Xiaoxi Lin

Xiaoxi Lin

Partner (Linklaters LLP, England & Wales) Registered Foreign Lawyer (New York), Hong Kong SAR

"I specialise in private equity and public and private M&A transactions. In addition to extensive experience and technical excellence, I offer clients commercial acumen, cross-cultural understanding and well-honed communication skills, and I am trusted by leading financial sponsors and corporations to deliver their most strategic and important transactions.”

Overview

Professional experience

Education and qualifications

Overview

Xiaoxi has extensive experience advising private equity and investment fund clients on their most complex and strategic transactions, including control and leveraged buyouts, growth capital investments and public takeovers.

Xiaoxi is also one of the most experienced practitioners in Asia in U.S. public transactions, including take-private, SPAC IPO, de-SPAC and PIPE (private investment in public equity) transactions.

Xiaoxi advises prolifically on mergers and acquisitions and also has significant experience advising on transactions in the technology sector and inbound and outbound investments into and from China.

Work highlights

Xiaoxi has advised on many market-leading PE and U.S. public transactions. These include advising:

  • an investor consortium, comprising Warburg Pincus Asia, General Atlantic Singapore Fund Pte., Ocean Link Partners, and Jinbo Yao, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of 58.com, on the take-private of 58.com Inc., China’s largest online classifieds marketplace, at a valuation of approximately US$8.7bn
  • Plus on world’s first de-SPAC transaction of an autonomous trucking technology company
  • The Carlyle Group, China International Trust Investment Corporation (CITIC) Limited and CITIC Capital Holdings on the US$2bn acquisition of McDonald’s operations in mainland China and Hong Kong SAR and negotiation of a 20-year master franchise agreement, the largest McDonald’s franchise in the world
  • Sea Limited, a leading global consumer internet company, on the acquisition by its digital entertainment arm, Garena, of Phoenix Labs, an acclaimed independent games development company founded in Vancouver
  • an investor consortium comprising Centurium Capital, CITIC Capital, Marc Chan, Joseph Chow and certain other investors and their affiliates in connection with the take-private of China Biologic Products Holdings at a valuation of approximately US$4.8bn
  • Warburg Pincus, together with affiliates of 58.com, TPG and certain other investors, on the subscription of US$230m in convertible notes issued by Uxin, the largest used car e-commerce platform in China
  • many of the financial sponsors active in Asia, including Advantage Partners, Bain, Baring Private Equity Asia, Carlyle, Centurium Capital, China Everbright, CITIC Capital, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), DCP, Genesis Capital, GF Capital, Hammer Capital, KKR, Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund, Ocean Link, Orchid Asia, Snow Lake and Warburg Pincus

Professional experience

Since 2017, Xiaoxi has been the principal author of the China chapter in The Private Equity Review, an annual publication by The Law Reviews.

Education and qualifications

Xiaoxi studied automation at Tsinghua University, Beijing, and actuarial science at the University of Hong Kong. He holds a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center. He has also passed all three levels of the chartered financial analyst (CFA) exam.

He is fluent in English, Mandarin, Cantonese and Shanghainese.