Pinsent Masons MPillay, the Singapore office of UK law firm Pinsent Masons, has recruited senior energy and infrastructure expert David Clinch as a partner in Singapore from Shearman & Sterling, where he was an of counsel.

Clifford Chance and Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & de los Angeles have advised the lenders on the $3.9 billion financing of Dito Telecommunity’s 4G and 5G telecommunications network in the Philippines, with Shearman and Sterling and Villaraza & Angangco advising Dito.

Shearman & Sterling and Anderson Mori & Tomotsune are advising Japanese educational services provider Benesse Holdings on a 270-billion-yen ($1.78 billion) management buyout (MBO) plan proposed by Swedish investment house EQT AB Group, represented by White & Case. Mori Hamada & Matsumoto act for the all stakeholders on this MBO scheme.

Shearman & Sterling will wind down its office in Seoul following an internal review of “strategic priorities,” a Shearman spokesperson said ahead of the firm’s planned merger with Allen & Overy.  

Clifford Chance has advised Japanese trading house Mitsui on its $472.5 million acquisition of a 70 percent stake in food constituent manufacturer Nutrinova Netherlands from Celanese, which was represented by Shearman & Sterling.

The planned mega-merger between Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling has sent shockwaves across the legal world, and ignited a tidal wave of interest in merging in an industry thriving on loyal client relations and expansive institutional networks. ALB delves into the matching dance between law firms, including the strategic considerations beforehand and factors that can make or break the union.

UK-headquartered law firm Ashurst has hired four partners in Singapore and Seoul. Jean-Louis Neves Mandelli and Scott Baggett (Singapore), and Anna Chung (Seoul) join from Shearman & Sterling, while Lawrence Jhe (also Seoul) joins from Kim, Chang & Lee.

Shearman & Sterling has advised Abu Dhabi's sovereign weal fund Mubadala Investment on its acquisition of a majority stake in U.S. asset manager Fortress Investment Group from Japan's SoftBank Group, which turned to Morrison Foerster for counsel. Kirkland & Ellis represented Fortress.

U.S.-headquartered disputes boutique Steptoe & Johnson has hired investigations and white-collar defense specialist Cáitrín McKiernan as a partner from Shearman & Sterling. She is expected to split her time between Hong Kong and New York.

U.S. law firm Shearman & Sterling's London-based partner Rahul Chatterji is taking his leveraged finance practice to rival UK firm Linklaters' Singapore outpost, Linklaters said Friday.