Partners & Managing Directors

Howie He
Steven He
George Kang (Kang Jun)
Angela Liang
Jules Pleumeekers
Edward Radcliffe
David Russell
Marcus Shadbolt, FCA
Jason Wang
Michael Zhang

Howie He

Beijing
Partner

Howie joined Vermilion in 2006 and specialises in the agricultural, natural resources, energy, infrastructure, industrial, and financial services sectors.  

Prior to joining Vermilion, he worked with Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong and Beijing, where he focused on sourcing investment opportunities, executing transactions, and managing investment portfolio. He also worked for Asia Business Management Group, Dayue Investment Consulting and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC). Howie has extensive experience in cross-border M&A, private equity, distressed assets, structured finance, project finance and corporate advisory services.  

He holds an MA in International Business Management and a BA in Economics and Information Management from the University of International Business & Economics, Beijing. He is also a member of the Chinese Institute of CPAs, a CFA charter holder and a member of the CFA Institute and Hong Kong Society of Financial Analysts. Howie is based in Beijing and speaks fluent English.

Steven He

Shenzhen
Partner

Steven He joined Vermilion in April 2011 and specialises in the manufacturing and industry sectors.  Prior to joining Vermilion, Steven was a Senior Analyst in the Equity Investment department of Sino-life Asset Management in China.  In this role he was responsible for equity research covering a broad range of industries including machinery, automotive, telecommunication, medical devices, alternative energies and technology.  His previous positions in China’s financial services industry include serving as Managing Director, Fosun Ruizhe Asset Management Ltd in Shenzhen, and as Deputy General Manager, Overseas Business Division, Fund Energy Investment Holding Ltd.

Before commencing a career in Financial Services, Steven was an experienced engineer and manager in Canada.  He worked as an engineering manager at Mott Manufacturing, leading an engineering team focused on product development and manufacturing engineering.  Prior to joining Mott, Steven was a senior product design engineer at General Motors, Canada, responsible for GD&T applications in vehicle design. Steven also worked as a production manager for Thermo King China, a Westinghouse Company based in Shenzhen, before emigrating to Canada in 2000.

Steven holds an MBA from INSEAD, France; an M.Eng from McMaster University, Canada; and a B.Eng from Shanghai Jiaotong University, China.  Steven is based in Shenzhen and speaks fluent English.

George Kang (Kang Jun)

Shenzhen
Partner

Kang Jun co-founded Vermilion Partners in 2004. He manages Vermilion's office in Shenzhen and has been advising on cross-border deals with a China component since 1992. Prior to joining Vermilion, he was a Director at Batey Burn, a leading China advisory firm, where he led the firm's South China team and managed all investment projects in the region. 

Kang Jun has been responsible for numerous transactions for multinational companies, as well as small and medium sized enterprises in various industries. He has established a number of wholly foreign-owned enterprises and led transaction teams on several acquisition/joint venture projects (including the acquisition of a Chinese listed company) in China. Kang Jun has a valuable network of relationships within the Chinese business community, as well as provincial and municipal officials in many of the government authorities. 

Prior to joining Batey Burn in 1992, Kang Jun was an analyst at Shenzhen Securities and a project leader for Philips' joint venture in Shenzhen. He was educated at Xi'an Jiaotong University, where he obtained a BEng in industrial management engineering, as well as a masters degree from the Canada-China Joint MBA Program between the University of Alberta and Xi'an Jiaotong University. He speaks fluent English.

Angela Liang

Shanghai
Partner

Angela joined Vermilion in 2008 and advises international clients on acquisitions, joint ventures and market and regulatory issues in China. Her expertise spans a number of areas including commercial and regulatory analysis, deal structuring, valuation, due diligence, negotiation and approval. Angela primarily covers the healthcare, industrial and consumer sectors.  

Prior to joining Vermilion, Angela spent four years at Walt Disney, where her principal responsibility was to help launch the Disney theme park and Disney English Language Schools in mainland China. Before joining Disney, Angela was a financial analyst and assistant to the CEO at Partners Bank in US, where she was responsible for financial reports and various quantitative analyses. Angela started her career with Clifford Chance in Shanghai and also worked at GE Consumer Finance as a Business Analyst for a brief period.   

Angela graduated from Southern Illinois University and holds an MSc in Economics and Finance.  She also holds a BA in Economics from the East China Normal University in Shanghai.  Angela is based in Shanghai and speaks fluent English.

Jules Pleumeekers

Shanghai
Managing Director

Jules has over 15 years of M&A, private equity and capital markets experience in Europe, the U.S. and Asia. He has managed many cross-border transactions, advising corporate, government and private equity clients across a wide range of sectors, including healthcare, financial services, infrastructure, automotive, consumer products and real estate.  Jules is responsible for Vermilion’s healthcare advisory activities. 

Prior to joining Vermilion, he was based in London, where he worked in Merrill Lynch’s mergers and acquisitions group and Hawkpoint Partners’ corporate advisory group.  

Jules holds an MSc in Business Administration from Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Jules is based in Shanghai and speaks Dutch, English, German and Mandarin.

Edward Radcliffe

London and Shanghai
Managing Partner

Edward Radcliffe co-founded Vermilion Partners in 2004.  He first started advising international companies on China in 1994 and has helped formulate and implement China strategies for numerous leading international firms. He has worked in the healthcare, consumer goods, telecommunications and energy sectors. 

Prior to founding Vermilion, Edward served as General Manager of Whitefox Technologies Limited, which specialises in the development and commercialisation of environmental technology. Before joining Whitefox, Edward was Head of Online Retail at BT Retail, a division of BT Group plc. 

From 1994 to 2000, Edward served as Director and Chief Representative of Batey Burn, a leading China advisory firm in Beijing, before returning to London as the UK managing director. 

Edward served as Treasurer of the British Chamber of Commerce in China, 1997-98, and as a Council member of the China-Britain Business Council from 1999 to 2000. From 2015 until 2018, he was a director of BOCIM, the fund management joint venture between Blackrock and Bank of China, as a nominee of Blackrock.  Edward holds a BA (Hons.) in Chinese Studies from Durham University, UK, as well as an MBA from INSEAD, France, and speaks fluent Mandarin.

David Russell

Shanghai
Partner

David joined Vermilion in 2009, following three years with Ernst & Young’s transaction advisory team in London. Prior to E&Y and after graduating from university David spent eighteen months in Beijing studying Chinese, in the process developing an abiding appreciation for the country that later drew him back.

Since 2009 David has focused on advising international clients on acquisitions and joint ventures in China across a wide range of sectors including primary industry, consumer products, general industry, financial services, media and telecoms, retail and e-commerce and food & beverage, amongst others. Completed transactions include Tate & Lyle’s acquisition of Winway, Imperial Brands’ joint venture with China Tobacco and Home Retail Group’s e-commerce joint venture with Haier.

David is a Chartered Accountant and holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford. He is based in Shanghai and speaks fluent Mandarin.

Marcus Shadbolt, FCA

Beijing and London
Senior Advisory Partner

Marcus Shadbolt co-founded Vermilion Partners in 2004.  He is a Chartered Accountant with over 25 years’ advisory and private equity experience. He splits his time between Europe and Beijing, where he lived from 2004 to 2008. He has advised on many cross-border transactions in a range of sectors in China, the US, Europe and Latin America. From 2010 to 2019 he was a director of XDK Group Limited,  a group manufacturing fibre optic connection assemblies based in Guangdong. 

Prior to joining Vermilion, Marcus was a director at Botts & Company, a European investment banking firm. He spent eight years at Botts, primarily focused on European middle-market private equity investments in industrial products and services, leisure and media. At Botts, Marcus also completed a range of cross-border strategic advisory and merger and acquisition mandates. From 2000 to 2002, he lived in Munich where he established and managed Botts’ German office.  

Prior to joining Botts, Marcus was employed in the Financial Services Division of Coopers & Lybrand in London, where he performed various audit, due diligence and forensic accounting assignments in the banking, insurance and private equity markets. Marcus is a CEDR Accredited Mediator and has an MSc in International Banking and Financial Studies from Herriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and a BSc in Mathematics with Philosophy from the University of Durham.

Jason Wang

Shanghai
Partner

Jason Wang joined Vermilion Partners in 2005 and manages the firm's Shanghai office. He has been advising on cross-border deals since 1994, managing over 80 transaction projects in fields including distribution and logistics, electronics, engineering, retail and telecommunications sectors, as well as business and consumer services. He has negotiated and obtained approvals for joint ventures incorporating structures that set legal precedents. 

Before joining Vermilion, Jason served as China Business Development Director of Porsche Holdings GmbH from 2003 to 2005, where his principal responsibility was to formulate and manage Porsche’s China market entry strategy.  Jason started his career as a project coordinator for the Shanghai Municipal Government Foreign Affairs Office, after which he was an Information Officer of the Cultural and Education Section of the British Consulate-General, Shanghai and then a Project Development Manager for Bell South Inc.  He left Bell South in 1994 to join Batey Burn, a leading China advisory firm.

Jason holds a BA (Hons) in English Language and Literature from the Shanghai International Studies University and speaks fluent English.

Michael Zhang

Beijing
Partner

Michael joined Vermilion as a Partner and Head of China Outbound in 2023.  He is based in Beijing and is primarily responsible for originating and executing outbound mandates.  Michael also works on multinational, financial sponsor and other China client situations.  In this capacity, he collaborates closely with Natixis APAC and Natixis’ global M&A network.

Michael brings over 20 years of corporate and investment banking experience in China with a focus on the renewables, industrials and other sectors, having worked at Barclays, Citibank and Bank of America covering some of China’s largest private and state-owned enterprise clients.

Prior to joining Vermilion, Michael was Vice Chairman of Deutsche Bank’s China investment banking activities. He started his career at KPMG, where he worked in Beijing and London for seven years.  Michael is an ACCA member. He holds a BA in English and MA in British Studies from Beijing Foreign Studies University, as well as an MBA in Finance from Bayes Business School, formerly known as Cass Business School, City, University of London.