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The China team of Linklaters has been closely involved in financing transactions by both local and international banks in the past few years. A counsel with an international bank describes the cooperation between the firms' offices on the mainland and Hong Kong with the much-desired adjective "seamless".

Working for institutions like ICDB and other investors, Linklaters has taken up mandates to advise in deals across Asia and beyond on transactions that involved complex structures such as the first orphan SPV by a Chinese bank, demonstrating not only the team's capabilities but also the growing trend for Chinese banks to act as underwriters on complex cross-border transactions.

Deals
Thomas Ng and James Douglass were counsel to both ICBC and PDVSA in the $1.5 billion financing provided by the first to the latter. A three-year term loan will be made to a Netherlands-incorporated orphan SPV, which will act as a conduit for the purchase of oil from PDVSA and its on-sale to China Oil.

Other deals on which the Linklaters Beijing team was involved, often in close cooperation with the Hong Kong counterparts, were the leveraged recapitalisation and facilities for the Permira portfolio business Asia Broadcast Satellite, the facility agreement for Ma San Industrial Corporation, one of Vietnam's largest private sector companies, and the refinancing of secured loan facilities to Sunlight Real Estate Investment Trust.

Linklaters is one of the few international firms known to have a dedicated competition team in China. The team is composed of counsel Yuan Cheng, who leads the competition practice and corporate partner Simon Poh, with the assistance of associate Xixi Yang, US educated who also practiced EU competition law in London and Brussels. The team was enlarged this year with the addition of counsel Fay Zhou from O'Melveny & Myers and Nancy Chang, an associate from Mayer Brown JSM.

Yuan Cheng is the prominent practitioner for this type of work and defined as "responsive and resourceful" by one client. He is currently participating in behind closed door consultations for new regulation drafting with a number of key institutional players such the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MofCom), the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the State Administration For Industry & Commerce (SAIC).

Deals
Last year the team worked for Johnson & Johnson on its acquisition of Synthes for close to $20 billion, announced in April 2011. The client develops and manufactures orthopaedic, neuroscience and spinal care products, while the target is an orthopaedic devices producer. In the deal, Linklaters is advising on merger review requisites for MofCom in China and across a number of other jurisdictions.

Linklaters' "very high level" team remains a top choice for corporate work. The team is praised for its "international business knowledge and experience".

With 30 years of experience in China, Linklaters remains a key player, with a team that has been growing over the years. In the Shanghai office, the most recent change was Richard Gu's election to senior counsel. The team is still headed by Jian Fang – an expert across the board in inbound, outbound as well as corporate regulatory issues, -who has more recently been focusing on Europe and Latin America outbound transactions by Chinese state-owned enterprises. Of him, a client says: "He brings years of experience and understanding of the market and is always looking to add value to the relationship."

Lawyers in the corporate team are generally acknowledged by clients for their "strong communication skills, good sense of service, risk aversion, and sincerity to the customer".

Deals
Last year Jian Fang advised Shandong Iron & Steel on the acquisition of a 25% stake in African Minerals' Tonkolili iron ore mine and related rail, port and power infrastructure projects in Sierra Leone, though a $1.5 billion purchase of ordinary shares and individual shareholders' agreements with the subsidiaries.

Jian Fang also acted for Nomura in its acquisition of a 2.5% stake in New China Life Insurance for €200.5 million, in a deal which formed part of the client's restructuring prior to its IPO.

The China team led by Thomas Ng has advised a number of Chinese banks in their ever more numerous projects abroad, with a focus on power plant initiatives. Other key practitioners include James Douglass, the firm's expert on China bank investments in the key regions of Africa, Russia and Turkey. The team also includes counsel Ji Xiaohui who has been involved on a number of project financings by Chinese banks.

Deals
Thomas Ng acted for State Grid International Development on the €387 million acquisition of 25% of the share capital of Portugal's Redes Energéticas Nacionais, recently privatised as part of the recovery measures undertaken in the programme agreed with the European Commission, the ECB (European Central Bank) and the IMF (International Monetary Fund).

Ng and James Douglass meanwhile are advising Total on a number of cooperation projects, total value around $9 billion, both onshore and offshore with Kuwait Petroleum International and Sinopec. One of them is a proposed joint venture between Total, Kuwait Petroleum International and Sinopec to finance and develop the Zhanjiang refinery and petrochemicals complex.

Linklaters' banking team has been highly praised for its technical and practical application on transactions. As one client says: "We've been working with them for quite a few transactions now and they're some of the best."

The firm has a reputation for working on some of the most innovative and complex transactions in the region and often acts in relation to acquisition and takeover financing, syndicated loans, leveraged financing and debt restructuring. The firm has built up a solid client base predominantly with large investment banks and a growing number of Chinese banks.

Partners across the board in the banking and finance practice have been recommended. A client from an international investment bank notes that, "They have good partners who are quite young, but have the right level of experience and expertise. They are articulate, responsive." Another client adds, "The partners are hands on in the negotiation and review of documentation and the level of participation across the board is quite involved with good management across the team."

Deals
Linklaters advised a syndicate of banks in relation to a term and revolving facility made to Kingsbridge Limited. Kingsbridge is a Bermudian company and subsidiary of Permira Funds. The purpose of the loan was to fund a capital return to Permira to refinance its purchase of Asia Broadcast Satellite Group (ABS) and to fund additional capital expenditure for the ABS Group.

The firm advised HSBC, as global coordinator, in relation to a multi-tranche refinancing by Quezon Power (Philippines) of its debt facilities. Quezon Power is the owner of a coal-fired power plant in the Philippines. The transaction was originally structured to include a secured project bond tranche. The deal was unusual in the fact that very few project bonds have been done in Asia. It also included built in documentation for Project Rail using New York law indenture, creditor agreement and common terms agreement.

Linklaters has a team that is highly regarded in the debt markets. It has worked on many large and highly complex transactions, such as its advise on the first regulatory capital issue in the offshore Rmb market which was the first Basel III compliant matter to come out of Asia and needed pioneering classifications to comply with the regulation. It has broad capabilities in the market but has been recognised for its close working relationships on cross-border transactions, especially into China.

William Liu has acted in relation to many high profile and novel structures and, as one client says, is "terrific". The client went on to say, "He's everything I want from my lawyers. He's responsive, careful and knowledgeable. He's also able to bring his China experience to the table."

Deals
In 2011, the firm acted for the Chinese Government's Ministry of Finance in respect of the sale of Rmb20 billion ($3 billion) sovereign bonds in Hong Kong. William Liu led the team on the transaction, which was the largest offshore Rmb transaction to date.

Linklaters also advised Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings on its $300 million fixed rate callable perpetual securities. The novel debt and hybrid structures were issued on a fiduciary basis by the Bank of New York Mellon. Andrew Malcolm advised Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings on this complex structured transaction.

The firm acted in relation to the issue of Rmb1.5 billion 6% supplementary capital notes, under the MTN programme of ICBC. Linklaters acted for ICBC in the innovative offshore CNH capital issue for onshore investment. This was the first Basel III compliant regulatory capital issue to come out of Asia and the first regulatory capital issue in the offshore Rmb market.

"Linklaters have good partners. They are commercial, with the right level of experience and expertise. They are articulate, responsive, there's never a delay in responding," says one client. He goes on to say, "The team get quite involved. In fact, the level of involvement across the board is good. There's good management across the team. The partners are hands on in the negotiations and review of documentation."

The firm draws on expertise from across its Greater China practice and its ability to draw on a deep global knowledge base from its international offices. The team continues to grow. Pam Shores joins the team in Hong Kong. She relocated from the firm's London offices and has particular experience in US equity and debt capital markets transactions. Robert Cleaver has been commended for his, "solid knowledge of the Hong Kong market," and is particularly noted for his expertise in mining-related transactions.

Deals
In late 2011, Linklaters advised a group of 17 underwriters in relation to the $2 billion global IPO and Hong Kong listing of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery. Chow Tai Fook is the leading jeweller in Greater China and the offering attracted lots of attention, particularly from the local media. The IPO involved teams from the firm's Hong Kong and China offices.

Elsewhere Robert Cleaver and Craig Dally advised Glencore International on its IPO. The IPO raised approximately $10 billion and was one of the largest offerings ever. It involved a primary listing on the LSE with a secondary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The secondary listing obtained unprecedented waivers from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Highlighting the firm's prominence and track record in the derivatives market, the firm has been instrumental in advising the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on establishing a Central Counterparty for OTC derivatives. The purpose of the counterparty is for Hong Kong to support the G20 regulatory initiatives and take advantage of business opportunities in OTC derivatives clearing. The firm also advised a group of 10 major banks in relation to the draft Clearing Rules of the Shanghai Clearing.

The Linklaters team has seen an uptick in offshore Renminbi derivatives and structured products.

One client says, "Chin Chong Liew is a very brilliant securities derivatives lawyer, he's great when advising with local regulators in OTC clearances."

Deals
Linklaters advised the Korea Development Bank as swap counterparty and credit facility provider in respect of a $370 million airline ticket receivables securitisation for Asiana Airlines. The firm also advised ING as swap provider on the $200 million domestic covered bond issuance by Korea Housing Finance Corporation, at the time this was the only repeat issuer of covered bonds in Asia.

The firm regularly advises clients in connection with corporate derivatives. It recently acted for Themes on bespoke equity derivative transactions with the Bank of China International in relation to shares subject to IPOs, where the Bank of China International subscribes to the share and passes economic returns on the shares.

Linklaters continues to act on a number of commodity transactions. It acted for Merrill Lynch in setting up bullion trading account and security arrangements for individual and corporate clients; it advised BNP Paribas in connection to China OTC commodity derivatives, including energy, agriculture and metals; and it advised the Bank of China (Hong Kong) on OTC oil and gold-linked derivatives for interbank markets and corporate clients.

Linklaters has one of the only dedicated financial services regulatory practices in Hong Kong and has a very strong investment banking clientele. Carl Fernandes relocated to London in mid-2011, and although he had an outstanding reputation in the region, the firm quickly brought over Stephen Fletcher. Fletcher had previously worked in Hong Kong and one client says, "Stephen left and then came back. I don't think anyone has a scratch on Stephen's knowledge and expertise. He always used to be our 'speed-dial guy' and I hope to pick up the relationship where it was."

Umesh Kumar has also been recommended by clients. One says: "Umesh is very good on the regulatory side. Carl was great, but we continue to go to links on regulatory stuff. We use them as a stress test for our regulatory issues and anything tricky."

Marc Harvey acts on the contentious side of this practice and has been called, "a go to litigator whenever you hit a rough patch."

Deals
The firm acts for investment and commercial banks, asset managers and insurers, securities and fund houses in relation to a wide range of financial markets, regulatory and securities law issues in the region. The firm advises its clients on regulatory implementation, advising them on a range of regulatory matters, including licensing issues, market conduct and conflicts of issue.

Edward Smith has a solid reputation in the market for his funds expertise. He has worked on significant transactions, such as advising Aviva Investors on the establishment of a Japanese Yen-denominated Luxembourg fonds commum de placement, which focuses on Tokyo office properties. The funds team is supported by a strong regulatory practice and Rmb expertise.

Linklaters M&A practice has been praised for the quality of its service, the seamless advice from its international offices and the depth and experience of its team members.

Speaking about the firm's ability to convene expertise from across jurisdictions, one client says, "Linklaters advised us on a significant transaction in Hong Kong. The partners were a combination of people from their Hong Kong and London offices. It was a relatively complex transaction. The two offices worked well together and it mirrored the assistance that the seller was having on his side." Another client says: "They have good experience in a wide variety of jurisdictions including Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Lao."

The firm's M&A practice has also been commended for the quality of its team. A client noted, "They have a great level of training throughout and you can see, even when the partners are on top of the issues, that the associates are not fumbling their way through."

Deals
The firm also acted in relation to China Minmetals' Hong Kong listed international arm, Mineral Resources, in relation to the unsolicited $6.5 billion cash takeover for Equinox Minerals. The bid was to acquire the remaining common shares in Equinox not already owned by it. Equinox is dual listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Australian Securities Exchange. The transaction would have been subject to certain conditions under the Australian Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act.

Linklaters also advised Lone Star in relation to its off market sale of its 51% stake in Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) to Hana Financial Group. The share purchase agreement was signed in November 2010 and closing took place in February 2012. The transaction involved approval from the Korean regulator. It was the third time Lone Star had entered into an agreement to sell its interest in KEB. The transaction was politically sensitive attracted significant media, government and labour union attention in Korea.

A client from a major investment bank says, "Linklaters is another firm that I would recommend as being strong in corporate/M&A work. We worked with them on a private equity investment earlier this year and find their team quite solid. Teresa Ma and Chris Kelly are both good corporate lawyers and recommended. Their senior associate Alex Bidlake is also very switched on."

The Linklaters' team has been recommended for its depth across partner and associate level. One client says, "I think the young lawyers tend to be more hands on and involved in the documentation, for example and it's quite reassuring. It's good to have partners who are quite hands on."

Another client says, "Betty Yap is on most of our China matters, most of them are private equity related. They also help us on our Rmb fund work. They are dedicated to us as a client and very knowledgeable. One of the comments made by our people was how knowledgeable Betty was about China." The client goes on to say, "Betty gives effective delegation, but she remains focused. We have a good relationship."

Deals
Linklaters represented Hawaii Asia Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Carlyle Asia Partners III, as investor in relation to the Carlyle Groups' $137 million investment in Hong Kong listed Haier Electronics Group through the subscription of newly issued convertible bonds and has the option to invest an additional $57 million upon the exercise of newly issued warrants. This is one of largest PIPE deals in Greater China at the time.

The firm also advised JPMorgan Chase, acting through its Hong Branch, and Standard Chartered (Hong Kong), as mandated lead arrangers, on the HK$295 million facilities for the acquisition by CVC of Hong Kong Broadband Network and other shares and assets from City Telecom. This was the first leveraged buy-out in Hong Kong in seven years and was the largest private equity-backed transaction at the time.

In 2012 Linklaters formed an integrated alliance with Australian law firm Allens and clients and peers are wondering whether this may have an impact on the firm's projects practice. Allens has traditionally been strong in Asia emerging markets energy sectors. Most agree that aside from in the energy and resources sector, tie up will have little of any effect on the firm.

The Linklaters' team in Hong Kong will probably not notice the difference. The firm is very well regarded in the project finance field, with a deep banking team and a pool of sector knowledge allowing it to, "provide everything needed without any concern." The firm's international reach has allowed it to work on transactions spanning over 50 countries, including a majority of emerging markets.

Deals
Linklaters advised on the proposed joint venture between Total, Kuwait Petroleum International and Sinopec in relation to the development and financing of the Zhanjiang refinery and petrochemicals complex. The firm advised Total in connection with the establishment of an offshore Foreign Party Consortium with the Kuwait Petroleum International, an offshore joint venture between Foreign Party Consortium and Sinopec to carry out a refining and petrochemical project in China.

Linklaters advised HSBC in connection with the multi-tranche refinancing by Quezon Power (Philippines) of its existing debt facilities. The deal was originally structured to provide a secured project bond tranche under Regulation S. The Philippines issued loan-notes and working capital facilities. After the documents were agreed and finalised, but before execution, pricing for the bonds rose, making the bond less attractive for the issuer. The borrower decided to proceed with the local notes issue and working capital facility only. The structure allows a Regulation S bond to be bolted on in the future when market conditions are more favourable.

The team remains a respected entity among banking practices in Tokyo, but peers do point out that Christopher Bradley's relocation to Singapore has had a definite impact on the practice's deal pipeline. The team is defined as "excellent" and "very responsive" by a client.

Deals
Last year the team advised Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation on the synthetic transfer of a loan guaranteed by Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to an investor by using a Japanese Trust - this is the first transaction in Japan of its kind that has been formally approved and authorised by JBIC.

Linklaters has been broadening its scope recently with the team led by Andrew Carmichael advising on a variety of different debt instruments including Rmb bonds issuances - where the team claims a leading position in the Japanese landscape - and a steady stream of samurai bonds.

One client says: "Their practice has a long history in Tokyo capital markets. Both Carmichael and Peter Frost are intelligent lawyers, reasonably prudent, they are quite precise in their advice on what risks we can take or not on many important legal aspects. As a client, this is an important point. They also stand above other firms for their Japanese law capabilities: Kozo Sasaki and Akihiro Wani are worth mentioning." The former, says another client: "did a great job on our deals."

Deals
One significant equity deal the team worked on was the ¥12 billion ($150 million) placing of existing shares of Start Today outside Japan and the US.

A second area of strong activity has been Rmb bonds issuance: with the team advising the major past issuers: Orix Corporation, Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Company and Century Tokyo Leasing. On two of the more recent transactions the team advised the joint lead managers on Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing's Rmb500 million ($78 million) notes issuance and the sole bookrunner and manager on Mitsui & Co's Rmb500 million notes issuance.

Samurai bonds also remain very attractive, and the team has advised on several transactions by a number of major financial players: JPMorgan Chase on a ¥161.5 billion public offering, General Electric Capital Corporation on another ¥68.1 billion public offering and finally a number of offerings by Rabobank Nederland totalling more than ¥350 billion.

Linklaters is at the forefront of developing innovative new products in the Tokyo market. The firm has been appointed as legal counsel to the Japan ISDA (International Swaps and Derivatives Association) Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee in February 2012 and will be advising it on all legal matters relevant to their determinations. "When we have a question on bank preferred securities, Linklaters has a good deal of knowledge on the topic," points out a client. Another adds: "They have market knowledge, dedication, and excellent client skills."

Motoyasu Fujita draws particular attention for his work: "He has lots of updated information about the market trends, [and drafting of] standard documents." Another client adds: "After working with the firm for three years, I can say Fujita is probably one of the best structured finance lawyers in Tokyo."

However, a client remarks that while the firm's "extremely commercial" approach is welcome at times, they can be "too aggressive in their interpretations."

Deals
The team advised Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation last year on the synthetic transfer of a loan guaranteed by Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to an investor by using a Japanese Trust - this is the first transaction in Japan of its kind that has been formally approved and authorised by JBIC.

Andrew Carmichael and Akihiro Wani also acted as counsel to BNP Paribas Securities (Japan) as arranger on the structuring, development and offering of index fund-linked variable annuity products. These involve a mixture of reinsurance, alternative investment management and derivatives' transactions.

On another transaction, the team advised Allied Irish Bank on the €105 million establishment of the first repackaging program for SMBC Capital Markets- this was the first repackaging program established for the client.

With regards to the rapidly-evolving Chinese bond market, the team also advised the lead managers on Zijin International Finance Company's issue of S$280 million ($222 million) credit enhanced bonds due 2016, as well as the joint lead managers on Hai Chao Trading's issue of Rmb900 million ($140 million) guaranteed bonds due 2014. These are the first international bonds guaranteed by the Export-Import Bank of China.

The firm's evolution in the last year aligns with the general trend for shrinking local law corporate teams, which explains the drop in the local law ranking. The firm has nonetheless been collecting a rather impressive string of deals.

A client has extensive feedback on their performance: "I find them very pragmatic and business oriented. The advice is crisp and to the point. The fact that they have Japanese lawyers on their staff means that you can get direct advice on Japanese law quickly and without having to work through an intermediary local firm. At the same time, the English speaking lawyers are necessary and helpful in translating what the Japanese lawyers are saying. The legal agreements they have drafted for us are also shorter and crisper than the normal US type agreement - a good point from my perspective. I think the size of the office is also a strong point in its favour - it is small enough that you get the necessary personal attention from even the most senior partners, yet it is large enough to provide a sufficiently broad coverage of subject matters so that you usually don't need to go elsewhere for advice on a particular matter."

Deals
The team advised Marubeni Corporation on its acquisition of a 49.9% stake in DONG Energy's 172MW Gunfleet Sands offshore wind farm in the UK.

On another deal, the team worked for Lloyds TSB on its sale of GoLloyds remittance business in Japan to Shinsei Bank.

For Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, the team advised on the sale of its 5% interest in FRM Holdings to the Man Group and the formation of a capital and business partnership.

For Rakuten - Japan's largest e-commerce business, the team advised on both the acquisition of Wuaki.tv, based in the Spain and on its acquisition of Play Holdings, based in the UK.

Magic circle firm Linklaters retains its tier one ranking for its vast international network. Aside from its own capabilities, the firm has undertaken a partnership with Australian firm Allens Arthur Robinson, meaning that the firm now has a trusted partner in popular jurisdictions such as Australia and Vietnam.

Clients appreciate the firm's global capabilities, especially noting its strong relationship with well-respected Indian firm Talwar Thakore & Associates: "We've worked on transactions with Talwar Thakore and Linklaters, and the service was absolutely seamless," says one.

There is also praise for partner and head of the banking practice Philip Badge: "Phil is one of the best in the market. He's well-respected by the banking community: if you have Phil leading a group of lenders, other banks are absolutely comfortable with joining you."

Though he is a senior partner, clients are impressed with Badge's dedication to client service, even taking calls in the middle of the night for important transactions: "We sent him an urgent document at 2:30am and he took our call. He couldn't work from home, so he went to the office and did what had to be done. I've never met another senior partner who would do that."

Deals
Partner and head of banking Philip Badge acted for eight arrangers such as Standard Chartered, Barclays Capital, Citigroup Global Markets Asia and Goldman Sachs International on the $6 billion acquisition financing to members of Vedanta for the acquisition of a controlling stake in Cairn Energy, one of the largest inbound acquisitions in India to date. It comprised three facilities from three independent syndicates.

Demonstrating the firm's regional expertise, Badge also advised Standard Chartered regarding Philippine holding company San Miguel Holdings and Padma Funds' $750 million acquisition and refinancing of the South Luzon Expressway in Manila.

"The only firm I would go to for advice from a structuring standpoint or just to bounce off feasible solutions that we haven't yet seen in the market, Linklaters would be my go-to guys," says a client from a globally recognised investment bank. "They've seen and done everything and have tremendous experience. The type of work we do tries to push the limit and they're a natural sounding board for those matters."

The firm has acted in some of the largest transactions in the equity and debt capital markets last year and demonstrated its knowledge of Islamic finance when partners Kevin Wong, Richard O'Callaghan and Arun Balasubramanian, advised Wakala Global Sukuk regarding a sukuk al-wakala (bond with an agency agreement) with a combined value of $2 billion for the government of Malaysia.

Partner Dean Lockhart is considered a leader in the debt capital markets: "We think of Dean Lockhart as Mr Convertible Bond. He's undoubtedly the foremost expert on convertible bonds in the region," says a multinational investment bank client.

"He is a patient listener who can articulate extremely difficult concepts in very few words. He's very sharp," another client adds. "It's great working with him because he understands what the client would like to achieve and pinpoints other issues that we should be looking at."

European clients have glowing praise for managing associate Phillip Hall: "I'd worked with Phillip in the London office and we looked for him immediately when he moved to Singapore. He is willing to commit to building a relationship and his soft skills are remarkable. He's very personable and great to work with. As a client, you feel very confident in his commercial judgment and technical analysis. He has been excellent at not only distilling technical legal analysis, but also giving me insight into practical issues and how the Asian markets operate. As an all-around managing associate, Phillip is outstanding."

Deals
The firm's Islamic capital markets and debt capital markets practices are both very active under partner and head of practice Kevin Wong. In the first sukuk (Islamic bond) offering in Renmenbi, Wong represented underwriters BOCI Asia, CIMB Bank and lead manager RBS regarding the issuance of Rmb500 million ($78.7 million) in trust certificates due 2014 by Danga Capital. The issuance used a wakala (bond with an agency agreement) structure in which Khazanah was an agent of the SPV issuer.

Though the equity capital markets were generally slow this year, Wong, counsel Robert Rosen and managing associate Phillip Hall were involved with one of the largest IPOs in Asia. The team led the underwriters, including CIMB Investment Bank, Credit Suisse (Singapore), Maybank Investment Bank and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation in connection with the RM2.66 billion ($833.8 million) Malaysian IPO by PT Bumi Armada.

Linklaters' M&A practice has been involved in landmark deals such as Nestle's $11.9 billion acquisition of Pfizer's infant formula business. It also works on high-profile India deals, assisted by its well-regarded best friend, Talwar Thakore & Associates.

Bolstering the firm's capabilities, Sophie Mathur has been promoted to the partnership this year. "She's a top-notch lawyer. She has innovative solutions and is very client focused," says a client. Another adds, "We've had a long relationship with Sophie and she's a very strong lawyer. She's very commercial but also very careful. She ensures that we're protected at all times. She provides the balance that we need as investors and knows exactly what she's doing."

Since returning to Asia in 2009 after several years in the London office, Southeast Asia M&A head and partner Stuart Bedford has quickly established himself as a market fixture. "Stuart has a strong common sense-based approach. He's a hard worker who takes personal ownership of the matters; he doesn't palm off work to the associates and is on top of all aspects of our deals. He has been rolling his sleeves up and diving in, especially when transactions are complex and out of all of our comfort zones."

Deals
In a transaction in the popular healthcare sector, partner Sophie Mathur advised Fortis Healthcare in its acquisition of a 65% stake in Hoan My Medical Corporation, a Vietnamese healthcare group that owns five hospitals in the country.

Partner and head of the firm's Southeast Asia M&A practice Stuart Bedford acted for Standard Chartered Private (Mauritius) III regarding its $74 million private equity investment in Export Trading Group, a commodity supply chain operator based in East and Southern Africa.

"The work we do with Linklaters always requires creativity and innovation. Even if it's structurally standard, they come up with possible solutions for deal flow and solutions to potential problems," says a client.

The magic circle firm has expanded its reach in Southeast Asia through its new alliance with Australian firm Allens Arthur Robinson. Aside from Linklaters' offices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand and Singapore, the firm is able to leverage upon Allens' Vietnam office and Indonesia affiliate.

Partner Richard Ginks, who leads the firm's project finance practice in Singapore, is a standout practitioner: "His understanding of the law is very good and as for the ability to come up with legal solutions, I would say that he's one of the best," says a client. "I won't give him 10 out of 10 only because there's no such thing as perfection in this world, but I'd give him a 9.9."

Deals
In a transaction representing the increasing popularity of Africa, partner Richard Ginks and counsel Nathan Dodd advised Olam on the development and $1.5 billion financing of a ammonia and granulated urea project in Gabon. Olam has structured a SPV, Gabon Fertilizer Company, in partnership with Tata Chemicals and the Republic of Gabon.

The same team also advised lenders ICICI, China Development Bank and ICBC regarding a $75 million loan and letter of credit facility for Citra Kusama Perdana for the procurement and development of a coal-fired power station in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Linklaters' restructuring and insolvency practice leverages off the strength of its global banking practice. The magic circle firm enjoys a stellar relationship with leading international banks, and is mandated on complex restructurings. "If a transaction is large and we need advice on complex structuring, we go to [partner] Philip Badge."

Badge is the head of Linklaters' Singapore banking practice and is a well-respected market stalwart throughout Southeast Asia. Clients describe him as a technical genius and though he may not be a out-and-out restructuring and insolvency practitioner, his banking expertise is undoubtedly an asset in sophisticated deals.

Linklaters is one of the most active firms in the market. Pichitpon Eammongkolchai attracts particular praise from clients: "We have used him and the corporate team for both local and international deals. He is very well versed, knows what he is doing. For financing, he has a firm knowledge of the subject. Any query, we know he can provide the answer." Another client adds: "Pichitpon is a very good lawyer, but the rest of the team is equally strong and competent."

Wilailuk Okanurak is the other star of the team as a "highly competent, pragmatic" lawyer.

The team is known for offshore acquisition financing, where its cross-border abilities can shine. "They have a very good, solid background on legal systems in different jurisdictions," says a client. Another adds: "For the more complex financing cases where I need experienced lawyers, they are the ones to choose."

Deals
Pichitpon Eammongkolchai and Wanwisar Nakirat were involved on an equity investment, project and mezzanine financing for two wind farms in Thailand by Wind Energy Holding and its subsidiaries.

Linklaters also advised the sponsors, The Dow Chemical Company and Solvay and the borrower, MTP HPJV, on the Bt8.5 billion ($268 million) project financing for the development, commissioning and operation of a hydrogen peroxide plant, which will become one of the largest in the world. This is the first Baht denominated lending transaction in Thailand where a foreign entity is permitted to borrow loans in Baht directly from financial institutions in Thailand.

In restructuring and insolvency, Linklaters is still advising the International Finance Corporation (IFC), as creditor, on the $200 million case involving claims against Finance One and its estates.

Linklaters' deal list has gained it top tier status for M&A work in Thailand: "it is a top tier firm," confirms one of the lawyers with another firm, also given the firm's notable Asian network of legal professionals that clients appreciate.

A client says: "Our experience [was] very satisfactory. The firm always arranges well balanced and qualified resources to assist us. I found Pichitpon [Eammongkolchai] to be prudent yet agile and dynamic enough to assist us in solving complex legal issues. He usually adopts simple and easy to understand communication language to portray his idea. The other unique aspect, especially in dealing with Pichitpon, is the flexibility of professional fees. We found that it is not hard to discuss the fee in advance to meet our budget."

Deals
Linklaters, with lead partner Wilailuk Okanurak, advised Glow Energy on its Bt5.6 billion ($185 million) bond issue, guaranteed by its subsidiaries. The proceeds will go to refinance a loan of its wholly owned subsidiary and finance the construction of new power plants.

The firm is also advising Big C Supercentre and Casino Guichard-Perrachon on a fundraising through a private placement of approximately 2.9% of Big C's share capital.

Linklaters also acted as English and Thai law legal advisors to City Developments, a listed international property and hotel conglomerate, in relation to their $158 million acquisition of a Mauritian and Thai group of companies with interests in a shopping mall complex and hotel in Phuket and a shopping mall in Bangkok.

Wilailuk is advising a key Thai power player in its potential $300 million acquisition of a 49% interest in a 1,200MW coal-fired power plant in Vietnam. He also advised ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel company, on its aborted acquisition of 40% in G Steel.