Christian Felton | Lawyers

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United States

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Capital Markets

"In addition to leading debt, equity, and liability management transactions day-to-day, I view it as central to my role to deliver U.S. market technical expertise combined with a nuanced understanding of local market dynamics and trends, developed over 15 years of practice in Hong Kong. In today’s environment, being an effective cross-border capital markets lawyer in Asia requires a deeply integrated grasp of the multiple markets and regulatory regimes our clients navigate."

Overview

Christian is a U.S. securities law expert and New York high yield debt product specialist, providing deep technical know-how on the ground in Hong Kong. He acts for issuers, underwriters and investors on their most challenging mandates, including Hong Kong Main Board listings, high yield debt offerings and equity-linked and margin lending transactions with U.S.-listed underlying shares. He is also a liability management expert and, in addition to consent solicitations, tender offers and exchange offers, has documented many of the largest holistic restructurings in China in the past five years.

Christian also maintains a U.S. advisory practice, advising investors and depositaries on ADS conversions, Rule 144 public resales, registration rights, beneficial ownership reporting, insider dealing concerns and market regulations.

Experience

In recent years, Christian has worked on many of the most important deals in China, including:

the market’s largest and most complex holistic restructurings – advising Country Garden Holdings Company Limited on the successful restructuring of approximately US$17.7bn of its offshore debt; CIFI Holdings (Group) Co. Ltd. on the successful completion of its approximately US$8.1bn offshore debt restructuring; Yuzhou Group Holdings Limited on the successful restructuring of its offshore debt of approximately US$8.1bn; China Aoyuan Group Limited on the completion of its approximately US$7.3bn offshore debt restructuring; and the ad hoc group of bondholders and lenders on Sunac China Holdings Limited’s approximately US$10.2bn offshore debt restructuring.
benchmark equity-linked mandates – advising the joint lead managers for Alibaba Group Holdings Limited on its approximately US$3.2bn issuance of zero-coupon convertible bonds due 2032, convertible into its American Depositary Shares (ADSs) or, at the option of holders, its Hong Kong-listed shares, and corresponding hedging and capped call transactions; the joint lead managers for Alibaba Group Holding Limited on its approximately US$1.53bn issuance of zero-coupon exchangeable bonds due 2032, exchangeable into ordinary shares of Alibaba Health Information Technology Limited; and the distributor of US$300m in convertible preferred shares linked notes due 2032, referencing convertible preferred shares of GDS Holdings Limited.
debut TMT bonds – advising the joint lead managers for Meituan’s first-ever offshore bond issuance in dual-currency USD/RMB format, featuring three tranches of senior US dollar bonds offered pursuant to Rule 144A and Regulation S totalling US$2.0bn and two tranches of offshore RMB bonds offered Regulation S-only totalling RMB7.08bn; and the joint lead managers for Kuaishou Technology’s first-ever offshore bond issuance in dual-currency USD/RMB format, featuring two tranches of senior US dollar bonds offered pursuant to Rule 144A and Regulation S totalling US$1.5bn and one tranche of offshore RMB bonds offered Regulation S-only totalling RMB3.5bn.
the largest deals – advising the joint sponsors and underwriters on the global offering and listing of H shares of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, raising approximately US$4.6bn, the largest IPO in 2025; and the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) on its successful issuance of US$7bn equivalent multi-currency notes in three currencies and nine tranches, representing the largest ever public bond offering from a Hong Kong SAR issuer.

Education, Qualifications and Languages

Christian studied Biochemistry and Spanish at the University of Mississippi and holds a Juris Doctor from the New York University School of Law.

State Admission:
New York

Experience

In recent years, Christian has worked on many of the most important deals in China, including:

the market’s largest and most complex holistic restructurings – advising Country Garden Holdings Company Limited on the successful restructuring of approximately US$17.7bn of its offshore debt; CIFI Holdings (Group) Co. Ltd. on the successful completion of its approximately US$8.1bn offshore debt restructuring; Yuzhou Group Holdings Limited on the successful restructuring of its offshore debt of approximately US$8.1bn; China Aoyuan Group Limited on the completion of its approximately US$7.3bn offshore debt restructuring; and the ad hoc group of bondholders and lenders on Sunac China Holdings Limited’s approximately US$10.2bn offshore debt restructuring.

benchmark equity-linked mandates – advising the joint lead managers for Alibaba Group Holdings Limited on its approximately US$3.2bn issuance of zero-coupon convertible bonds due 2032, convertible into its American Depositary Shares (ADSs) or, at the option of holders, its Hong Kong-listed shares, and corresponding hedging and capped call transactions; the joint lead managers for Alibaba Group Holding Limited on its approximately US$1.53bn issuance of zero-coupon exchangeable bonds due 2032, exchangeable into ordinary shares of Alibaba Health Information Technology Limited; and the distributor of US$300m in convertible preferred shares linked notes due 2032, referencing convertible preferred shares of GDS Holdings Limited.

debut TMT bonds – advising the joint lead managers for Meituan’s first-ever offshore bond issuance in dual-currency USD/RMB format, featuring three tranches of senior US dollar bonds offered pursuant to Rule 144A and Regulation S totalling US$2.0bn and two tranches of offshore RMB bonds offered Regulation S-only totalling RMB7.08bn; and the joint lead managers for Kuaishou Technology’s first-ever offshore bond issuance in dual-currency USD/RMB format, featuring two tranches of senior US dollar bonds offered pursuant to Rule 144A and Regulation S totalling US$1.5bn and one tranche of offshore RMB bonds offered Regulation S-only totalling RMB3.5bn.

the largest deals – advising the joint sponsors and underwriters on the global offering and listing of H shares of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, raising approximately US$4.6bn, the largest IPO in 2025; and the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) on its successful issuance of US$7bn equivalent multi-currency notes in three currencies and nine tranches, representing the largest ever public bond offering from a Hong Kong SAR issuer.

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