since. Paula specializes in cross-border transactions, in which she advises multinational corporations on a large variety of legal matters in China and represents Chinese companies in their outbound investments. Paula is very well-recognized within the legal industry and has been named as a top corporate and M&A lawyer by Chambers and Partners, ALB and other domestic and international ranking institutions.

Clients

MNC Clients:

Samsung Electronics Co.; American Securities; S.C. Johnson, Grand Hyatt; Air Liquide; Kiwa Group; SAFAF Group; Adecco Group; Saint Gobain; Hydrogenpro Group; Bosch Rexroth AG; Hitachi; Exxon Mobil; HP; Fiege Group; Nikon; Sangtsu; Antler Group; Cargotec Corporation; Versalis; Suntory Beverage & Food Asia Pte. Ltd.;Giza Fund; Topman Global Ltd. Etc.

Chinese Clients:

Nongfu Spring; TCL; Yinyi Group; Pengxin International Mining; SMIC International; Sanpower Group; Huahong Capital; Qianyang Capital; AGIC Capital; Secote; BOE; Hainan Baoliancheng; Wanbei Coal; Tsingshan Group; Decent Group; China National Building Material Company; Bailian Group; Newland Payment; Yingqu Technologies; BAK Shenzhen; Zhejiang University Sunny Nutrition Technology Company Etc.

Work Highlights

Paula was one of the first cross-border M&A lawyers to study in the United States and obtain a J.D. degree. After graduating from the Foreign Service Institute, she attended Johns Hopkins University for her master's degree in international relations and New York University for her J.D. degree. After ten years in the U.S., she was seconded back to the Shanghai office of an international law firm in 2007 and began practicing cross-border legal services in China. During her first several years upon her return to China, Paula assisted a lot of multinational corporate clients with respect to their investment and operation in China, known as the Foreign Direct Investment ("FDI") legal services in China. The multinational corporate clients include SC Johnson Shanghai, Grand Hyatt Hotel, Staples, Hitachi; Exxon Mobil; HP; Fiege Group; Nikon and Sumsung.

In 2011, Paula assisted a Chinese listed company to invest in a technology company with operation in the United States and Israel, which was her first Overseas Direct Investment ("ODI") project representing Chinese clients. Upon closing this deal, Paula sensed that the globalization of Chinese companies would be promising for the upcoming cross-border legal market. She benefited from her six years at Grandall Law Firm as China’s No. 1 IPO law firm with a large pool of Chinese listed clients. At Grandall, Paula built a successful cross-border practice after handling more than 70 cross-border deals globally, working very closing with the advisory and tax teams of the Big Four accounting firms. Paula and her cross-border legal practice drew the attention of KPMG China’s management team when they were building KPMG’s affiliated law firm in China. Paula left Grandall to set up KPMG’s affiliated law firm in China in 2019 and became the first lawyer to be ever promoted as an equity partner of KPMG China in 2021. Unfortunately, due to certain regulatory changes in the China, all law firms affiliated with the Big Four accounting firms were dissolved in 2022, when Paula joined Dentons Shanghai as a senior partner.

Despite this sudden change to her legal career, Paula managed to further grow her cross-border legal practice utilizing Dentons’ global network and her close ties to KPMG. She is an advocate of one-stop ODI services and, in addition to her legal practice, has accumulated substantial experience in offering the whole package of financial, tax, real estate, HR, ESG services and managing a large group of professionals to facilitate the globalization of Chinese companies.

Industry Sector Expertise

Paula specializes in cross-border transactional legal services with a focus on TMT and manufacturing (including new energy related manufacturing).

Expert in these Jurisdictions

Paula is a licensed attorney both in China and in the United States. Paula’s team often assist their clients to close cross-border deals globally with a focus on North America and Europe.

Languages Spoken

Chinese, English.

Experience

MNC clients:

• Assist Samsung Electronics Co. to sell its production base and assets in Kunshan；

• Assisted S. C. Johnson in its USD 200 million acquisition of a Chinese household chemical manufacturer, converting the target into a joint venture in China;

• Assisted Grand Hyatt in its joint venture project in China with Yintai Group;

• Assisted Air Liquide in its acquision of several Chinese special gas companies;

• Assisted Staples in its joint venture project in China;

• Assisted Kiwa Group in its acquisition of a Chinese certification and inspection company, converting it into a joint venture;

• Assisted SAFAF Group, an Italian listed company, in its acquisiton of a manufacturing facility in China;

• Assisted Adecco Group in its acquisiton of a labour service company in China;

• Assisted Saint Gobain in its acquisition of a manufacturing facility in China;

• Assisted Hydrogenpro Group, a company listed in Norway, in its acquisition of a clean energy equipment manufacturing facility in China;

• Assisted Krka, a Slovenian pharmaceutical PE fund, in its joint venture project in China with a Chinese pharmaceutical company;

• Assisted Bosch Rexroth AG in its acquisition of a machinery manufacturer in China;

• Assisted Hitachi in its acquisition of a Chinese technology and information company, converting it into a joint venture;

• Assisted Fiege Group in its corporate restructuring in China;

• Assisted Cambridge in its corporate restructuring in China.

Chinese Clients:

• Assisted TCL and Haitong Capital, a joint listed company, with respect to the acquisition of the chemical manufacturer of photovoltaic products divested by DuPont America with USD $200 million(including operations in Taiwan, India, South Korea and Malaysia);

• Assist the fund companies under SMIC International with respect to the acquisition of the semiconductor business divested by Singapore listed companies with US $100 million, including the equity and assets of related companies;

• Assisted Yinyi Group, holding three listed companies in China, in its EUR 1 billion acquisition of a transmission manufacturer in Belgium (including its operation in China and Malaysia);

• Assisted Yinyi Group in its USD 400 million acquisition of metal smelting companies in the United States;

• Assisted Yinyi Group in its RMB 1.5 billion acquisition of a sensor manufacturer in Japan;

• Assisted Yinyi Group in its EUR 500 million acquisition of a multinational auto-part manufacturer headquartered in Netherland (including its operation in Ireland and Mexico)；

• Assisted Yinyi Group in its over EUR 500 million acquisition of a steel manufacturing company in Germany (including its operation in the US and China);

• Assisted Sanpower Group in its USD 900 million acquisition of a pharmaceutical company in the United States;

• Assisted a Chinese listed company, Pengxin International Mining, in its USD 100 million investment in Gerald, a commodity trading company based in the United States (including its operation in the UK, Switzerland, Singapore and China);

• Assisted Huahong Capital in its USD 300 million acquisition of infertility hospitals in the United States;

• Assisted Qianyang Capital in its investment in a new energy vehicle company in the United States;

• Assisted AGIC Gapital and a Chinese listed company in its USD 180 million acquisition of a coating manufacturer in the United States.

Education

Awards