Foreign firms in Malaysia

Clifford Chance’s cross-practice team is jointly led by Valerie Kong and Johannes Juette, following the departure of practice head Raymond Tong to Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP in February 2021. Partnering with selected local firms, it has a track record in industries such as energy, private equity, real estate, healthcare and agriculture. In a recent highlight, it advised Harps Holding Bhd, a Malaysian disposable glove manufacturer, on its forthcoming listing, sought on the back of strong demand for its nitrile gloves during the COVID-19 pandemic. Notable members of the team include Tom England who specialises in complex financing transactions across a broad range of areas, including leveraged and acquisition finance; energy and resources financings. Nicholas Wong is experienced in advising sponsors, banks, export credit agencies, multilateral financial institutions and development banks on projects around the world in the oil and gas, energy, natural resources and infrastructure sectors. Gareth Deiner  specialises in debt capital markets and Daryl Liu advises clients on the formation of, and investment in, a wide variety of funds, including private equity funds, real estate funds, infrastructure funds, venture capital funds,  and hedge funds.

DLA Piper’s Malaysian team strengths include sector expertise in insurance, education, energy, financial services and technology. The practice is led by M&A expert Heng Loong Cheong  who also advises on complex corporate reorganisations and equity and debt capital markets transactions, with a focus on emerging markets. Vincent Seah is notable for his experience of pan-Asia mandates, acting for sponsors and developers on corporate and financing matters in the power industries.

Advising on the international aspects of deals with Malaysian companies, K&L Gates regularly represents clients in aerospace, energy, healthcare, transportation and utilities. The team is led by managing partner David Tang and draws upon a network of talent from across Asia. Lian Yok Tan specialises in energy, infrastructure and resource mandates, and James Bradley advises on aviation matters, particularly corporate jets. Christopher Tan, head of the Singapore employment practice, and Sacha Cheong, a disputes and employment partner in Hong Kong, assist clients facing employment-related issues in Malaysia. Lai-Foong Chan and Ahmad Khalis regularly assist clients with banking and finance related matters. Dispute resolution is headed by Sreenivasan Narayanan who, with the support of Muralli Rajaram, advises on high-value litigation including areas of fraud and regulatory breaches.

Latham & Watkins LLP advises domestic and international clients on a wide range of corporate and finance transactions in Malaysia. The firm handles capital markets work, M&A, private equity, bank finance, project development and specialises in Islamic finance structures. It has the expertise to both structure documents as well as negotiate the key terms of the full range of Islamic finance instruments. The team, based largely in Singapore, is led by Sharon Lau  who has strong international corporate and equity capital markets practices; she is leading on a number of IPOs. Clients are drawn from industries such as healthcare, technology, renewable energy, oil and gas, telecoms and real estate.

Project finance expert Stephen Begley  heads the team at Norton Rose Fulbright, which specialises in energy and infrastructure. The group deals with disputes, investigations, compliance and, financial services, shipping and offshore matters. Key clients include Gas Malaysia Berhad and ING Bank N.V; it is advising on the development of the regulatory and contractual framework for third party access. It is hoped this work will pave the way for the liberalisation of the downstream gas market in Malaysia. The firm has also noted an uptick in renewable energy, in particular solar and energy storage deals as well as carbon mitigation projects.

Trowers & Hamlins LLP‘s Malaysia group is led by managing partner Nick Edmondes, who handles corporate and project finance mandates. Partner Elias Moubarak focuses on conventional and Islamic finance structures, a core specialty of the firm, and partner Tom Reynolds’ work covers corporate transactions and cross-border commercial contracts. This is a multidisciplinary practice which supports Malaysian and non-Malaysian clients execute international investments, M&A and financing transactions across a range of sectors including real estate, private equity, hospitality, oil and gas, energy and infrastructure, utilising either conventional or Shari’ah compliant structures and financing.

King & Spalding LLP  specialises in LNG, oil, gas and power matters. It assists with structured project financing, the resolution of construction disputes and investment treaties. Based in Singapore, the key names to note are infrastructure expert Kelly Malone  and international arbitration specialist Donny Low.

Shearman & Sterling LLP has a track record on a range of projects in the oil, gas and renewables sectors. Coordinated from Singapore by Ben Shorten and Daryl Chew, the team has successfully served clients such as The Government of Malaysia, Genting, Malakoff, Khazanah and Bumi Armada.

WongPartnership LLP ’s presence in Malaysia is through its association with Foong & Partners, a member firm of the Wong Partnership Group’s regional network. Foong & Partners focusses on commercial, capital markets and corporate finance work. Together, the firms have advised Malaysian companies and entrepreneurs in their transactions and disputes across Asia Pacific. Clients in Malaysia include government-linked enterprises, Malaysian banks and foreign investors. The Singapore-based team heads Sean Yu Chou , Andrew Ang and Gail Ong provide the full range of corporate M&A, banking and finance, equity capital markets and litigation and international arbitration expertise.