VILAF houses its large team of 80 practitioners in its two offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Vo Ha Duyen acts as the chairperson with Dang Duong Anh acting as managing partner of the Hanoi practice.
Focusses / specialisms
The firm is ranked among the market-leading firms across the board in the financial and corporate space.
The banking and finance team is skilled in advising on cross-border financing transactions, particularly in financing BOT power projects.
In the area of capital markets, the firm is experienced in advising on transactions such as IPOs on international and domestic exchanges, acquisitions, structured de-listings for private equity acquisitions, equity capital market products and bond offerings.
The firm’s corporate and M&A practice caters to clients in their joint ventures and M&A transactions, with a particular focus on energy and infrastructure, banking, real estate and construction, and retail sectors.
The projects team has capabilities in advising domestic and foreign project developers and lenders, particularly in the renewable energy sectors.
Key clients
Notable clients include Alipay, Worldpay Group, DBS Bank, UOB Singapore, Citibank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong).
Research period review: 33rd edition (2022/2023)
The banking team recently acted for lenders and borrowers in matters such as financing and asset financing in the real estate, manufacturing and energy sectors.
In the capital markets area, the firm advised on debt and equity transactions. On the debt side, it did a mix of issuer, initial purchaser and underwriter side work on bond issues. On the equity side, it worked for issuers on IPOs.
In M&A, the firm was active in strategic deals on both the buy and sell side. The deals came across different sectors, including industrials and manufacturing, and energy.
The project development team was primarily active in the petrochemicals and energy sectors.
Deal highlights: 33rd edition (2022/2023)
BeerCo’s IPO.
Goshawk Aviation’s sale of Goshawk Aviation to SMBC Aviation Capital.
Hung Thinh Land’s $420 million bond issue.
SVP acquired 100% capital in Jaguar International Corporation Hanoi.
Client feedback: 33rd edition (2022/2023)
Asset finance
“Very good aviation firm combined with full-service litigation capability.”
Bank lending
“Provide legal advice together with local market practice and mitigation.”
M&A
“Professional and competent.”
Project development
“The VILAF team is always responsive and addresses issues. They understand our business very well and always provide us with helpful and practical advice to support our business.”
Quang Hung Nguyen
“Provides legal advice together with local market practice and mitigation.”
Duyen Ha Vo
“With her intimate knowledge of our business and in-depth legal knowledge, she provides valuable advice and supports our team to have a better understanding of the transaction and pros and cons of each option, which supports us in making decisions. She always comes up with a workable and practical solution, not just a legal issue.”
Trung Vu
“Professional and detailed.”
