Anthony Root is the head of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy’s Asia corporate practice and is based in Beijing and Hong Kong. He has over 25 years of experience working with investment banks, financial investors, and corporations in private equity, public M&A, equity and debt capital markets, and restructurings.
Primary Focus & Experience
Mr. Root’s M&A practice focuses on large cross-border strategic and private equity deals within Asia and from Asia to the United States, Europe and Latin America. Notable deals include the first significant private equity investment into the Chinese insurance industry (Ping An), the formation of China International Capital Corporation (CICC), the $12.5 billion sale by China Construction Bank of strategic stakes to Bank of America and Temasek, the $2.5 billion purchase of a strategic stake in Bank of China by a private equity consortium, State Grid’s $1.8 billion investment into Brazil, the $1.6 billion acquisition of Modern Logistics Facilities by a private equity consortium led by China Investment Corporation, and Mongolian Mining Corp.’s acquisition of a Mongolian coal project for nearly US$1 billion. Mr. Root has regularly worked with leading private equity firms on his M&A transactions, including Barings Private Equity Asia, China Investment Corporation (CIC), Citadel, Crescent Partners, CVCI, DE Shaw, Farallon, Goldman Sachs PIA, JP Morgan Partners, Honey, Morgan Stanley, Och-Ziff, Olympus Capital, and Oaktee.
Mr. Root is one of the most experienced capital markets lawyers in Asia. He regularly represents both issuers and underwriters in major equity and debt offerings from virtually every country in Asia. His deals include advising on the $650 million HK IPO of Mongolian Mining Corp., the $11.2 billion HK IPO of China Construction Bank, Tata Steel’s $500 million GDR and $2.3 billion rights offerings, Tata Motor’s $750 million GDS and convertible offerings, over $14 billion of Petronas debt offerings, the $90 million high yield offering by Hoang Anh Gia Lai (the first high yield from Vietnam), Adaro Indonesia’s $800 million high yield offering, and the $350 million bank-bond sponsor high yield financing by Nord Anglia Education.
Recognition & Accomplishments
Mr. Root has been designated as one of the “World’s Leading Private Equity Lawyers” and “World’s Leading Capital Markets Lawyers” by numerous publications, including IFLR, IFLR1000, AsiaLaw, Legal 500, Asia Pacific Legal 500, Global1000, and Practical Law’s Private Equity Cross-Border Handbook. He is also ranked by Chambers Asia and Chambers Global as a leading lawyer for corporate M&A, equity, debt (ranked in #1 band for high yield), China and India. He was named one of ALB’s Hot 100 Lawyers in 2011, was cited in an Asiamoney poll of top lawyers in Asia, and is recommended for private equity/venture capital in Hong Kong by PLC Which Lawyers?.