Natalie is Head of our Competition practice in Asia. She is one of the industry’s leading competition and regulatory lawyers and has worked on a wide range of antitrust, merger control and regulatory matters involving Hong Kong, EU and UK competition law. She regularly represents clients on cross-border M&A (with a particular focus on Chinese merger filings) and the new Hong Kong competition legislation and advises on the coordination of Chinese and Asian merger notifications, foreign direct investment and other regulatory matters, in the context of global transactions, working alongside our London/Brussels office.
In Hong Kong, Natalie has advised extensively on the Competition Ordinance and has worked on a number of ‘firsts’, including the first block exemption application, the first case involving the use of formal commitments, one of the first cases involving cooperation with the Competition Commission and the first case before the Competition Tribunal that was fully resolved under the Commission’s Cooperation and Settlement Policy.
Natalie is referred to as “one of the standout lawyers in Hong Kong” and “one of the world’s foremost experts on Hong Kong’s competition legislation.”
Natalie is repeatedly recognised as a Band 1 lawyer by Chambers Greater China for Competition / Antitrust (International Firms) and as a Leading Lawyer in the Legal 500 Asia Pacific for Antitrust and Competition. She is named as one of China Business Law Journal's “A-List Visionaries” for 2023–2024 for the China practice. Natalie is also listed as “Thought Leader” for Competition and Foreign Investment Review, as well as recommended for Competition, Foreign Investment Control and State Aid in Who’s Who Legal.
Natalie is the co-author of the Hong Kong chapter of Getting the Deal Through ‘Cartel Regulation’. She is also a Non-Governmental Advisor to the Hong Kong Competition Commission (“HKCC”) in the International Competition Network and Chairperson of the Competition Law Committee of The Law Society of Hong Kong.
Highlights include advising:
Merger control cases
- BHP on its joint venture with Lundin Mining to acquire two copper/gold/silver projects
- Elanco on its acquisition of Bayer’s Animal Health Business
- JCDecaux Group on their participation in a c. HK$3.9 billion consortium offer to acquire all the shares in Clear Media Limited
- Google on its US$1.1 billion acquisition of certain HTC assets related to the design, engineering, certification and testing of smartphones
- HKBN on the substantive and procedural aspects of Hong Kong merger review in respect of a preliminary non-binding letter of interest from I Squared Asia Advisors Pte Ltd
- INEOS on its three landmark joint ventures with SINOPEC for an aggregate value of US$7 billion in respect of Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical and a greenfield HDPE joint venture, and its acquisition of Eramet Titanium & Iron in Norway from Eramet
- PCCW on its strategic partnership with CANAL+ in relation to Viu, an over-the-top video streaming service with a presence across Asia, the Middle East and South Africa
- S.F. Holding on its US$2.3 billion acquisition of a controlling stake in Kerry Logistics
- Standard Chartered on the competition aspects of various joint ventures and strategic investments
- Swire Beverages on the expansion of its Coca-Cola bottling franchise territories in Mainland China
- Swire Properties on its RMB5.55 billion acquisition of the remaining 50% interests in Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li Chengdu from Sino-Ocean Group
- West China Cement group on its acquisition of the 91% majority stake in Cimenterie de Lukala SA in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Hong Kong antitrust investigations and HKCC decisional matters
- Booking.com in the Online Travel Agents investigation on the use of parity clauses in its contracts with Hong Kong accommodation providers, cumulating in the first commitments accepted by the Hong Kong Competition Commission (HKCC) under section 60 of the Competition Ordinance, which was awarded the GCR Behavioural Matter of the Year for the APAC region in May 2021
- Google on a range of competition law matters across the Asia-Pacific region, including the Japan Fair Trade Commission’s investigation into Google’s mobile search and search- advertising syndication arrangements on Yahoo!Japan
- Meituan (KeeTa) as an interested third-party regarding the commitments proposed by Deliveroo and Foodpanda to address concerns raised by the HKCC in its investigation about exclusivity and price parity provisions in the agreements between the leading food delivery platforms and restaurants
- Harilela Hotels Ltd in the Tourist Attraction Tickets investigation by the HKCC, which is the first case in Hong Kong concerning the liability of a facilitator of a cartel and the second commitments accepted by the HKCC under section 67 of the Competition Ordinance
- Toppan Edge (Hong Kong) on an investigation by the HKCC into alleged price fixing, market sharing and bid rigging. This is the first case to be fully resolved under the HKCC’s Cooperation and Settlement Policy prior to Tribunal proceedings
- the Hong Kong Association of Banks in relation to the application to the HKCC for a decision confirming that the Competition Ordinance does not apply to the giving effect of the Code of Banking Practice by banks and deposit taking companies. This is the first application for a decision in Hong Kong
- Hong Kong Liner Shipping Association in successfully obtaining a block exemption order from the Hong Kong Competition Commission for the liner shipping industry in Hong Kong, the first and only such exemption order granted by the Commission under the Competition Ordinance, and on the subsequent renewal of the block exemption.
Client testimonials:
- ‘Her deep experience in merger control, her commercial acumen and her ability to navigate cross-border regulatory environments have been instrumental in helping us achieve our commercial objectives.’ Chambers and Partners, Greater China Region 2025
- ‘Natalie Yeung has very deep expertise and understands the implications of competition law for our industry and our business. She is extremely responsive to our queries and looks for practical solutions to find ways to approach issues.' Legal 500, Asia Pacific 2024
- ‘Natalie Yeung is a standout performer. She is easy to work with and takes a practical approach to finding commercial solutions.' Legal 500, Asia Pacific 2024