Guanming Fang

Atlanta

Profile

China Practice

Guanming Fang is a Member of Womble Carlyle’s Corporate and Securities Practice Group and the team leader of the Firm’s China Initiative. She advises mid-market companies in their mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances, private equity transactions, technology licensings and other transactions. She has represented clients across a broad range of industries, including manufacturing, distribution, business service, life science, and information technology, and routinely counsels U.S. and international companies (particularly Chinese companies) on issues relating to their company structure, equity holder relationships, and U.S. operations.

One unique resource that Guanming brings to the service of her clients is her bi-cultural and bi-lingual background. Guanming was born and raised in China and is fluent in Chinese Mandarin and Cantonese, in addition to English. Her innate understanding of the Chinese culture enables her to explain complex U.S. legal principles and business issues in a language and manner that is easy for her Chinese clients to understand. She also uses this unique background to help U.S. companies navigate the intricate political, legal, economic and relationship web in China. Guanming is a frequent speaker on China’s contract law and company law.

Guanming also actively works with organizations that foster U.S.-China relationships. In 2004, Guanming co-founded the Georgia-China Alliance, Inc., a non-profit organization devoted to promoting business exchanges between the United States and China.

Representative U.S. - China Transactions 

  • Represent Chinese manufacturers in their expansion into the U.S. market, including developing investment strategies; negotiating incentives and other investment conditions with state and local governments; negotiating investment documents, including real estate acquisition documents; structuring, negotiating and documenting business transactions with third parties; and providing general counsel to clients regarding the U.S. market and legal environment. 
  • Represent company with operations in China in its private offering in the U.S. market. 
  • Represent U.S. companies in structuring, negotiating and drafting various contracts with Chinese companies, including technology license agreements, cooperation agreements between universities, and service agreements. 
  • Represent U.S. companies in their expansion into the Chinese market, including establishing representative offices and wholly-owned subsidiaries.

Other Representative Transactions 

  • Lead counsel in the sale of a business for a cash payment of $8 million and an earn-out of up to $20 million. 
  • Primary counsel in a complex acquisition of a company for a purchase price of over $23 million, involving the acquisition of stock from an ESOP with a Section 338(h)(10) election, separate acquisition of several real properties in a 1031 like-kind exchange, and a divestiture of a business division prior to the closing. 
  • Primary counsel in the acquisition of the assets of a company for a purchase price of over $600 million. 
  • Represent a public REIT in its reorganization and sale over a period of more than two years.

Honors 

  • Named to "Georgia Rising Stars" by Atlanta Magazine in 2005 
  • Named to "Who's Who in Law & Accounting" by the Atlanta Business Chronicle in 2005 
  • Named to "Who's Who in Asian American Communities" by the WWAAC Committee in 2007

Professional Activities

Bar Associations: State Bar of Georgia, Business and International Sections, Executive Committee, Technology Law Section, 2003-2005.

Admitted to bar 1998, Georgia.

Prior Legal Experience
Associate, Arnall Golden Gregory LLP, Atlanta, Georgia, 1998-2006; Summer Associate, Arnall Golden Gregory LLP, Atlanta, Georgia, 1997.

Education

B.A., 1985, Zhongshan University, P.R.C.; J.D., magna cum laude, 1998, Florida State University College of Law, Order of the Coif.

Civic Activities

  • Board of Directors, Zoo Atlanta;
  • Co-founder/Board of Directors, Georgia China Alliance;
  • Advisory Board, China Research Center;
  • Board of Directors, Chinese Business Association of Atlanta, 2001-2005
  • Board of Directors, National Association of Chinese Americans – Atlanta Chapter, 1999-2000.

Presentations

"Introduction of the New Chinese Company Law," Doing Business in China Seminar, organized by The Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia, September 29, 2006.

"Negotiating Contracts with Chinese Businesses," Doing Business in China Seminar, organized by The Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia, September 28, 2005.

"China's Implementation of Its WTO Commitments and Its Effects on Business," The U.S.-China Business Forum: Building Prosperity Between Georgia and China, organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Department of Economic Development, May 4, 2005.