Peter Corne

Some signature deals in which Peter has led as legal advisor include:

• Putting in place one of the largest clean development mechanism (CDM) projects up to that time under the Kyoto Protocol for a consortium of Japanese investors
• Acting for a large Chinese steel manufacturer in one of the largest ever energy efficiency CDM projects
• Securing the approval from the Chinese FDA of the establishment of a manufacturing facility by a leading pharmaceutical company from the US to produce intrusive diagnostic equipment
• Setting up the first foreign-invested company limited by shares under the PRC Company Law for India’s leading company, then leading its restructuring in several rounds of share reorganizations
• Reorganizing a nationwide beverage business into a company limited by shares with multiple shareholders and branches
• Executing  a  number  of  delicate  mergers  for  leading  western  multinationals  including  an unprecedented cross-jurisdictional merger between a company limited by shares in Beijing with a limited liability company in Shanghai
• Engineering a split and assets transfer of a major chemical facility in Shanghai from a MNC petrochemical company, in the process addressing government concerns in respect of wastewater treatment to secure multiple relevant approvals
• Helping an environmental company to execute the largest M&A project up to that time in the western regions of China
• Setting up a series of R&D collaboration projects with leading Chinese research institutes to develop and deploy strategic cleantech solutions in the coal to chemical industry to address China’s environmental problems
• Drafting and negotiating one of the first true energy management contracts in the sphere of green buildings in China
• Acting for an Icelandic company in the setting up of a geothermal residential estate heating joint venture with Sinopec, and assisting in its restructuring and partial sale to another investor

Other Experience

Peter has developed a robust clean energy and sustainability practice in China and is well known within Shanghai’s cleantech community. Co-head of Dorsey & Whitney’s global Cleantech Business Group, Peter is currently Shanghai Chair of the Environmental Working Group of the European Chamber of Commerce in China.

Peter is a pioneer in the area of anti-trust in China and participated, in his role as long-term head of the Legal Working Group of the European Chamber of Commerce in China, in the drafting of and commentary upon China’s Anti-Trust Law and associated legislation.

He is, in addition, a noted authority on PRC administrative law and the foreign investment process, having authored a critically acclaimed book on the subject and numerous academic publications.