Japanese Big Four law firm Mori Hamada & Matsumoto is set to continue its expansion across Southeast Asia after announcing an office in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City.

The new office would make MHM the last of Japan’s Big Four to establish a presence in Vietnam. Nishimura & Asahi was the first to open in 2010, and now has offices in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, as does Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu. Anderson Mori & Tomotsune has a presence in Ho Chi Minh City.

Mori Hamada’s Ho Chi Minh City office will be led by corporate partner Takuya Eguchi, who will be supported by a team of Japanese and Vietnamese lawyers. Eguchi specialises in general corporate, mergers and acquisitions, compliance and dispute resolution and is experienced in ASEAN and China-related transactions.

Last year, Mori Hamada merged with Thai firm Chandler & Thong-ek Law Offices to form Chandler MHM. It also has ASEAN offices in Singapore and Yangon, to go with an Indonesia desk at Jakarta firm AKSET Law.

Mori Hamada, which won the Japan Law Firm of the Year award at the ALB Japan Law Awards 2018, also has offices in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Beijing and Shanghai.

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