Jonathan is chair of Harris Sliwoski’s corporate practice group, where he helps public and private companies with international and domestic business transactions. His clientele includes companies from Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Jonathan has worked and consulted in the U.S., Asia, and South America and is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese.
He is an emerging blockchain legal expert and enjoys developing international legal strategies with promising web3 projects.
December was a typically busy transactional month for our China team with the end of the calendar tax year looming. We were brought onto a China acquisition by one of our PE clients mid-month, and we closed before the end of the year. This cyclical frenetic pace of closing deals has caused me to reflect
How to avoid problems when manufacturing overseas
PitchBook reports that even though 2022’s dry powder was lower than in either 2020 and 2021, a significant amount of capital has been deployed and remains to be deployed, including in deals involving Chinese companies and assets in China owned by U.S and non-Chinese companies. We know this because we are part of some of
For the past many months, I have taken a few calls and meetings each week from web3 entrepreneurs and others involved in the blockchain industry, such as lawyers and accountants whose clients need special expertise. As a transactional attorney, I get a unique perspective on the blockchain industry because I am generally on the front
You should involve an international business lawyer and an international accountant or CPA as soon as you begin thinking about expanding abroad to a new market. Many lawyers and accountants would prefer to have a 20 minute conversation at your early stage to help you avoid many obvious and immediate issues rather than receive a frantic call six months later when you have run into trouble. You should get comfortable with asking these types of questions as early as possible.
Recently, I was fortunate to attend a World Trade Center Utah event attended by Minister Jing Quan, the number three-ranking Chinese diplomat in the U.S. This was the first visit by a high-ranking Chinese official since the imposition of the “Trump tariffs”, after which a massive delegation of Chinese officials descended on Salt Lake City
Even though China private equity (PE) activity has cooled down (see here and here), our law firm has even this year been involved in many U.S. PE transactions involving China entities, employees, and assets. These deals are typically conducted at the U.S. entity level between two private equity groups, with the seller in each instance
Blockchain technologies are inherently international, and China has had its share of news lately. I have spoken on China and web3 from both business and national security perspectives. These new technologies present challenges and opportunities both inside and outside China. This post focuses on the for-profit blockchain developments and opportunities in China.
For the past several months we have been engaged in many transactions relating to China with companies still doing business in China. These companies recognize both the business opportunities and the business risks. (Those who do not fully understand the risks are still doing their business deals without the help of a lawyer on the front end, which means we usually hear from them when something has gone wrong.)
We have put the kibosh on many China-related deals, and that is what this post is about, especially in this environment with financially distressed companies popping up all around thanks to the trade war and Covid. For ease of explanation and to camouflage the identities of those involved, I have amalgamated a bunch of them into one. This scenario is incredibly typical, including the retirement of the owner precipitating the need for the deal.
