Paul Hastings has strategically relocated real estate partner Derek Roth from Los Angeles to Hong Kong – in anticipation of a swathe of big-ticket deals, coming out of Asia in the next six to 12 months.

“A number of our clients are in the middle to late stages of raising funds. We anticipate seeing more fund work getting off the ground,” Roth told ALB.

The firm plans for Roth to not only leverage off relationships from the firm’s strong real estate practices in Tokyo and China but also establish an expansion strategy into countries in Asia where Paul Hastings has yet to assert a presence on the real estate front – India, Singapore and Korea.  “Our client funds are becoming increasingly active again and we see more upside going forward,” he said.

“Although on the equity side, things are relatively slow, loan transactions and capital-raising are strong areas of practice. We are seeing more fund work and people getting funds off the ground and we anticipate big-ticket individual deals in the next six to 12 months,” Roth said.

The firm sees increased activity from Asian sovereign funds pushing for outbound acquisitions. “We are seeing more talk of Asian sovereign funds investing and transacting outside of Asia,” Roth said.

Roth, who made partner in February 2007, plans to strengthen the firm’s Asia real estate practice by approximately one to four lawyers in the coming months.ALB

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