(This article is part of CLP's 2009 China Awards Winners coverage.)

In-house Team of the year: International Company

WINNER - Société Générale

The in-house team at Société Générale, which includes the respected Molly Yang, has worked on numerous financing deals in the region over the last 12 months. These include the US$114.5 million backed loan facility to Chinese company Kumho Tire (Tianjin) Co., Inc in December 2008, which had to be tailored to meet legal and regulatory requirements arising under both PRC law and Korean law. The team's major achievement however was its work on localising the SocGen businesses by tailoring business contracts and other legal documentation to local needs, in terms of applicable laws and best practice. The team helped establish a wholly-owned subsidiary bank by way of converting existing PRC branches into subsidiary banks. This involved the conversion of all existing business, assets and liabilities of the existing branches into a newly-established subsidiary bank. This deal was a new test in the Chinese market and involved new approaches and solutions due to a lack of legislation.

FINALISTS
Credit Suisse
Danone
Goldman Sachs
Google China
JPMorgan
Standard Chartered
The Coca-Cola Company

In-house Team of the Year: Chinese Company

WINNER - China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec)

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec, is one of China's largest state-owned petroleum and petrochemical companies and its in-house team have been kept extremely busy over the last 12 months on a series of transactions. For example, the team advised on the company's C$2.1 billion acquisition of Canada-based Tanganyika Oil. This transaction represents one of the largest takeovers by a Chinese acquirer of a North American public company, and involved companies and assets located in Syria, China, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Sweden, Canada and Bermuda. The deal was named one of the Top 10 China M&A Events of the Year in 2008 by the China Mergers and Acquisitions Association (CMAA). The team also worked on the subsequent takeover of Addax Petroleum Corporation, which completed in August. That deal covered 26 petroleum assets in more than six different countries and regions in West Africa and Kurdistan. It was the largest cross-border energy deal, and the second largest cross-border deal of any kind by Chinese entity. The in-house team is quite sizable by Chinese standards and has the respect of the business people. It includes Lianhua Zhang, general counsel at Sinopec International, and Xiaofeng Zhang, in-house attorney in the contract and project division.

FINALISTS
Aluminum Corporation of China (Chinalco)
China Development Bank
China Merchants Bank
China National Petroleum Company
China Telecom
Shanda Interactive Entertainment
Shanghai Electric

Teams of the year

China M&A
WINNER - Jingtian & Gongcheng

FINALISTS
Commerce & Finance Law Offices
Fangda Partners
Haiwen & Partners
Jun He Law Offices
King & Wood
Llinks Law Offices
Zhong Lun Law Firm

International M&A
WINNER - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

FINALISTS
Clifford Chance
Linklaters
Mallesons Stephen Jaques
Skadden
Sullivan & Cromwell

China Capital Markets
WINNER - Commerce & Finance Law Offices

FINALISTS
Grandall Legal Group
Jingtian & Gongcheng
Jun He Law Offices
King & Wood

International Capital Markets
WINNER - Davis Polk & Wardwell

FINALISTS
Baker & McKenzie
Latham & Watkins
Linklaters
Morrison & Foerster
Shearman & Sterling

China Project Finance
WINNER - Jun He Law Offices

FINALISTS
Fangda Partners
Global Law Office
King & Wood

International Project Finance
WINNER - Allen & Overy

FINALISTS
Baker & McKenzie
Clifford Chance
Herbert Smith
White & Case

China Restructuring
WINNER - King & Wood

FINALISTS
Dacheng Law Offices
Guantao Law Firm
Jun He Law Offices
Llinks Law Offices
Zhong Lun Law Firm

International Restructuring
WINNER - Allen & Overy

FINALISTS
Clifford Chance
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Linklaters
Lovells