Xin Florence Zhang’s practice focuses on private funds and sponsor solutions, advising leading sponsors and investors on complex private funds and asset management transactions, including GP stakes, GP seeding, strategic GP-led transactions, and asset management mergers and acquisitions.

She has advised on some of the most intricate and notable domestic and cross-border M&A transactions in recent years, encompassing deals with transaction values ranging from several million to $80 billion. She frequently represents sponsors and their managers navigating significant changes to their “upper tier” ownership and governance structures through change of control transactions, joint ventures, and other forms of business combinations. She also counsels U.S. and international public and private companies, as well as private equity firms, on structured equity deals and minority interest transactions.

As part of her GP advisory practice, Florence provides guidance to clients on structuring complex incentive compensation and equity ownership arrangements for principals of investment management firms. She also brings extensive experience in advising public companies on corporate governance matters, activism, and takeover defense, as well as providing assistance to financial institutions in M&A financial advisory matters.

Florence joined the firm as a partner in 2025 from another major international law firm.

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Notable Experience (including those prior to joining Cleary)

  • Act III Holdings in its $70 million investment in BJ’s Restaurants, along with funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates.

  • American Express in the sale of its JetBlue Airways co-branded credit card portfolio to Barclays Bank Delaware.

  • Cheniere Energy and its board of directors in connection with the appointment of Jack A. Fusco as president and chief executive officer, of Cheniere.

  • A consortium led by China Three Gorges, including Hubei Energy Group, ACE Investment Fund, and CNIC Corporation, in the $1.39 billion acquisition of Empresa de Generación Huallaga from Odebrecht Energia del Perú and Odebrecht Energía.

  • Columbia Pipeline Group in its $13 billion acquisition by TransCanada.

  • Empire Company in connection with the acquisition by its subsidiary, Sobeys, of substantially all the assets of Safeway’s Canadian subsidiary.

  • Fortress Management in its acquisition of Fortress investment Group from SoftBank.

  • Industrious National Management in the sale of 40% of its interest to CBRE Group for approximately $200 million and the transfer of CBRE’s flexible-space solutions offering, Hana.

  • Intercontinental Exchange in its $5.2 billion acquisition of Interactive Data Corporation.

  • Iron Park Capital in its acquisition by General Atlantic.

  • MSD Partners in its strategic business combination with BDT & Company.

  • NorthStar Asset Management Group in its $6 billion merger of equals with Colony Capital and NorthStar Realty Finance, creating a world-class, internally managed, diversified real estate and investment management platform.

  • Sempra Energy in its cooperation agreement with affiliates of Elliott Management and Bluescape Energy Partners.

  • Shamrock Capital in connection with a minority investment in its business by RidgeLake Partners, a strategic partnership between Ottawa Avenue Private Capital and Apogem Capital, and Bonaccord Capital Partners.

  • Sprout Pharmaceuticals in its $1 billion acquisition by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International.

  • Tillman Infrastructure in connection with UBS Asset Management’s strategic minority investment in Tillman.

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Events

AAAIM New York Chapter AANHPI Heritage Month 2025