Asialaw Profiles
The Guide to the legal markets of the Asia-Pacific

Hogan Lovells has had an active year representing clients on Hong Kong IPOs. One client praises the practice, saying: “Hogan Lovells is excellent. Terence Lau, the senior partner, is extensively involved and has been instrumental in advising us in coming up with solutions around technicalities. His involvement is instrumental to the success of a deal. In addition, his attention to detail is commendable. For example, his first draft of a prospectus is the best I have ever seen in my life. And there are many other examples that I could come up with.”

Over the last year, Hogan Lovells was appointed as co-counsel to advise Erdenes MGL, holder of the Mongolian state’s interest in Tavan Tolgoi, on its proposed Mongolia IPO.

One client to have recently instructed the M&A team at Hogan Lovells describes it as “very proactive and very communicative”. The client adds: “The firm is very responsive at picking up things and making sure the right process has gone through. I feel that it has been very clear and has taken complex things through to actionable advice. The firm is highly practical and is very understanding of the constraints and conditions we are in.”

Hogan Lovells’ M&A partners represented Ford in its sale of Volvo to Geely in what was one of the most prominent China outbound deals of 2010. Other deals of note include advising Greentown China Holdings on several acquisition and disposal transactions totalling over US$230 million, working with IFC on various equity investments in China, Hong Kong and India, and advising Marubeni Corporation on its minority stake acquisition of Acecook Vietnam.

Partner Jamie Barr heads the Hogan Lovells corporate practice in Asia.

Garrigues

Garrigues has particular experience in representing European companies in their China-related real estate and construction work. Recently, the firm advised SEEI and the Spanish government on their participation in Shanghai Expo 2010. This included a construction contract as well as all agreements relating to termination of participation.

Hogan Lovells

In a contentious, multi-jurisdictional construction matter, Hogan Lovells advised Shandong Hongri Acron Chemical on the enforcement of an arbitration award from CIETAC valued at tens of millions of US dollars. The award was against PetroChina in relation to defective products that the company provided. Shandong Hongri is a joint venture based in China involving Russian and Chinese partners, and Hogan Lovells worked across its offices to represent the client on the Hong Kong arbitration.

Partners Timothy Hill and Damon So lead Hogan Lovells’ construction and real estate practice.

Troutman Sanders

With a long history of experience in China, Troutman Sanders is becoming increasingly prominent among international firms because of the partners’ genuine knowledge of the local market and the quality service it can provide to clients. The real estate team, led by partner Edward Epstein, has over 10 years of experience in real estate related transactions and has represented foreign developers and investors on acquisitions and leases involving prominent properties.

WongPartnership

WongPartnership routinely serves as an adviser to international and domestic developers, investors, and funds in real estate financing transactions and mergers and acquisitions. It is at the forefront of many of the Singapore/China cross border deals.

In February 2011, the firm advised Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust (A-REIT) on its acquisition of a business property. The Rmb588 million (US$92 million) acquisition involved the forward purchase of a project that is set to be developed and built by Qingjian International South Pacific Group Development before A-REIT obtains ownership.

WongPartnership also recently advised CapitalMalls Asia as acquirer of an 18% stake in Holdco. Holdco owns a 95% equity interest in a PRC company that owns the Raffles City Changning mixed-use development in Shanghai.

CMS Legal

Dr Falk Lichtenstein leads CMS Legal’s dispute resolution practice, which specialises in assisting German and US companies on their dispute resolution needs in China. The firm recently represented a German heating equipment supplier on a dispute over the payout out of a distribution relationship.

Dewit Law Office

Dewit’s offices in China specialise in advising companies on cross border matters involving Europe, especially Belgium, and China. Name partner Bernard Dewit is recognised as an arbitrator by CIETAC and the Brussels Business Mediation Centre. On the litigation side, the practice is especially strong on cases that relate to shipping arrangements and international sales and labour agreements.

Hogan Lovells

Hogan Lovells’ dispute resolution practice is led out of Hong Kong by senior partner Allan Leung. The team often advises on shareholders disputes, and has an impressive roster of clients including UBS, ING, DBS Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Credit Agricole, Deutsche, Citi, Daiwa, Henderson and Greentown.

Latham & Watkins

Experienced partner Simon Powell leads Latham’s Greater China dispute resolution team from Hong Kong. The firm often advises listed companies on contentious matters relating to the US firm’s leading banking and finance and M&A practices. Recently, Lathams advised computer and electric appliances company Tatung on consequences resulting from financial troubles experienced by Hong Kong-listed Proview International. This included its potential insolvency, and the bankruptcy of its former chairman.

WongPartnership

The dispute resolution practice at Singapore-based WongPartnership is led by Chan Hock Keng and Christopher Chuah. The firm advises clients on litigation cases in Singapore courts, and also on SIAC arbitration. This past year, the firm advised on PRC related international arbitrations conducted by the ICC, SIAC, HKIAC and CIETAC.

Hogan Lovells fields a large IP practice across greater China, housing 30 practitioners. The firm has an especially strong patent practice, particularly on pharmaceutical related work. The firm has a history of representing pharmaceutical companies such as Merck Shap & Dohme, Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis, Bristol Myers Squibb and Bayer on their China IP matters.

A firm team, led by Hong Kong-based partner Henry Wheare, is managing the global trade mark portfolio of Prudential across 200 jurisdictions. This includes brand prosecution, rights maintenance, and oppositions and enforcement action in Greater China.

Hogan Lovells partners Gabriela Kennedy and Deanna Wong are also advising Costa Coffee on its Chinese trade mark portfolio management.

Partner Gary Hamp heads Hogan Lovells’ banking and finance team from Hong Kong. Clients have high praise for the banking practice after the firm’s recent merger. One client says: “Hogan Lovells came up in the rankings quite quickly and wasn’t even on our radar just a few years ago. But it is extremely responsive and we’re looking to do a lot more business with the firm. A number of partners I have dealt with elsewhere just delegate work to their associates. But I don’t get that feeling at all at Hogan Lovells. The firm tries way harder since it is smaller than the magic circle firms.”

Known for its good relationships in Hong Kong and its ability to advise on cross border deals, Hogan Lovells’ M&A team has been receiving praise from clients.

“On advisory and risk quantification work, Hogan Lovells has always been really good,” says one client. “In an unfamiliar jurisdiction, it gives a good degree of guidance. We’ve received strong support from its team on complex matters which it has turned into actionable advice. It has helped us to understand the constraints and conditions we’re operating in.”

In 2010, Hogan Lovells’ M&A partners advised Hong Kong listed Mascotte Holdings on its US$150 million stake acquisition of Taiwan based photovoltaic cell manufacturer Sun Materials Technology.

Leading M&A lawyers at the firm include Jamie Barr, Terence Lau, Thomas Man and Andrew McGinty.

Hogan Lovells’ construction and real estate practice in Hong Kong provides clients with both non-contentious advisory offering and contentious offering. In a recent real estate contentious matter, the firm advised Shandong Hongri Acron Chemical on the enforcement of an arbitration award obtained from CIETAC against PetroChina for defective products. The award value was in the tens of millions of US dollars.

Timothy Hill and Damon So are leading lawyers in Hogan Lovells’ practice.

Hogan Lovells’ dispute resolution practice is led from Hong Kong by senior partner Allan Leung. The firm is known for its strong regulatory practice, and has advised on a number of major SFC, HKMA and ICAC investigations this past year. Partners Mark Lin, Chris Dobby, Timothy Hill and Damon So are other integral members of the firm’s disputes practice.

The IP practice at Hogan Lovells, while always strong, has been gaining clients as a result of its increased multijurisdictional capability following the merger. “It is not the largest IP firm in town,” says one partner at a rival firm, “but it does have some really major international IP clients.”

Partners Gabriela Kennedy and Henry Wheare lead the IP practice in Hong Kong. Hogan Lovells is managing the global trade mark portfolio of Prudential across 200 jurisdictions. Advisory work for Prudential includes brand prosecution, rights maintenance, and oppositions, cancellations and enforcement actions. The firm also serves as counsel to Costa Coffee in managing its China portfolio, including prosecution and maintenance of trade mark applications and registrations.

“The firm is legally very good, fair and quite commercially-minded,” says one client of Hogan Lovells’ capital markets practice. “The lawyers provide good practical advice and are quite good value for money.” Philip Hyde and Anthony Raven specialise in finance and energy respectively, and are key contacts at the firm’s banking and project finance practice.

Hyde is advising The Bank of New York Mellon as trustee on the restructuring, unwinding and redemption of CDOs arranged by Lehman Brothers and issued under the Dante Programme. On the projects side, Raven is advising JBIC on the project financing of a greenfield power project in Vietnam.

“The service of the firm was a good mixture of Western and Asian styles, and the language skills of the lawyers has been very helpful,” notes one client of Hogan Lovells. “The advice was focused on our commercial and legal interests, the lawyers took an active part in negotiations.” The team, led by Rika Beppu, houses both Japanese and foreign-qualified lawyers. Working in conjunction with the firm’s international network, the Tokyo team can be seen on many cross border deals.

One such deal saw the firm advise NTT Data Corporation on the acquisition of a 79.7% interest in Apex Systems, a Singapore-based provider of system development services with operations in India. Another matter of note was its representation of German-based HC Starck in its joint venture with Japan-listed chemical company Chisso Corporation.

The dispute resolution practice at Hogan Lovells’ Tokyo office is handled by its construction and IP partners. As a result, the majority of its disputes work is focused on these two areas. In particular, the firm is known for its IP expertise and it is working with clients on a range of contentious IP matters, from litigation and enforcement to anti-counterfeiting. It regularly acts on energy and construction related arbitration as well.

Partner Anthony Raven heads up the energy and project finance practice at Hogan Lovells, and is commended by one client as “one of the best energy and project lawyers in town”. The team has seen an increasing flow of instructions, and one highlight saw the firm represent JBIC on the project financing of a greenfield power project in Vietnam. Hogan Lovells also advised Metal One Corporation, a joint venture between Mitsubishi Corporation and Sojitz Corporatio, on a metal pipes supply project to customers in South America.

The Hogan Lovells IP practice is led by office managing partner Lloyd Parker, US patent litigation specialist Phillippe Riesen and bengoshi partner Eiichiro Kubota. The firm has all the resources it needs to advise on domestic and international IP matters, and remains firmly in the top tier of the rankings. Its global network of offices means that clients can trust the firm with their IP issues in almost any part of the world. For example, the firm advised Panasonic Group on trade mark portfolio management work in over 100 countries.

On the contentious side, Riesen is representing IPS Alpha, Panasonic, Hitachi, Hitachi Displays and Toshiba in a patent infringement case in New York concerning liquid crystal display panels. In addition, the firm can count the likes of H&M, Kanebo Cosmetics, PepsiCo and Sony as some of its active clients.

One client says of the IP practice at Hogan Lovells: “Based on my experiences with the firm, I would say it is professional and its advice is solid.” The Vietnam-based IP practice collaborates with the firm’s other worldwide offices to assist multinational clients across a broad range of commercial sectors.

The practice is led by partner Gregory Buhyoff, who one client describes as “one of the best IP lawyers in Vietnam”. Hogan Lovells also assists clients on IP transactional matters such as due diligence in an M&A and employment law setting.

The firm assisted UK-based insurance company Prudential on its worldwide trade mark management programme, including applications and oppositions, branding strategies and protection.

Another transaction saw the firm advising Ford Motor Company on a variety of trade mark-related matters including pre-application, post-registration maintenance and enforcement proceedings.