Mr. Shawn Cao started practice since 2010 and joined JunHe in 2014, focusing on corporate, mergers & acquisitions, foreign direct investments, private equity and venture capital. His services range from transaction structuring, post-investment corporate governance structuring, due diligence, drafting legal documents, negotiation, and closing procedures, covering the industries such as energy and infrastructure, traditional manufacturing, real estate, internet services, information technology, financial leasing, and consumer goods.

Mr. Cao has been the lead lawyer in many high-profile M&A and investments, including without limitation, a major multinational oil and gas company's investment in a LNG receiving terminal project in China, Sembcorp Energy’s RMB 1.5 billion acquisition of 35% equity in SDIC New Energy Investment Co., Costa Coffee’s buyout of its joint venture partner’s equity in its Sino-foreign joint ventures in China, Scania’s investment in China for commercial vehicles manufacturing, Avon’s sale of 100% equity in its PRC manufacturing facility to TheFaceShop, and  Ball Asia’s sale of its PRC packaging business to ORG Technology Co., Ltd. (SZ.002701).

In addition to the above, Mr. Cao also provides general corporate services for various foreign-invested and domestic enterprises.

Mr. Cao is recognized by the China Business Law Journal as one of the 2023 Rising Stars, and Mr. Cao also lectures on the PE/VC Practice course at Fudan University Law School.

Practice Areas

• Corporate and M&A
• Foreign Direct Investment
• Private Equity/Venture Capital

Education

Bachelor of Laws, East China University of Political Science and Law, 2009

Master of Laws (magna cum laude), Fordham University School of Law, 2013

Professional Associations

Member of the All-China Lawyers Association and the Shanghai Lawyers Association

Member of the New York State Bar Association

Language Skills

Mandarin and English

Representative Deals

• Representative Deals in M&A and JV Cooperations

• • Represented Sembcorp Energy in its RMB 1.5 billion acquisition of 35% equity in SDIC New Energy Investment Co.
  • Represented Sembcorp Energy in its RMB 0.7 billion acquisition of 100% equity in Qingzhou Yuanneng Wind Power Co.
  • Represented ExxonMobil in its project investments in PRC.
  • Represented Interventional Systems (an Austrian surgical robotics company)’s joint venture cooperation in PRC with Ningbo Hicren.
  • Represented Costa Coffee in its buyout of its joint venture partner’s equity in its China Sino-foreign joint ventures.
  • Represented Gränges (XSTO: GRNG) in its subscription and joint venture cooperation with Shandong Innovation Group, the joint venture will build a recycling and casting operation in Yunnan, PRC.
  • Represented The Partner Companies, LLC (TPC) as its PRC counsel in its acquisition of UPG Company, LLC. from Turnspire Capital Partners.
  • Represented IMCD (a leading international chemicals distributor) in its acquisition of Aquatech.
  • Represented Reed Exhibitions (a member of RELX Group) in its joint venture partnership with its PRC joint venture partners for exhibition business.
  • Represented Hongkong Land in its various acquisitions and joint venture cooperation projects.

• Representative Deals in Private Equity/Venture Capital

• • Represented PAG Asia Capital as its PRC counsel in its subscription for USD200M convertible loans issued by Canadian Solar Inc. (Nasdaq: CSIQ).
  • Represented Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) in its investment in Xingsheng Preference, a leading group buying platform.
  • Represented Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) in its investment in Poni.ai, a leading autonomous driving technology company.
  • Represented TPG in its investment in a leading talent agency.
  • Represented Tencent in its Series E investment in Tuhu.cn.
  • Represented Tencent in its Series D and Series E investments in Hefu-Noodle.
  • Represented Tencent in its Series A investment in Vocust, an SaaS provider for enterprise customer experience and satisfaction digital solutions.
  • Represented Tencent in its Series E+ investment in Taimei Technology, a life science digital platform.
  • Represented Tencent in its Series A investment in Quantangle, a cloud programing service provider.
  • Represented Tencent in its Series A investment in Yingle.com, an online legal service platform.
  • Represented Tencent in its Series A investment in Tap-enjoy, a mobile games developer.
  • Represented GoHigh Fund in its Series B investment in Doodod.
  • Represented GoHigh fund in its Series B investment in 123kanfang.com.
  • Represented Shang Qi Capital in its Series D investment in MiraMEMES.

• Representative Deals in Divestment Projects

• • Represented Columbia China, a privately-held healthcare company jointly invested by Sheares (a subsidiary of Temasek), Columbia Pacific Management (CPM) and Swire Pacific, in its sale of several PRC medical clinics to a Chinese purchaser.
  • Represented Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL) in its sale of China subsidiaries for packaging business to ORG Technology Co., Ltd. (SZ002701).
  • Represented Avon in its sale of 100% equity in its Guangzhou manufacturing subsidiary to TheFaceShop (a subsidiary of LG Household & Healthcare).
  • Represented Getac (TWSE: 3005) in its sale of manufacturing subsidiary in Shanghai to a local purchaser.
  • Represented Tredegar (NYSE: TG) in its liquidation of Shanghai manufacturing subsidiary and repatriation of remaining assets.