Albert Cho is a partner in the Hong Kong office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and is Co-Head of the firm’s Investment Funds Practice Group in Asia. Albert focuses his practice on the formation of private investment funds, including buyout, growth capital, venture capital, special situations, debt/credit, continuation, secondary, real estate and hedge funds, as well as funds-of-funds. He has extensive experience advising fund clients on co-investment transactions, GP-led secondaries transactions, operational and structuring matters, and legal and regulatory compliance matters. He has represented private investment funds formed by a variety of sponsors, including established private equity houses, large financial services companies, spin-off/spin-out teams as well as boutique firms.
Albert regularly works with Asian, U.S. and European private fund sponsors on their fundraising activities, particularly the formation of funds focused on investing in the Asia-Pacific region. He has also represented institutional investors in their private investment fund activities, including sovereign wealth funds, employee benefit plans for major corporations, family offices and the alternative investment arms of financial services companies.
Albert is consistently ranked as a leading lawyer and a notable practitioner for Investment Funds in China by Chambers Asia Pacific and Chambers Greater China Region, in which a client noted that "Albert's technical expertise, commercial awareness and sound judgement have helped his clients in some very difficult situations where perhaps no one else could have got the same result.” In the Chambers Greater China Region guide, interviewed clients remarked that Albert "delivers a complete product for clients," "consistently provides outstanding work and advice, even under very challenging or urgent circumstances," “is absolutely devoted to his clients and to supporting their business," is "very hands-on on deals" and "gets very close to his clients, taking the trouble to know their business.” He has also been recognized for his work as a private funds lawyer in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, IFLR1000, Legal Media Group’s Expert Guides and Who’s Who Legal. In The Legal 500 Asia Pacific guide, clients were quoted saying Albert is a “first-class lawyer” who is “at the top of his game” and is “extremely dedicated” and “hardworking and knowledgeable”. He is particularly known for his work in the Korean market and has been recognized by Chambers Global as a foreign expert for Korea in Investment Funds.
His recent experience includes advising:
- Hahn & Company, a leading South Korea-based private equity firm, on the formation of Hahn & Company IV, its fourth Korea-focused buyout fund, which raised approximately US$3.4 billion in capital commitments and is reported to be the largest single-country investment fund ever formed in Asia, excluding China.
-
Hahn & Company, a leading South Korea-based private equity firm, in the sale of its interest in Ssangyong C&E, an industry-leading Korean cement manufacturer, through the largest single-asset GP-led secondary transaction in Asia to date.
- PAG, a leading Asia Pacific-focused alternative investment firm, on the formation of PAG Loan Fund V, its fifth pan-Asia direct lending fund and the largest direct lending fund raised in the Asia-Pacific region to date.
- Crescendo Equity Partners, a South Korean private equity firm, on the formation of Crescendo Private Equity Fund III (USD), L.P., which focuses on making control buyout and growth capital investments in mid-cap technology companies in or with a nexus to South Korea.
- UCK Partners, a South Korean private equity firm, on the formation of UCK Partners III, a Korea-focused middle-market buyout fund.
- J.P. Morgan Asset Management, the asset management division of JP Morgan Chase & Co., on the formation of Japan Multi-Family Fund IV, a fund investing in multi-family residential real estate in major cities in Japan.
Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Albert was a partner with Weil Gotshal since 2014. Albert graduated from Cornell Law School in 1999. He speaks basic Korean and is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, the State of New York and Hong Kong.
Capabilities
Credentials
Education:
- Cornell University - 1999 Juris Doctor
- Brown University - 1994 Bachelor of Arts
Admissions:
- District of Columbia Bar
- New York Bar
- Solicitor of the High Court of Hong Kong