U.S. firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld is all set to open a Hong Kong office within the next few weeks. The firm is also planning to launch a new outpost in Singapore.
The firm’s Hong Kong branch will be headed by Gregory Puff, formerly an M&A partner at Shearman & Sterling and Andrew Abernethy, a Hong Kong partner of Norton Rose who specialises in M&A and investment funds.
With an existing Beijing office that was opened in 2007, the Hong Kong outpost will bolster the firm’s capital markets offering with a focus on pan-Asian mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and investment funds. “We will expand some of our capital markets capability, and ultimately we will look at the dispute resolution practice,” said Puff, who aims to grow the new office to a “critical mass” of about 20 to 25 lawyers in a year or two.
The Hong Kong office will advise on U.S., UK and Hong Kong law, and it is positioned to be the “Asia hub” for the firm, says Puff.
The firm is eyeing other opportunities in the region, having recently submitted an application to open a Singapore office, said Puff. It will explore other options to bolster its market share in Shanghai and Seoul, he added.
While leveraging on the firm’s strength in the energy, oil and gas, and telecom sectors, the Hong Kong branch will tap into Asian trade and policy practices. It will also capture opportunities emanating from Russia, where the firm has a strong practice, said Puff.
A specialist in M&A, Puff was Shearman & Sterling’s lead counsel in advising the buyer consortium on the $2.3 billion privatisation of PRC gaming giant Shanda Interactive Entertainment last fall.
An international M&A and energy advisory expert, Abernethy had advised Sinopec Kantons Holdings on acquiring 50 percent stake in the Fujairah Oil Terminal FZC in the United Arabs Emirates in January this year. ALB
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