Sophia Tong

Recent experience includes*:

Representative International Adversarial Experience

• Representing a Taiwanese conglomerate in an ICC arbitration seated in Beijing and related litigation proceedings in the Cayman Islands against a Japanese group. The parties’ dispute arose out of a joint venture arrangement in the P.R.C. The Cayman Islands proceedings are now currently on appeal before the Privy Council.
• Defending the subsidiaries and affiliates of a group headquartered in the Netherlands in the family education entertainment industry against a group of companies with a parent company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in an ICC arbitration seated in Hong Kong, in relation to the termination of a joint venture.
• Representing a leading pharmaceutical group based in China in HKIAC arbitration relating to the termination of its distribution and licensing agreement with a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Canada. The dispute was governed by New York law, with P.R.C. laws, regulation and practice relating to the pharmaceutical and drug industry also relevant in the arbitration.
• Representing an Israeli electronics company against a Hong Kong subsidiary of listed Chinese state-owned company in an arbitration administered by CIETAC Hong Kong.
• Representing a Cayman subsidiary of a Hong Kong-listed company in a multi-million dollar executive compensation dispute under the ICC Rules following the acquisition and subsequent restructuring of the P.R.C.-based franchise business of a Fortune 500 company.
• Defending a shareholder of a major telecommunications company with operations in the Middle East and Eastern Europe as respondent in a series of London-seated LCIA shareholder arbitrations brought by multiple state-owned and private entities.
• Representing a major Taiwanese client in a multibillion-dollar trust dispute, one of the highest-value and most complex matters currently being litigated anywhere in the world, involving court proceedings in Hong Kong, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Taiwan, and the U.S.

Representative Litigation and Contentious Restructuring Experience

• Representing a subsidiary of a Hong Kong-listed company in defending an application to set aside a partial arbitral award (on merits) before the Hong Kong High Court, and enforcement proceedings in the Hong Kong High Court and courts in Mainland China.
• Representing Hong Kong-listed companies opposing statutory demands and potential winding-up petitions before the Hong Kong High Court.
• Representing a subsidiary of a Hong Kong-listed company in opposing a winding-up petition before the Hong Kong High Court and coordinating defense strategy in respect of a winding-up petition of the Hong Kong-listed parent company before the Cayman Islands Court.
• Assisting multinational companies from various industries, including pharmaceutical and life sciences, in conducting internal investigations arising under FCPA.

Representative Restructuring Experience

• Sunac China Holdings Limited (Sunac) in the restructuring of its US$10.2 billion offshore debt. It is the largest offshore restructuring transaction completed by a Chinese property group and it achieved both the highest supporting rate and the highest deleveraging ratio of recent offshore schemes in this sector. The deal was recognized as the “Restructuring Deal of the Year” by IFLR Asia-Pacific Awards 2024. The deal also won the “Asia-Pacific Restructuring” award at International Financing Review’s IFR Awards 2023 and the “Turnaround Deal” award at the IFR Asia Awards 2023.

Representative Transactional Experience

• Xiaomi Corporation in its approximately US$5.4 billion initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. This is the first-ever Hong Kong offering to adopt a dual-class share structure and the first to list under Hong Kong’s new regime for innovative technology companies.
• The underwriters in the US$285 million Hong Kong IPO of CStone Pharmaceuticals.
• VCREDIT Holdings Limited in its US$163 million Hong Kong IPO.
• Yixin Group Limited in its spinoff from Bitauto Holdings Limited (China) via a US$870 million Hong Kong IPO.
• Guangdong Kanghua Healthcare Co., Ltd. in its US$114 million Hong Kong IPO.Meitu, Inc. in its US$630 million Hong Kong IPO.

*Includes matters completed prior to joining Sidley.