Bio
Eason leads Appleby’s investment funds practice in its Asia offices, and is well-known for his extensive offshore experience specialising in the structuring, formation, organisation and operation of all types of open- and closed-ended funds, including private equity and hedge funds, and their related investment management entities. He counsels funds in all stages of their operations, and regularly advises them on fund formation and governance matters.
Eason is a go-to offshore funds lawyer for a wide range of sponsors on fund formation matters, as well as a select group of well-regarded institutional investors in making investments in both private equity and hedge funds around the region.
Eason also has deep experience in assisting on crypto-related fund launches including crypto funds and tokenised funds domiciled in the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands (BVI). Eason is one of the few offshore lawyers in Hong Kong who has practical experience advising on the rapidly evolving fintech regulatory landscape for participants in the virtual asset ecosystem and a variety of virtual asset projects.
Eason is a native Mandarin speaker and fluent in English and Cantonese.
His clients comprise of APAC regional fund managers, fund sponsors, venture capitalists, as well as local Hong Kong SFC licensed fund managers. He also has a particular focus on fund clients with a China and Japan nexus.
As the only PRC background native Mandarin speaking funds partner in Asia, Eason and his team are very well positioned to serve the sophisticated funds clients in this region and beyond.
Eason’s Chinese capability, extensive experience in handling PRC clients and APAC regional based clients, and his PRC and APAC network enable the experienced funds team to provide offshore legal advice to the PRC market and beyond more efficiently, leading to a significant increase in market share.
Bio
Eason leads Appleby’s investment funds practice in its Asia offices, and is well-known for his extensive offshore experience specialising in the structuring, formation, organisation and operation of all types of open- and closed-ended funds, including private equity and hedge funds, and their related investment management entities. He counsels funds in all stages of their operations, and regularly advises them on fund formation and governance matters.
Eason is a go-to offshore funds lawyer for a wide range of sponsors on fund formation matters, as well as a select group of well-regarded institutional investors in making investments in both private equity and hedge funds around the region.
Eason also has deep experience in assisting on crypto-related fund launches including crypto funds and tokenised funds domiciled in the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands (BVI). Eason is one of the few offshore lawyers in Hong Kong who has practical experience advising on the rapidly evolving fintech regulatory landscape for participants in the virtual asset ecosystem and a variety of virtual asset projects.
Eason is a native Mandarin speaker and fluent in English and Cantonese.
His clients comprise of APAC regional fund managers, fund sponsors, venture capitalists, as well as local Hong Kong SFC licensed fund managers. He also has a particular focus on fund clients with a China and Japan nexus.
As the only PRC background native Mandarin speaking funds partner in Asia, Eason and his team are very well positioned to serve the sophisticated funds clients in this region and beyond.
Eason’s Chinese capability, extensive experience in handling PRC clients and APAC regional based clients, and his PRC and APAC network enable the experienced funds team to provide offshore legal advice to the PRC market and beyond more efficiently, leading to a significant increase in market share.
Work Highlights
PE/VC Fund
- Advised Marunouchi Innovation Partners Co., Ltd., a company jointly established by Mitsubishi Corporation, MUFG Bank Ltd. and Pavilion Private Equity Co., Ltd. on the successful launch of the USD 1 billion Marunouchi Climate Tech Growth Fund L.P.
- Advised J-STAR in the formation of a structured GP secondary transaction that closed at ¥17.9 billion and in the formation of the fund V series funds
- Advised J-STAR and Potentia Capital (a leading Australia based private equity firm) to set up various co-investment vehicles to allow both GPs to do a “club-deal” to acquire a leading HR software-as-a-service player in Japan
- Advised LightSpeed, a global venture capital firm known as a pioneer in early-stage enterprise investments on the launch of their multi-million closed-ended venture capital fund focused on early-stage blockchain opportunities
- Acted as the Cayman Islands and BVI counsel to a leading private equity investor and fund manager committed to driving the growth of Chinese consumer brands on its proposed global offering on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
- Represented a US$2.8 billion Cayman PE fund that invests in growth or expansion stage private companies in the technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) industry primarily with a PRC nexus
- Represented a US$1 billion Cayman PE fund that invests in the semiconductor industries primarily across the Greater China region
- Represented a closed-ended private fund structured as a Cayman Islands segregated portfolio company, with each segregated portfolio operating as a separate fund investing into a particular high-profile IPO listing on the main board of Hong Kong Stock Exchange
- Represented Synergis Capital in forming and launching numerous close-ended private equity funds each structured as a Cayman Islands exempted limited partnership, providing investors with a well-constructed and well-balanced exposure to the outperforming innovative companies in China’s “New Economy”
- Represented a closed-ended private equity fund structured as a BVI business company, investing in a single asset/project investment with a focus on lifestyle designer retail brand operation
- Represented a closed-ended private equity fund structured as a BVI limited partnership, focusing on the acquisition of the target property of RMB 2,700,000,000 to hold and convert a China based target property into commercial office property
PE Secondary Fund/Continuation Fund
- Advised J-STAR, a leading middle market private equity manager in Japan, on the closure of the J-STAR Continuation Series Funds at the hard cap of JPY17.9 billion marks a historic milestone in the Japanese private equity landscape
- Advised an Indonesia’s newest venture capital firm on a GP led secondary involving the establishment of a new closed-ended fund structured as a Cayman Islands exempted limited partnership (the “Continuation Fund”) implementing the transfer of the remaining existing investments from an existing venture capital fund nearing the end of its term (the “Legacy Fund”) into the Continuation Fund, together with the roll over of certain of the limited partners of the Legacy Fund into the Continuation Fund. Both the Legacy Fund and the Continuation Fund have a high-profile cornerstone investment from one of the richest families in Indonesia
Hedge Fund
- Acted as an offshore counsel and a listing agent for a leading Chinese asset management company’s new Cayman corporate structure hedge fund whose classes of shares are listed on the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange (CSX)
- Advised various leading Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong managers and asset management companies in setting up Cayman SPC funds with multiple investment strategies investing in various class assets in China and US markets
Crypto Funds
- Acted for a number of prominent actors in the crypto space (including exchanges, blockchain software developers, VC style investors, structured product developers and more ‘traditional’ liquid traders), and assisting on crypto-related fund launches, with investment strategies including but not limited to Ether and Ether-related assets, DeFi protocols/tokens, DeFi yield farming
- Acted for a preeminent Chinese private equity and venture capital firm, on the launch of its first digital asset focussed fund, structured as an open-ended Cayman Islands mutual fund with a BVI approved manager
- Advised a global venture capital firm known as a pioneer in early-stage enterprise investments on the launch of their multi-million closed-ended venture capital fund focused on early-stage blockchain opportunities
- Represented numerous Cayman Islands VC and growth-capital funds focused on digital investments, including fintech cybersecurity and Bitcoin
Corporate
- Acted as Cayman counsel for Unisplendour Corporation’s acquiring a 30% stake in H3C for USD2.14 billion
- Advised Jinko Solar Co Ltd (SHA: 688223), the principal operating subsidiary of solar module maker JinkoSolar Holding Co Ltd (NYSE: JKS) on its initial public offering on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Sci-Tech innovation board and raising gross proceeds of CNY10 billion
- Acted as the Cayman Islands and BVI counsel to Tiantu Capital, a leading private equity investor and fund manager committed to driving the growth of Chinese consumer brands on its proposed global offering on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
PE/VC Fund
- Advised Marunouchi Innovation Partners Co., Ltd., a company jointly established by Mitsubishi Corporation, MUFG Bank Ltd. and Pavilion Private Equity Co., Ltd. on the successful launch of the USD 1 billion Marunouchi Climate Tech Growth Fund L.P.
- Advised J-STAR in the formation of a structured GP secondary transaction that closed at ¥17.9 billion and in the formation of the fund V series funds
- Advised J-STAR and Potentia Capital (a leading Australia based private equity firm) to set up various co-investment vehicles to allow both GPs to do a “club-deal” to acquire a leading HR software-as-a-service player in Japan
- Advised LightSpeed, a global venture capital firm known as a pioneer in early-stage enterprise investments on the launch of their multi-million closed-ended venture capital fund focused on early-stage blockchain opportunities
- Acted as the Cayman Islands and BVI counsel to a leading private equity investor and fund manager committed to driving the growth of Chinese consumer brands on its proposed global offering on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
- Represented a US$2.8 billion Cayman PE fund that invests in growth or expansion stage private companies in the technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) industry primarily with a PRC nexus
- Represented a US$1 billion Cayman PE fund that invests in the semiconductor industries primarily across the Greater China region
- Represented a closed-ended private fund structured as a Cayman Islands segregated portfolio company, with each segregated portfolio operating as a separate fund investing into a particular high-profile IPO listing on the main board of Hong Kong Stock Exchange
- Represented Synergis Capital in forming and launching numerous close-ended private equity funds each structured as a Cayman Islands exempted limited partnership, providing investors with a well-constructed and well-balanced exposure to the outperforming innovative companies in China’s “New Economy”
- Represented a closed-ended private equity fund structured as a BVI business company, investing in a single asset/project investment with a focus on lifestyle designer retail brand operation
- Represented a closed-ended private equity fund structured as a BVI limited partnership, focusing on the acquisition of the target property of RMB 2,700,000,000 to hold and convert a China based target property into commercial office property
PE Secondary Fund/Continuation Fund
- Advised J-STAR, a leading middle market private equity manager in Japan, on the closure of the J-STAR Continuation Series Funds at the hard cap of JPY17.9 billion marks a historic milestone in the Japanese private equity landscape
- Advised an Indonesia’s newest venture capital firm on a GP led secondary involving the establishment of a new closed-ended fund structured as a Cayman Islands exempted limited partnership (the “Continuation Fund”) implementing the transfer of the remaining existing investments from an existing venture capital fund nearing the end of its term (the “Legacy Fund”) into the Continuation Fund, together with the roll over of certain of the limited partners of the Legacy Fund into the Continuation Fund. Both the Legacy Fund and the Continuation Fund have a high-profile cornerstone investment from one of the richest families in Indonesia
Hedge Fund
- Acted as an offshore counsel and a listing agent for a leading Chinese asset management company’s new Cayman corporate structure hedge fund whose classes of shares are listed on the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange (CSX)
- Advised various leading Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong managers and asset management companies in setting up Cayman SPC funds with multiple investment strategies investing in various class assets in China and US markets
Crypto Funds
- Acted for a number of prominent actors in the crypto space (including exchanges, blockchain software developers, VC style investors, structured product developers and more ‘traditional’ liquid traders), and assisting on crypto-related fund launches, with investment strategies including but not limited to Ether and Ether-related assets, DeFi protocols/tokens, DeFi yield farming
- Acted for a preeminent Chinese private equity and venture capital firm, on the launch of its first digital asset focussed fund, structured as an open-ended Cayman Islands mutual fund with a BVI approved manager
- Advised a global venture capital firm known as a pioneer in early-stage enterprise investments on the launch of their multi-million closed-ended venture capital fund focused on early-stage blockchain opportunities
- Represented numerous Cayman Islands VC and growth-capital funds focused on digital investments, including fintech cybersecurity and Bitcoin
Corporate
- Acted as Cayman counsel for Unisplendour Corporation’s acquiring a 30% stake in H3C for USD2.14 billion
- Advised Jinko Solar Co Ltd (SHA: 688223), the principal operating subsidiary of solar module maker JinkoSolar Holding Co Ltd (NYSE: JKS) on its initial public offering on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Sci-Tech innovation board and raising gross proceeds of CNY10 billion
- Acted as the Cayman Islands and BVI counsel to Tiantu Capital, a leading private equity investor and fund manager committed to driving the growth of Chinese consumer brands on its proposed global offering on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
Recognition
- ”Rising star” in Investment Funds – IFLR1000 2022 – 2023
- ”Rising star” in Investment Funds – IFLR1000 2022 – 2023
Qualifications & Education
Eason was admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales, British Virgin Islands (BVI), a PRC lawyer by Ministry of Justice of the People’s Republic of China. He is also a Registered Foreign Lawyer in Hong Kong.
- City University of Hong Kong (LLM) Distinction
- Zhejiang Gongshang University (LLB) First Class Honour
Eason was admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales, British Virgin Islands (BVI), a PRC lawyer by Ministry of Justice of the People’s Republic of China. He is also a Registered Foreign Lawyer in Hong Kong.
- City University of Hong Kong (LLM) Distinction
- Zhejiang Gongshang University (LLB) First Class Honour