Corporate & M&A in Hong Kong: lateral monitor

From November 2025 to October 2026, Sartori & Partners recorded 37 lateral moves in Corporate & M&A in Hong Kong, 1.3% of the practice's moves. Year on year, on windows that end a month early, the count grew 65.4% (26 to 43). The market as a whole moved +9.0%, so this flow outpaced it.

Over the three years to October 2026, 87 lawyers moved in Corporate & M&A in Hong Kong, 27 of them partners (31.0%). They joined 46 different firms. 78.1% came from firms with 1,000+ lawyers.

The partner share is 18.9%, below the market's 27.7%, so most movers are associates and counsel. A step up in title came with 13.5% of moves (market 12.9%).

The 12-month firm table is below our naming threshold, so this part reads the three years to October 2026. Lateral hires in Corporate & M&A in Hong Kong were spread across 46 firms. The ten firms at the head of the hiring table took 44.8% of arrivals (12.2% market-wide), so hiring here is concentrated. Clifford Chance ranks first by lateral arrivals, in the 6-10 band.

The practice accounts for 34.3% of all lateral moves in Hong Kong.

For a firm building a team in Corporate & M&A in Hong Kong, associate supply is active; the partner hire is the scarcer piece and the one to start first.

Sartori & Partners data count 211 dated deals in Corporate & M&A in Hong Kong in the 12 months to October 2026 and 652 over the three years to October 2026.

M&A work is involved in 79.4% of them and Private equity in 6.7%.

By client industry, Pharma & Biotech comes first with 8.9%.

Slaughter and May ranks first among advising firms over the period, in the 41-60 band.

Over the three years to October 2026, Private M&A was involved in 39.1% of moves in Corporate & M&A in Hong Kong, then Public M&A with 33.3%.