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Corporate and M&A - Foreign firms
Allen & Overy maintained its prominent reputation and position for regional acquisition work. Chris Moore’s arrival significantly strengthened the practice’s transactional capability, with the firm winning mandates to advise the bidders on Temasek Holdings’ sale of its power generation assets as well as the auction of Allco’s REIT interests. With a growing focus on India, the firm has continued to advise on acquisitions for the likes of JPMorgan and Standard Chartered.
Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow has been involved in a diverse range of work in 2008, including acting for YTL Corporation Berhad on its acquisition of Macquarie’s A-REIT, which at S$285m was the largest M&A transaction involving a REIT to date. Led by Ai Ai Wong, the team has developed a broad client base which includes multinationals such as Archer Daniels Midland as well as sovereign wealth funds and private equity houses such as AXA Private Equity. Andrew Martin has strong telecoms expertise.
Managing partner Philip Rapp and ‘strategic thinker’ Lee Taylor head up the ‘responsive, commercial and smart’ corporate team at Clifford Chance, which has been involved in a number of strategic M&A transactions for Philip Morris International, Time Warner and Shell. The team acted for Barclays on its acquisition of Bank Akita in Indonesia, and supplemented this cross-border expertise with its acquisition of a QFLP license in 2008.
Linklaters Allen & Gledhill underwent changes in 2009, with Richard Good relocating to London and Stuart Bedford taking the reins of the Singapore corporate team in March. Despite this, deal activity has been high, with the team advising Arcapita Bank on the $750m acquisition of Honiton Energy.
Despite Chris Moore’s departure to Allen & Overy, Norton Rose (Asia) LLP’s corporate practice has maintained a ‘first-rate’ reputation thanks to Jake Robson and Adam Summerly, while 2008 saw the arrival of Jill Gauntlett from the firm’s London office. The firm’s client base consists of HSBC, Axiata Group Berhad and Petronas, for whom it now has the capacity to offer full-service local law advice as well as regional expertise thanks to its QFLP status. Highlights include acting for HSBC on its $608m acquisition of Indonesian Bank Ekonomi.
Herbert Smith LLP has a strong energy and telecoms practice, operating predominantly in Indonesia as well as in India for companies such as Essar and Tata Group.
Latham & Watkins LLP covers a wide geographic spread that includes India, China, Japan and the Middle East. Managing partner and head of the corporate team, Mark Nelson acted for Fullerton Financial Holdings, a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, on the sale of its interest in PT Bank Internasional Indonesia to Maybank.
Under the leadership of eminent Singaporean figure David Zemans, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy fields strong multi-sector expertise, with restructuring and insolvency taking a more prominent position as the full effect of the economic downturn becomes more visible. In 2008, the team acted for PT Mitra Rajasa Tbk on its $700m acquisition of Indonesia’s largest national drilling contractor.
Allens Arthur Robinson TSMP ‘delivers in terms of speed, availability and knowledge of the marketplace’. Fielding specialist project and infrastructure expertise through managing partner Gavin Maclaren, as well as broad-based corporate finance expertise thanks to Robert Clarke, the team has been heavily involved in Rio Tinto’s defence against BHP Billiton’s attempted takeover and Chinalco’s potential investment in the company.
Ashurst LLP has seen across-the-board expansion and now fields an Indian-qualified team to complement its regional expertise in oil-and-gas work. The practice has been advising on a number of coal mining and mineral joint ventures in Indonesia and Mongolia. Matthew Bubb is considered ‘highly experienced and business-minded’.
DLA Piper Singapore Pte. Ltd.’s clients include Mapletree Investments, Temasek Holdings and PetroVietnam. K. Minh Dang has been involved in a number of fund formations as well as advising Hanesbrands on the acquisition and expansion of facilities in Vietnam. Sheela Moorthy has been acting on a number of high-profile restructurings.
Jones Day’s corporate offering was bolstered by the arrival of Joe Bauerschmidt and Brian Wesol, who have transactional M&A expertise. The team, led by David Longstaff, has been advising Mitsubishi on an acquisition of a minority interest in an Indonesian mining company, as well as advising Primus Financial Holdings on potential acquisitions in south east Asia.
Lovells Lee & Lee has a strong relationship with Singapore’s key sovereign wealth funds, Temasek Holdings and GIC investments, providing legal counsel on cross-border private equity deals. Highlights for Scott Calver’s team include acting for the vendors on the Bank Ekonomi sale to HSBC.
Clients hold Bill McCormack at Shearman & Sterling LLP in ‘high regard’, particularly in the power sector where it acted for Sembcorp utilities on its bid for Tuas Power. The team works in conjunction with its regional network of offices.
Sidley Austin LLP advised on a number of deals across Indonesia and India in 2008. Michael Hooton and the team advised on the acquisition of a petrochemical company in Indonesia.
Watson, Farley & Williams LLP has continued to be active in its core areas of transport and energy, advising International Tubular Services on its joint venture agreement with Scomi Group. Ken Cheung is ‘responsive, practical and effective’ and was joined by Vietnam specialist Chris Muessel.
Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP has core relationships with key transactional clients, and has been active in the TMT sector for Axia NetMedia, advising it on its role in the successful consortium to run and operate Singapore’s next generation broadband network. Paul Supramaniam is the key figure.
Philip Crowley at Deacons offers multi-disciplinary M&A expertise with a wide geographic reach. The practice continues to act for Noble Group on its Indonesian mining acquisitions.
Significant transactions in 2008 for Alistair Duffield and the team at Holman Fenwick Willan LLP include acting for PT Antam Tbk on an Indonesian joint venture to process and manufacture nickel ore and cobalt.
Loyens & Loeff advises on cross-border tax structuring work. Pieter De Ridder is the key contact.
Respondek & Fan Pte Ltd’s clients include Symrise and adidas, and acted for a Lufthansa affiliate on the termination of an aircraft leasing agreement. Clients consider Andreas Respondek to have ‘a wide and deep knowledge of the region’.
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP strengthened its M&A capability with the hire of Rajeev Duggal. It worked in conjunction with its regional network advising Singapore-listed Pacific Century Regional Developments on its $2.1bn offer (in conjunction with China Netcom) to privatise PCCW, a Hong Kong-listed telecoms company.
The arrival of Will Kerschner at White & Case LLP International Lawyers in Singapore coincided with an increase in restructuring work. The team advised on the corporate restructuring of PT Adaro Energy.
Conyers Dill & Pearman advises clients on offshore corporate finance transactions. Tan Woon Tiang is the key contact.
Despite Adam Summerly’s departure to Norton Rose (Asia) LLP, Duane Morris Singapore LLP continues to advise on direct foreign investment transactions in Asia through managing partner Eduardo Ramos-Gómez.
Freehills’ practice is built around its projects and infrastructure expertise and has been advising on transactions into Pakistan as well as the REIT market. John Dick and Simon Taskunas are the main contacts.
In 2008, Hunton & Williams LLP acted for Global Power Investments in the divestiture of a strategic equity interest in Quezon Power to Thailand’s Electricity Generating Public Company. Edward Koehler leads the practice.
Kleiner Rechtsanwälte’s Singapore office is the German firm’s only overseas presence. Bernd Gotze is the main contact.
Luther Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH’s Knut Unger handles predominantly German client foreign investment into South East Asia
Morrison & Foerster’s Joseph Anderson focus on infrasturcture and cross-border M&A work.
Raslan Loong handles cross-border transactions for its Malaysian client base through its Singapore office.
Stephenson Harwood’s corporate practice has gone from strength to strength thanks to Matthew Gorman. The team has a particular focus on AIM transactions, and in 2008 acted for Honour Field International on a reverse takeover, and for Red Hot Media on an AIM IPO.
The Serwer Law Firm LLC is a sole practitioner outfit that acted for an Indonesian investor in acquiring an interest in a Mongolian coal mine. Nicholas J Serwer is the primary contact.
Wikborg Rein advises a predominantly Norwegian shipping client base. Are Zachariassen handles company law matters.
Zaid Ibrahim & Co is a Malaysian firm with a regional network of offices.