IFLR 1000
The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms

Linklaters' capital markets team continues to enjoy a top position in debt, equity and derivatives and structured products in Asia. "Linklaters is one of those few firms that is strong on all fronts," says a partner at a rival firm. "They've to strong relationships with underwriters, and are known for quality."

One of the firm's headline deals this past year was advising Glencore in the first ever simultaneous London primary and Hong Kong secondary listing as legal advisors in the UK, the US and Hong Kong. Glencore is a leading integrated marketer and producer of commodities with worldwide activities in the marketing of metals and minerals, energy products and agricultural products, as well as product production, refinement, processing, storage and transport. In the deal, a key group of cornerstone investors subscribed at the offer price for shares worth $3.1 billion, equal to approximately 31% of the Global Offer, representing one of the largest cornerstone investments by value ever achieved for an IPO and one of the few cornerstone tranches ever undertaken in an IPO outside of Asia. After the landmark IPO, Glencore had a market capitalisation of approximately $60 billion.

On the debt side, Linklaters' China team has led in developing the legal infrastructure required for the offshore Rmb bond market, as evidenced by their advising on the Hopewell Holdings Infrastructure transaction, which was the first ever offshore Rmb financing deal. They have since advised on a number of other Rmb bond deals, including Caterpillar Financial's Rmb1 billion 2% bonds, Ministry of Finance, BOC, CDB and CEXIM Rmb deals ($2.3 billion), Sinochem in Rmb3.5 billion 1.8% bonds and China Resources Power Holdings Rmb1 billion 2.9% bonds due 2013 and Rmb1 billion 3.75% bonds due 2015.

The firm has also been active in the more traditional convertible bond market and equity-linked financings. To this end, the Linklaters team advised Standard Chartered on the issuance by Shui On Land of Rmb-denominated dollar settled 4.5% convertible bonds due 2015, and also two equity swap transactions entered into by the majority shareholder in Shui On Land.

"Linklaters really know their stuff when it comes to syndicated loans and top banking and finance transactions," says a peer at a rival firm, "they're really known for their knowledge base and doing quality work." Linklaters partner David Irvine led the innovative Project Halo deal, which was one of the first internationally syndicated leveraged finance deals to close in Asia in 2011 and also the first joint bank loan and high-yield bond acquisition financing to be seen the region for a long time. The team advised Merril Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Nomura and Standard Chartered bank as arrangers of the leveraged financing for the acquisition of Hyva International by Unitas Capital and NWS Holdings. The deal's combination of loan and bond offering seemed to ease investors' minds during the turbulent time of the Japanese earthquake.

Project Halo brought together European-style covenant structure with Chinese covenant accommodation, marking the deal as unique and innovative and attracting a different mix of investor sets.

Another landmark deal was the Baha Mar $3.5 million real estate financing of a casino resort in the Bahamas. Linklaters acted for the borrower in securing a loan from The Export-Import Bank of China, with Citicorp International as facility agent and offshore security agent. China State Construction Engineering will be the main construction contractor for the project, which gave Baha Mar access to China Exim. This deal may represent one of the first limited recourse project financings solely provided by Chinese lenders, and exemplifies the trend of Chinese financing led by Chinese contractor involvement in a project.

The project finance practice at Linklaters is especially strong in infrastructure and the firm has earned many leading infrastructure mandates due to its experience and understanding of what it takes to put infrastructure projects together. The firm has seen an especially strong trend for Chinese contractors and suppliers to attract project support from major (and majorly liquid) Chinese banks, which is a natural fit for Linklaters given the firm's leading finance prowess. This has lead to the projects team garnering many big-ticket deals this year, especially involving project financing from Chinese banks. The team was also bolstered by the relocation of senior project finance, energy and infrastructure lawyer James Douglass to Beijing. "The practice is going to be interesting to watch with the relocation of Douglass," says a partner at a rival firm. "His move probably represents the way they are positioning themselves more and more in the mainland market."

Among the most major deals of this past year was the novel Baha Mar project financing, which represented the first time that a limited recourse financing was wholly provided by Chinese lenders.

Linklaters also had several headline mandates from China Development Bank (CBD), including CBD and Standard Chartered Bank's $1 billion facility agreement for Angolan state oil company Sonagol Finance. The company is a customary borrower on the international loan markets, and Linklaters partnership with them helped to solidify the firm position as preferred counsel for arrangers and lenders in these financings.

A key financing on the energy side was the China Development Bank, China Eximbank, Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC and BMTU lending to Jhajjar Power, a project company incorporated in India but wholly owned by CLP with respect to its 1320MW India power project. The project is one of India's huge Greenfield projects, and only the second with international bank support that has closed in nearly a decade.

Linklaters' M&A practice in China has the enviable position of being both prestigious in the market and lauded by clients. While Linklaters consistently brings in high-profile, complex deals, clients say that they feel appreciated and well-served by the firm."We use other magic circle firms for general China advisory work, but for strategic projects, we go to Linklaters," says one. "Our relationship with them is very close and we are valued as a client. I'd rate them five out of five for technical ability, as they really know their stuff and gave very practical and commercially sound advice. You know how investment into Chinese financial institutions can be – generally there would be a lot of issues arising from the project, and we would turn to them for legal/regulatory perspective. They are also accessible and committed. For example, the partner attended all the negotiations with our team."

The firm has completed an impressive number of transactions this year, including acting as counsel to Credit Suisse and Shenzhen Development Bank in its merger with Ping An Bank. The $4.4 billion transaction represented the biggest banking restructuring transaction in China, and was key in progressing the establishment of integrated financial groups in the country.

The M&A team also represented China Mobile in its subscription of over two billion shares to be issued by Shanghai Pudong Development Bank at more than $6 billion. The transaction would make China Mobile the largest shareholder in the bank, holding interest in over 20% of the enlarged share capital issued and the first acquisition of a stake in a Chinese bank by a native telecommunications provider. China Mobile and SPD Bank also entered into a strategic cooperation memorandum of understanding for the future involving mobile commerce and e-finance.

Linklaters continues to be a market-leading firm when it comes to advising major international companies on Hong Kong listings, as well as advising Chinese companies on outbound IPO work. "Linklaters is indisputably one of the top firms in the market," comments a partner at a rival firm. "They have the capacity to really do the most mega, high-profile capital markets deals in the market."

One client tells us that leading partner Teresa Ma and the rest of the team are, "technically superb. They are our go-to lawyers for international transactions. They are very commercial and have a passion for giving the right advice to clients. It's not just a boring job for them and they leave no stones unturned".

One of Linklaters most prominent IPOs this year was advising mining and commodities firm Glencore in its landmark London primary and Hong Kong secondary listing, where the team served as legal advisors in the UK, the US and Hong Kong. The deal included a key group of cornerstone investors that subscribed at the offer price for shares worth $3.1 billion, equal to approximately 31% of the Global Offer. It was one of very few cornerstone tranches ever undertaken in an IPO outside of Asia. Glencore had a market capitalisation of approximately $60 billion after the offering.

Linklaters also acted as underwriters counsel in the Hong Kong IPO of American International Assurance (AIA), the Asia division of AIG. AIA's IPO garnered a record HK$138.8 billion ($17.8 billion), and the IPO was particularly watched in the market after AIG's early talks to make AIA public before the financial crisis in 2009, and their 2010 failure to sell AIA to a British insurer.

Once again, Linklaters has distinguished itself with a breadth of debt capital markets expertise that extends across all types of offerings. While the team is undoubtedly top in the convertible bonds space, the group has also been a key player in advising on historic precedents in Hong Kong's Rmb-denominated bond market and has been active in developing innovative structures like corporate hybrid securities.

In one such market-leading transaction, Linklater's debt capital markets team led in developing the legal infrastructure required for the offshore Rmb bond market by advising on the Hopewell Holdings Infrastructure transaction. Hopewell Highway was a landmark deal because it was the first ever offshore deal to use Rmb financing. The team also advised on myriad other Rmb-denominated deals, such as Caterpillar Financial's Rmb1 billion ($155 million) 2% bonds, Ministry of Finance, BOC, CDB and CEXIM's $2.3 billion in Rmb deals, Sinochem in Rmb3.5 billion 1.8% bonds and China Resources Power Holdings Rmb1 billion 2.9% bonds due 2013 and Rmb1 billion 3.75% bonds due 2015.

Linklaters also recently advised the HSBC with regards to Rmb500 million notes by the World Bank due in 2013 at 0.95%. The deal represented the first time that the World Bank has issued an Rmb bond, and was also the first Rmb bond done in Hong Kong in 2011.

Linklaters strongly deserves its place among tier one firms due to its deep, expert coverage of both the derivatives and structured finance markets in Asia. Linklaters also undoubtedly has one of the largest dedicated teams in the market, which speaks to the firm's seriousness about its structured finance and securitisation practice. Partners Andrew Malcolm, Chin-Chong Liew, Toby Gray and Victor Wan lead Linklaters structured finance and derivatives group, with the help of Head of Securitisation counsel Mary Matson and Benjamin Liu. Matson's securitisation practice and expertise is especially lauded by her peers in Hong Kong, with one partner at a rival firm saying that: "As far as securitisation partners in Hong Kong and greater China go, Mary Matson is absolutely at the top. I can only think of one other person who has capabilities even close to hers - Mary's just fantastic. On top of that, she's a really lovely, professional person and I always like working with her."

This past year, Linklaters has been active across all sections of this practice area, from leading the market in the emergence of offshore Rmb bond and derivative and structured products to advising the ISDA on the new 2011 global and Asian Equity Derivatives Definitions which will set the standard for derivative documentation. Linklaters has also advised HSBC, Hang Seng Bank and other banks in connection with over 60% of the post Minibond crisis Equity Linked Investment (ELIs) programmes being authorised by the SFC.

The Structured Finance and Derivatives Group also represented RBS on the transfer of its significant derivative portfolio in relation to the restructuring of its banking businesses in Asia, and advised major financial institutions in China in connection with their credit derivatives trading in the newly launched Chinese credit derivatives market.

As an example of how securitisation is once again slowing gaining traction after the financial crisis, Linklaters advised Standard Chartered Bank and Bank of America Merrill Lynch as joint arrangers in relation to the $300 million cross border securitisation of auto loan receivables originated by Hyundai Capital Services. The transaction was a Rule 144A/Reg S placement and was particularly notable for being one of the only Korean securitisation transactions with an offering circular since the start of the financial crisis.

Linklaters' banking and finance practice continues to be a leader among its peers because of the firm's high quality, experienced partners and regional coverage. Clients consistently comment on the firm's banking abilities and capacity for ingenuity. Partner and co-head of the firm's Asia Pacific Banking and Restructuring Group Trevor Clark also gets special praise for his capabilities. "We rate Trevor Clark's team very highly," one client comments, "their technical skills are excellent. They are highly approachable, high quality people. Linklaters are the people who are highly innovative in finding solutions to problems. They have people who are senior, experienced and at the top of their game."

Clients also praise the firm's responsiveness. "Linklaters are at the top, but they're still extra value for money," one client says. "They are always available, worthwhile and they always respond quickly."

Linklaters' place in the market is also underscored by their impressive deal list this past year. Recently, partner David Irvine led the innovative Project Halo deal. This was one of the first internationally syndicated leveraged finance deals to close in Asia in 2011 and also the first joint bank loan and high-yield bond acquisition financing to be seen the region for a long time. Linklaters advised Merril Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Nomura International and Standard Chartered bank as arrangers of the leveraged financing for the acquisition of Hyva International by Unitas Capital and NWS Holdings. The deal's particular combination of loan and bond offering seemed to ease investors' minds during the turbulent time of the Japanese earthquake. The deal also joined a European-style covenant structure with China covenant accommodation, marking the deal as unique and innovative in attracting a different mix of investor sets.

In August 2010, Linklaters also acted for the arrangers in the $200 million financing of the leveraged acquisition of Acument's Global Technologies' Advel and Global Electronics and commercial business units. The transaction was especially notable for being one of a small number of acquisition financings to have closed in Asia last year, with the exception of Australia. The Acument deal involved innovative debt pushdown techniques to maximize recourse to assets in jurisdictions without upstream security.

Linklaters continues to earn its tier one ranking because of its strong presence on both the contentious and non-contentious sides of the market. Peers agree that veteran litigator Marc Harvey leads a contentious-side team that is undoubtedly at the top of the market. "Marc Harvey is very experienced," says a partner at a rival firm. "He's very good at litigation. A&O's team deserves to be in tier one." While many firms in the market seem to consider their non-contentious team as merely an annex to their financial services regulatory litigators, Linklaters' ten strong non-contentious team led by Carl Fernandes and Umesh Kumar shows a dedication to the cause.

The firm's clients include: global investment and commercial banks, private equity and hedge fund managers, stock exchanges, alternative trading platform providers, and insurance companies. Linklaters' can also call on its wider Asia network for multi-jurisdictional matters.

Linklaters also represents international Hong Kong banks on regulatory reform proposals conducted by regulators, and has recently set up a forum for prominent global hedge fund managers that meets and updates them four times a year on relevant regional regulatory matters.

Linklaters' Greater China antitrust team is led by Beijing counsel Yuan Cheng and Shanghai-based corporate practice partner Simon Poh. Cheng specialises in competition and anti-monopoly law and also participates in non-public consultations with Mofcom, NDRC and SAIC on drafting new regulations, which gives Linklaters' clients key insights into the latest antitrust developments in China.

One client describes Cheng's work by saying: "He has very good knowledge in terms of antitrust legislation. Especially since the PRC (Peoples' Republic of China) introduced a lot of European legislation and he's worked in Europe before. He has a lot of US knowledge too. He learns very fast and is quite open to opinions."

This past year, the Linklaters team advised major international corporations (including state-owned entities) on international joint ventures across a range of industries from energy to the life sciences.

The M&A practice at Linklaters, as well as working on some substantial mandates is highlighted by clients for the good relationships it fosters. "Linklaters are our go-to lawyers for international transactions - they're technically superb, very commercial and have a grip on the important issues," says one client. "They also have a passion for giving the right advice to clients...it's not just a boring job for them, and they leave no stone unturned."

The Linklaters M&A team also gets top marks from clients in cross-border China work because of their genuinely strong relationships with Chinese financial institutions.

Partner Keith Johnson recently represented Lone Star in the sale of its 51% interested in Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) to Hana Financial Group, valued at W4 billion ($4.7 million). The 2010 transaction represented the third time that Lone Star had entered into an agreement for the sale of its KEB interest, thus the transaction was especially sensitive and high-profile in Korea. The signing of the share purchase agreement also triggers a tag-along right for the Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) which holds approximately 6.12% of issued share capital of KEB.

Linklater's M&A partners also advised China Mobile in its subscription of $6 billion subscription of over two billion shares to be issued by Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, making China Mobile the largest shareholder in the latter, and the company will hold over 20% of the enlarged share capital issued.

Linklaters enjoys a good strategic position within the Hong Kong private equity space, as leading private equity firms know that the firm's top capital markets and M&A practices can support any acquisitions or IPO exits that may arise during the lifecycle of their investments. For example, Linklaters recently advised the Carlyle Group on their Hong Kong listing and IPO of Yashili Guangdong. "Linklaters deserves to be in tier one because its capital markets capabilities make sense for investors," says a partner at a rival firm. "They have some top private equity clients, and people choose them because of their market position in Hong Kong."

In 2010, Linklaters private equity team advised Lone Star on the sale of its 51% interest in Korea Exchange Bank (KEB). Lone Star sold its share to Hana Financial group for W4.7 billion ($4.3 billion), in a transaction that triggered a tag along clause for the Export-Import Bank of Korea for its holding of 6.12% of the share capital issued. Because this is the third time that Lone Star has agreed to sell its KEB interest since 2006, the transaction has been closely watched and subject to many political sensitivities.

The Hong Kong private equity practice also represented an organisation controlled by HTC Taiwan founder Cher Wang in relation to its proposed creation of a consortium with Charles Kwok Keung Chan and Providence Equity Partners in order to acquire Shaw Brothers Limited, which holds 26% of the share capital in Hong Kong-listed television company TVB. TVB is one of the largest distributors of Chinese language TV content worldwide, and is one of only two free-to-air broadcasters allowed in Hong Kong.

Linklaters has a top presence in market-leading project financings in China due to strong partner expertise across numerous project sectors. The project finance practice is especially strong on infrastructure deals, as shown by the firm's strong history of mandates in this aspect.

This past year, Linklaters has enhanced its Greater China offering with the relocation of partner James Douglas to Beijing. The firm has solid experience specifically advising domestic Chinese banks on projects.

In one example the team advised lenders China Development Bank, China Exim Bank, Standard Chartered, HSBC and BTMU on a $288 million financing for Jhajjar Power for their 1320MW India power project. The project is China Development Bank's first limited recourse project financing within India and will be built as a greenfield project, only the second time in ten years that such a project, built on effectively virgin soil, has been undertaken in the country

Linklaters also received several other major mandates from China Development Bank also called in the firm to assist it alongside Standard Chartered on a $1 billion facility for Angolan Sonagol finance. As a frequent advisor also to Sonagol, the firm demonstrated its ability to negotiate and guide two familiar clients to agreement.

The Linklaters team also advised on the seminal Baha Mar project financing, which represented the first time that a limited recourse financing was wholly provided by Chinese lenders.

Though Linklaters lost a major restructuring lawyer this year, the Hong Kong practice still has a robust history in restructuring work, especially when it comes to issues with highly complex international finance elements. Partners Trevor Clark, Melvin Sng and David Irvine bring their knowledge of complex structures and the Hong Kong and Asia markets to a variety of restructuring and insolvency transactions. One satisfied client says that, "We often use Melvin Sng."

In the past few years, Linklaters Hong Kong has taken a leading role in helping to unwind a large portion of the difficult Lehman Brothers assets in Hong Kong. The strength of the firm's securities and finance practices also augment Linklaters' restructuring capabilities in Hong Kong.

Linklaters has maintained a market leading position in India this year, working on most if not all of the top deals in the country. The firm is particularly close with its best friends Mumbai-based firm Talwar Thakore & Associates, with former Linklaters partners and associates having moved to India to work there.

Apart from working on the BP's acquisition of a 30% stake in gas production blocks of Reliance Industries, the firm also advised on Essar Energy's IPO in May 2010.

Linklaters' full-service practice remains in the top tier in the foreign law rankings this year. Although former departures continue to haunt the magic circle firm, it proves to any doubters that it is a dominant force by securing lead mandates on a range of enviable securities transactions. One peer highlighted its prowess on Reg S offerings. Another offered praise for partner Peter Frost's work in the market. "Linklaters is quite professional in the capital markets area and are very reliable," notes one client. "Both the Japanese and foreign law advisors are involved where necessary and complete things on a timely basis. Things go quite smoothly with them."

An impressive feat, the team at Linklaters worked on every single Renminbi bond deal by Japanese issuers to date, entirely cornering an important niche with the rise of China's dominance in the Asian space. Leading lawyer Andrew Carmichael advised Morgan Stanley and Nomura as the international managers in Shinsei Bank's ¥72 billion ($890 million) Rule 144A/Reg S international offering of 690 million shares of common stock.

As the only firm to appear in both the foreign law and local law rankings, Linklaters is a confident choice for top-tier advice in structured finance and securitisation. "They are a bit expensive, but the lawyers are well-trained and smart," noted a client. "All of them are a real pleasure to deal with."

Senior finance lawyer Paul Kruger departed last summer to help with the opening of the firm's new office in Abu Dhabi. Despite this loss, the team, under Andrew Carmichael and Akihiro Wani's leadership has transitioned smoothly and continues to provide its top-tier clients with advice on some of the market's most complex and prominent transactions. The firm's bench is deep, with over 30 lawyers exclusively dedicated to derivatives and structured finance work around Asia. Especially on the domestic derivatives front, Wani stands out and wins accolades from competitors. "I consider Mr Wani to be at the very top for derivatives work," says one.

Examples of the team's work include a number of market 'firsts' and those requiring novel structuring. For example, Carmichael led a team that advised a bank as the purchaser on a distribution finance programme. Here, the bank required a highly bespoke structuring programme from its legal team. The firm's structured credit derivatives practice is thriving, as it continues to advise market participants such as Barclays Capital, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and RBS on an array of issues including credit default swaps, credit-linked notes and credit/index-linked hybrid transactions.

The past year has seen Linklaters working on a number of high profile deals, including advising Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corporation (NTT) in the largest acquisition of an African company by a Japanese acquirer. The transaction, which required reconciliation between UK and South African takeover rules, was led by head of the practice group Christopher Bradley and valued at £2.12 billion. In early 2011 Bradley acted on another high profile transaction, this time in the energy sector in Thailand advising Diamond Generating Asia Limited on a $251 million acquisition from CLP Holdings and subsequent sale to The Tokyo Electronic Power.

In one of the few greenfield refineries to make it to market in recent years, Linklaters advised the finance parties on the $14 billion multi-sourced financing for Saudi Aramco Total Refinery and Petrochemical Company's greenfield refining and petrochemical project in Saudi Arabia.

"Its service for domestic transactions is very high quality and we are happy with it," says a local corporate client. The magic circle firm is a formidable presence in the M&A market with equally strong domestic and international capabilities. "The firm is responsive and services are always provided in a timely manner," says a client. "Needless to say, legal technicality is important, but the lawyers can be characterised by how they can maximise their clients' merit in negotiations with deal counterparts as a result," adds a client.

Another client says "all of the lawyers are perfect from a legal perspective. Specifically, they are very familiar with Japanese companies' customary ways of decision- making and they assist it with an appropriate manner."

This year, the team bid adieu to partners Paul McNicholl and David Holdsworth who relocated back to the firm's London office. Despite their departures and the market rumbling of "internal restructurings", the admired Hideo Norikoshi and the remaining three-partner team landed on a handful of prominent cross-border matters. In one, the largest acquisition of an African company by a Japanese acquirer, Norikoshi guided NTT on its offer for South African IT firm Dimension Data Holdings for £2.12 billion.

Proud of being ahead of the curve with Japan-China related acquisitions, a Linklaters team led by Norikoshi acted for Nippon Paper Group on its purchase of a 12% stake in Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing. The target is a Hong Kong-listed company and the legal team had to navigate a complex web of regulatory issues, including dealing with Hong Kong takeover and listing rules, Cayman Islands company law, Japanese stock exchange rules and Chinese law.

The firm's international network is considered very valuable by clients. "The strength of Linklaters is its global service network, as well as having strong support from the Japanese," affirms one. Another provides a snapshot of a recent deal he worked on with the team: "They have a good network, for example, one of our deals was in Thailand. We contacted them here in Tokyo and the firm also has a Bangkok office and that worked well." Yet another offers: "Though they may be a bit expensive, we can use their global network and their service is excellent."

This client had a similar experience: "When I sold an entire share of our non-core business, which was operated in Japan, the US and the EU to one of the US-based investment funds, the firm was working quite well in collaboration with their international team."

Linklaters' internationally renowned project finance group has worked on a plethora of deals this year, with its Tokyo practice headed by partner Christopher Bradley. "Bradley is very diligent and always trying to from both the viewpoints of myself and the people sitting on the other side of the negotiation table" a client comments. "He is very responsive and services is always provided in a timely manner"

In a highlight deal, the firm advised the parties involved in financing the $14 billion Jubail refinery project in a complex deal with at least 19 financing facilities. Bradley was one of the lead partners in the transaction.

Linklaters is another magic circle firm with a long history (spanning 26 years) of work in South Korea. It is rumoured to be considering an office in Korea following the ratification of the Korea-EU free trade agreement.

Partner Hyung Ahn has been appointed new head of the Korea practice following the tragic and unexpected passing of former Korea head Sang Lee. Ahn advised Hundai HCN in its domestic IPO, worth W83.6 billion ($77 million), in regard to its international tranche this year.

Partners Nick Rumsby, Fiona Hobbs and Owen Clay also led Korean National Oil Corporation's £1.9 billion hostile takeover of Dana Petroleum. It required both UK and US legal advice and was a Korean company's first successful hostile takeover of an overseas company.

Linklaters' Bangkok office, like its magic circle rivals, sells itself on the back of its international network. "We greatly appreciated the quality and accuracy of advise from the Linklaters team. The backing of their international network proved to be very useful."

The same client also has high praise for Pichitpon Eammonkolchai and Sutthipong Koohasaneh: "We appreciate the accuracy of their analyses and opinions and their ability to provide innovative solutions in a challenging context. Collaboration with them was smooth and productive," says one.

Experienced partner Wilailuk Okanurak heads both the capital markets and M&A practices, and drives many of Linklaters' major mandates.

On the capital markets side, Linklaters has been involved in block trades and debt transactions. In one of the team's most high-profile deals this year, the team represented Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch, UBS and Phatra Securities on their role as underwriters for Siam Cement's Bt33 billion ($1.1billion), 15.59% stake in PTT Chemical. The deal was closely watched in the media because it was the country's largest transaction in 2010.

In another market-leading transaction, Linklaters advised Bangkok Skytrain operator BTS in a complex Bt10 billion credit-backed convertible bond issue.

Linklaters has also been active on cross-border M&A transactions this year, advising ArcelorMittal on its proposed 40% acquisition of Thailand listed G Steel. One of G Steel Public Company's major subsidiaries is Thailand listed GJ Steel. The world's largest steel firm ArcelorMittal will be the largest shareholder of G Steel after an agreement of $250 million for the acquisition and a $500 million credit facility agreement. The deal provides ArcelorMittal with a major Thailand and Asean foothold.

Linklaters' banking and finance practice combines the firm's international reputation and network and its long-term knowledge of the Thai market. Clients describe Linklaters as being "professional with a strong team and an extensive global network."

In April 2011, managing partner Wilailuk Okanurak and Wanwisar Nakarat advised The Dow Chemical Company and MTP HPPO Manufacturing on a $680 million financing for petrochemical projects in Thailand. Upon the deal's completion the financing was the largest of 2011, with 12 banks participating in the project.

Clients appreciate managing partner Wilailuk Okanurak: "She makes the client feel comfortable and know they're in good hands. She is pro-active and thinks ahead on behalf of the client, and is a strong negotiator," says one.

Waranon Vanichprapa also receives high praise. "In particular," says one client, "Waranon was able to provide solutions to allow for the closing. He's top for his experience, accessibility and ability to support closings. He is a very good lawyer-hands on and solution driven. Vanichprapa was instrumental in closing our transaction. He was essentially one of not even a handful of people that made the deal work and allowed me to exit the market my company and achieve one of our key strategic goals."

Partner Pichitpon Eammongkolchai recently represented Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI) and Sahaviriya Steel Industries as purchasers and borrowers in the financing for the acquisition of Tata Steel's Teesside Cast Products UK assets. The assets, which included the Redcar and South Bank coke ovens and TCP's power generation facilities and sinter plant, was key because the steel plant was unused for a year and 1,500 jobs were lost during that time.

On the restructuring side the Linklaters' team represented world's largest steel company ArcelorMittal on its proposed acquisition of 40% of G Steel. The deal included a proposed shareholder agreement and debt restructuring for the distressed company.

On both fronts, clients appreciate the Linklaters team's accessibility and capacity to handle bespoke transactions. One client notes that "Linklaters are able to continuously come up with creative solutions to seek and achieve necessary compromises. They're very experienced, competent and knowledgeable and represent their client's case well to other parties and stakeholders. They're available on short notice an always willing to go the extra mile."