Fangda Partners and Latham & Watkins are advising China’s electronics company TCL on its RMB10.8 billion (USD1.54 billion) acquisition of LG Display’s factory in Guangzhou. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025.
Partner Ma Qiang leads Fangda’s team, representing the buyer TCL’s liquid crystal display (LCD) arm, TCL China Star Optoelectronics Technology. Key team members include antitrust partners Michael Han and Wang Jin, and dispute resolution partners Daniel Huang and Allan Chen.
Latham is advising LG Display, with lead partners Steve Kang and Stephen Shi, and the assistance of partner Dominic Geiser on litigation matters. Six consultants and lawyers from Seoul, Hong Kong, Beijing and Singapore supported the team on local law and intellectual property matters.
According to data from the high-tech industry researcher TrendForce, TCL’s global LCD market share will surpass 20%, making it the second-largest supplier after its Chinese competitor BOE, the world’s biggest LCD supplier.
This contrasts with the situation in 2011, when South Korean companies Samsung Display and LG Display were the dominant players in LCD technology. The Guangzhou plant is LG Display’s last operational LCD factory, while Samsung Display shifted its focus to OLED technology in 2022, completely exiting the LCD market.
