Milbank LLP is pleased to announce that David K. Cho, one of the leading corporate and M&A lawyers focused on South Korea, has joined the firm as a partner in the firm’s Global Corporate Group. Temporarily based in Los Angeles, Mr. Cho will ultimately be based in the firm’s Seoul’s office where he will lead the office as Managing Partner. Mr. Cho will be joined by special counsel Spencer Park and associates Amos Yoo and Susan Yoon.
Mr. Cho’s market-leading practice focuses on cross-border mergers and acquisitions, as well as other corporate finance and capital market transactions including public offerings registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Rule 144A / Regulation S offerings. Mr. Cho has extensive experience working with multinational clients, including major Asian companies, on international transactions spanning a wide array of sectors, such as private equity, ESG, technology, life-sciences, manufacturing and energy.
“We are delighted to start the new year by welcoming David and the team to the firm,” said Milbank Chairman Scott Edelman. “David is an incredibly talented and highly respected attorney with a proven track record of exceeding clients’ needs with a strategic, innovative approach to complex corporate matters. The addition of David and his team to the firm further strengthens our corporate offerings in Asia and globally.”
In his decades-long career, Mr. Cho has worked on some of the largest and market-leading M&A, private equity and capital markets transactions in Korea. Among his notable transactions, Mr. Cho advised on Lone Star’s purchase of Korea Exchange Bank, the initial public offering of OCI Resources LP and its listing on the New York Stock Exchange, and SK hynix Inc’s participation in the consortium that bought Toshiba’s memory business.
David Zemans, Managing Partner of the firm’s Asia Practice and Singapore office, said: “As one of the first international firms to have an office in Seoul, we are very proud of our commitment to the South Korean market. David’s wide range of experience and prominent presence in South Korea and across Asia make him the perfect addition to Milbank. He has represented top industry clients on an array of transactions, and he and his team will be an undoubtedly valuable addition to the team and the continued strategic growth of our Global Corporate Practice.”
“I am thrilled to be joining Milbank’s Global Corporate Group in Seoul,” added Mr. Cho. “Milbank is known for its global reach and seamless service to multinational clients across the broad range of industries. I look forward to expanding my practice and working closely with attorneys across the firm’s many offices and practice areas on innovative cross-border transactions. I also look forward to returning to Seoul, which will allow me to work closer with my clients.”
Mr. Cho joins Milbank from Dechert LLP, where he served as head of the firm’s Hong Kong office and Asia co-managing partner. Mr. Cho has been globally recognized for his exceptional corporate work, with Chambers Global and Chambers Asia Pacific repeatedly naming Mr. Cho as one of South Korea’s top corporate attorneys. Mr. Park, Mr. Yoo and Ms. Yoon also join from Dechert LLP.
Mr. Cho is fluent in both English and Korean and received his J.D. from the Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Milbank’s addition of Mr. Cho reflects a significant continued expansion of the firm’s global private equity and corporate M&A and finance practice globally following the additions of Andrew Whan, Neeraj Budhwani, Davide Mencacci, John Bona, and Alex Tao in Hong Kong, Andrew Fadale, Rick Presutti and Antonio Diaz-Albertini in New York, Andrej Wolf in London, and Barbara Mayer-Trautmann and Markus Muhs in Germany.
Milbank is proud of its longstanding commitment to Asia. We have been doing deals in Asia for almost 100 years and based in Asia for 45 years covering the region through five integrated offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo. With an emphasis on cross-border transactions, our practices include all types of financing transactions (including project finance, transportation finance and acquisition finance), financial restructuring, mergers and acquisitions and debt and equity capital markets transactions. We’ve received awards from leading publications like Asian-Counsel, Asian Legal Business, China Business Law Journal, China Law & Practice, Finance Asia, Project Finance International and International Project Finance. We were also named “Most Innovative US Firm in Asia” by IFLR Financial Law Review.
