Mr Maher Sasongko > ABNR Counsellors at Law > Jakarta, Indonesia > Lawyer Profile

Mr Maher Sasongko

msasongko@abnrlaw.com

Career

Maher, who has been with ABNR since 2011, was made partner in January 2023. His main areas of professional practice encompass banking and finance, project finance and development, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and foreign direct investment (FDI).

In banking and finance, he regularly handles both onshore and offshore financing as well as asset securitization. Recent work includes assisting the International Finance Corporation in its USD 150 million loan to an Indonesian state-owned bank; international lenders in their USD 2.05 billion financing for PT Indofood CBP Sukses Makmur Tbk; and international lenders in their USD 200 million loan to an Indonesian pulp and paper company. In asset securitization, he handled securitization of cash loan agreements by means of risk funded participation and currently involves in the formation of collective investment contract over e-commerce loans.

Maher was also a member of the steering committee for the development and launch of an English law-governed Asia Pacific Loan Market Association (APLMA) standardized legal template for Indonesian offshore loans.

In project finance and development, he has and continues to advise lenders on project financing, including Cirebon Expansion Project, Muara Laboh and Rantau Dedap Geothermal Projects, Kalsel Coal-Fired Power Plant, and Tayan Bauxite Plant Project in West Kalimantan.  He is currently assisting the government of Indonesia and international lenders in public-private partnership development projects as well as sponsors in the development and construction of waste to energy power projects in Jakarta.

Maher was a key member of the ABNR team that handled the Indonesian law aspects of M&A deals in various sectors, including: (i) advising on the merger of ride-hailing entity Uber’s Southeast Asia operations with Grab Inc. and (ii) advising Fullerton Health Group on investment from PT Pyfa Investama Medika in multiple healthcare facilities in Indonesia.

In FDI, Maher has advised on many aspects of doing business for foreign investors in Indonesia, including use of the government’s recently established online investment licensing portal (OSS), and regulatory and compliance issues.  His recent FDI assignments include advice to a UK company on how to establish a local waste processing company, and similarly to a French company for a local technical services business.

Maher graduated in 2011 from Padjadjaran University, Bandung, where he majored in International Law. In 2015, he earned an LL.M degree with merit in international commercial law from University College London (UCL), England.