NEA Names Carmen Chang to Special Senior Advisor Role

MENLO PARK, Calif., Feb. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA), a leading global venture capital firm, today announced that Carmen Chang has joined the firm as a Special Senior Advisor. Ms. Chang officially will retire as a Partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (WSGR), where she specialized in corporate and securities law and led the firm's China practice. In her new role, she will work closely with NEA's portfolio of companies based in, or conducting business in, China.

"Carmen is truly a pioneer when it comes to U.S. inbound investing in China, and we are thrilled to welcome her as part of our team," said Scott Sandell, General Partner, NEA. "Since NEA became active in China nearly a decade ago, we have worked closely with Carmen on many occasions, and her acumen and experience will be an incredible asset as we continue to expand our activities in China."

NEA first invested in China in 2003, established a local presence in 2007, and today has affiliate offices in Beijing and Shanghai. The firm has invested nearly $400 million in 27 portfolio companies across a range of sectors and stages, including SMIC (SMIC), Spreadtrum (SPRD), CITIC Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Shanghai Pharma), LianLian Pay, Shenghui Lighting, and Uni-Power Group.

"Working with NEA is a natural next step for me, because I am so comfortable with how the firm operates, both as investors and as partners to entrepreneurs," said Ms. Chang. "NEA's approach to company building makes the firm very well regarded in China, and I've had the opportunity to work directly with the firm on many projects."

"While we are very sorry to see Carmen retire from our firm, we look forward to continuing to work with her in this new role," said Larry Sonsini, Chairman, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. "NEA is a wonderful platform for her to continue to build on all she's accomplished. We appreciate all her many contributions in establishing and growing the firm's China practice and wish her all the best in this new venture."

Ms. Chang's practice at WSGR focused on representing public and private technology companies and financial institutions in public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, financings and other types of transactions in the U.S. and abroad. Among many other transactions, she represented SMIC in its acquisition of Motorola's manufacturing operation in Tientsin, the first M&A transaction in China after the People's Republic of China put its M&A rules in place; the IPOs of SMIC, Spreadtrum, and other companies; and numerous mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures.  

In addition to her senior advisory role with NEA, Ms. Chang will become a fellow for the Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance, a joint initiative of Stanford Law School and the Stanford Graduate School of Business, which was founded in 2006 to advance the practice and study of corporate governance and become an important voice in the debate over governance policy, both domestically and internationally. She also will join a global law firm in a senior Of Counsel role. In addition, Ms. Chang will continue to serve on the board of directors of AAC Technologies Holdings, Inc., one of the world's foremost vertically integrated manufacturers of miniature components. 

About NEA
New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) is a leading venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors and geographies. With approximately $11 billion in committed capital, NEA invests in information technology, healthcare and energy technology companies at all stages in a company's lifecycle, from seed stage through IPO. The firm's long track record includes more than 170 portfolio company IPOs and more than 290 acquisitions, including investments in technology leaders like Data Domain, CareerBuilder, Diapers.com, Fusion-io, Groupon, Juniper, Macromedia, Playdom, Salesforce.com, and TiVo. In the U.S., NEA has two offices in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and one in Menlo Park, California. In addition, New Enterprise Associates (India) Pvt. Ltd. has offices in Bangalore and Mumbai, India and New Enterprise Associates (Beijing), Ltd. has offices in Beijing and Shanghai, China. For additional information, visit www.nea.com.  

SOURCE New Enterprise Associates, Inc.