Chinese Transactional Expertise:
A Personal Case Study

Mr. Cochran has maintained a personal interest in China and Taiwan for over three decades (initially kindled by studies at the Fairbank Center for East Asian History Research at Harvard University in the late 1970's).  A Caucasian of Irish descent, he was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He moved to the Silicon Valley in 1983 directly after graduating with degrees from Harvard College (economics, '79) and Harvard Law School (JD, '83).

Mr. Cochran was trained at the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati where he practiced in the 1980's.

In those days, very few Caucasians showed interest in Taiwan or China. But Mr. Cochran observed the entrepreneurial spirit and powerful vibrancy of the Asian people.  He foresaw the growth of Asian tech and committed in 1983 to participate in the global trend of corporate transactions across the Pacific.

Mr. Cochran served as counsel to several of the first tech companies organized and funded in the Hsinchu Science Park in Taiwan and began traveling to Asia, and especially Taiwan, in 1985.  Over the following ten years, Mr. Cochran traveled to Asia over fifty (50) times, negotiating transactions of all types relating to emerging tech companies.

In the very late 80's, Mr. Cochran left the practice of law temporarily to become a Vice President and General Counsel of one of his start-ups, an SRAM company founded in 1984. Mr. Cochran engineered a string of cross-border (i.e., international) acquisitions to build that Company into a highly successful, five billion dollar market cap semiconductor manufacturer (Mosel-Vitelic, Inc.) that became a publicly listed on the Taiwan stock exchange. The most notable of these acquisitions was of Vitelic, Inc., a DRAM company, in connection with which Mr. Cochran broke new legal ground in Taiwan and the U.S. by using unique structures that have since been embodied into Taiwan law.

In the early 90's, Mr. Cochran was principal of a boutique cross-border merger and acquisition firm specializing in U.S. / Asia business combinations, often being retained on a risk basis.

Mr. Cochran's first transactions in Mainland China date back to the late 80's.

The sale of Newave Semiconductor, Inc. to Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (IDT – NASDAQ: IDTI), in 2001 for approximately $80 million in cash served as an illustration of success at penetrating China. Newave, at the time of sale, had approximately 80 employees in China and only 5 in the U.S. Yet, thanks to advice from Mr. Cochran given in the mid-90's prior to incorporation, it was organized with the U.S. corporation as the parent corporation. When the sale occurred, it proceeded smoothly, without any risk of foreign government delays and without the need for foreign government approvals. Shareholders received the cash proceeds within a few weeks of the Closing – extracting value from a China play without subjecting the shareholders to the risks of holding securities directly in a China corporation.

While our office now represents many emerging tech companies based purely in the Silicon Valley or elsewhere in the U.S., a significant portion of our referral base remains associated with Asia. We believe that the depth of our experience engaging with Asian issues and people gives us a unique advantage in serving emerging companies with ties to Asia or more mature corporations considering transactions in Asia. 

Rob Cochran is 49 years old; married (for 24 years);
and has two beautiful daughters.