Myanmar

With a reputation as premier financial legal advisers in developing jurisdictions in Asia, DFDL’s banking and finance practice, led by Nick Towle, combines cross-border experience and local expertise. William Greenlee advised the International Finance Corporation on a $7 million convertible loan to Myanmar Oriental Bank. The transaction is one of the first convertible loans of a foreign investment into a Myanmar bank to be sanctioned by the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM).

Managed by Cheah Swee Gim, the Yangon office of Singaporean law firm Kelvin Chia Partnership provides comprehensive legal services. Gim acted as legal counsel to a Japanese global bank to establish a Myanmar branch office. Pedro Bernardo has extensive banking and capital markets experience. Before moving to Myanmar he specialised in project financing and debt and equity issuances in the Philippines. 

Khin Cho Kyi heads the banking and finance practice of Myanmar Legal Services, an affiliate of Thai firm Chandler & Thong-ek Law Offices (CTLO). Making use of significant experience with the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) and a good relationship with the CBM, the practice represents important banks and corporations including Standard Chartered and PTT Exploration and Production. Kyi, a former judge, and Albert Chandler, senior partner at CTLO, advised Bangkok Bank on its financing of a five-star commercial property. During the complex cross-border transaction, the team focused on project and borrower due diligence, which was required by the lender to extend a second financing.

Edwin Vanderbruggen manages VDB Loi’s banking and finance team to offer practical solutions for Myanmar’s finance sector. Vanderbruggen advised a consortium of six development banks on a $122 million cross-border project financing for a telecommunications network infrastructure development project by Irrawaddy Green Towers.

Contractors, developers, financiers and other project participants rely on the construction and real estate practice of DFDL, headed by Nick Towle, to deliver commercially-driven advice on commercial, industrial, residential and mixed-use projects. William Greenlee has been local counsel for a US international law firm, which is advising an Asian development bank on financing one of Myanmar’s largest industrial and trade zones.

Myanmar Legal Services’s construction and real estate practice is experienced in large construction projects, including asset and land acquisition, with a keen understanding of evolving environmental issues. Instructed by Siam Commercial Bank and Kanok Furniture and Decoration, Khin Cho Kyi led on a cross-border $60 million transaction to finance a Kempinski hotel, involving international law firms in Singapore and Thailand.

Global financiers, tenants and property developers choose Polastri Wint & Partners’ construction and real estate practice to advise on complex real estate transactions and disputes.  Alessio Polastri, managing partner, rated excellent by a subsidiary of an Asian sovereign wealth fund, and Wint Thandar Oo assisted a consortium of investors to acquire a $500 million-plus land concession to develop one of the first island projects approved by the Myanmar Investment Commission.

The Yangon office of regional firm VDB Loi advises construction companies, investors and banks on mixed-use projects. The construction and real estate practice, led by Edwin Vanderbruggen, represented a publicly-listed real estate developer on land issues, and corporate and tax structuring.

Mekong region firm DFDL, praised by a client for its “experience on the ground and history”, and its affiliated firm Myanmar Thanlwin Legal Services specialise in M&A, corporate and securities matters. Managing director William Greenlee has broad experience in negotiations, structuring and managing large transactions not only in Myanmar but across Southeast Asia. The practice is doing regulatory work for a pharmaceutical and medical care company.

Cheah Swee Gim, head of the corporate and commercial practice, as well as M&A, at Kelvin Chia Partnership provides local and overseas clients with solid commercial legal services and transactional work. Pedro Bernardo is representing the food and beverages division of a Philippine-listed company in its $10 million outbound foreign investment and joint venture with a local Myanmar partner.

Strengthened by years working with the MIC, the corporate and M&A practice at Myanmar Legal Services manages large cross-border deals. Khin Cho Kyi, Jutharat Anuktanakul, Nwe Nwe Kyaw Myint and Lynn Shin Tun Win have been advising Thailand-listed Bumrungrad Hospital on a joint venture to operate a private medical clinic in Yangon.

The corporate practice at Polastri Wint & Partners has a range of work in structuring and restructuring, market entry, joint ventures and MIC approvals. Alessio Polastri and Wint Thandar Oo have been advising a sovereign wealth fund’s entry into Myanmar and counselling an international private equity fund on establishing its Myanmar operations. The team is representing local companies as they restructure to list abroad.

Santhapat Periera and Michael Ramirez continue to expand the capabilities of the Tilleke & Gibbins’s corporate and M&A practice with new hires Dino Santaniello, who is “helpful with information, quick and clear on communication”, according to a client, and Luxsiri Supakijjanusorn. Understanding Myanmar’s strategic location, Nwe Oo, Ramirez, Yuwadee Thean-ngarm and Shalini Ghosh advised a regional logistics service provider to form a logistics and warehousing company in Myanmar.

U Tin Yu & Associates, founded by U Tin Yu, one of Myanmar’s most experienced litigators, delivers pragmatic commercial and corporate advice. The firm, led by Hnin Ei Ei Aung, has been the local independent in-house counsel for Burmese company Shwe Taung Group since 2012. Advice in joint ventures and project consortia covers a range of sectors – from real estate to building supplies to health care facilities.

Edwin Vanderbruggen, who is also head of the firm in Myanmar, leads VDB Loi’s corporate and commercial practice. The firm has advised Japanese trading houses on their transactions including drafting commercial contracts. The practice has also represented a Fortune 500 tobacco company on its inbound investment and a global beverage company on its local market entry.

VDB Loi’s dispute resolution and litigation practice is well positioned to benefit from Myanmar’s new Arbitration Law, which was enacted in January 2016. In other ASEAN markets, Edwin Vanderbruggen has advised telecommunications and extractives companies on tax disputes.

Regional law firm Allen & Gledhill’s energy, infrastructure and projects practice in Myanmar is managed by Minn Naing Oo. Saw Yu Win has deep experience in advising domestic and foreign companies on a range of cross-border investments across industries including agriculture, energy and mining.

As projects in Myanmar often involve regional and global expertise, the energy, mining, and infrastructure (EMI) practice at DFDL, as a regional firm, has an advantage over local firms. David Doran, regional EMI leader and specialist in energy, has advised on projects worth $25 billion in the Greater Mekong region (Cambodia, China’s Yunnan and Guangxi Zhuang, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam), Middle East and South Asia since 2005. A client says that the practice is “very professional and [has a] quick response”. William Greenlee, Angus Mitchell and Jude Ocampo provided legal and tax structuring advice during the bidding process for domestic oil and gas blocks. They also counselled on the gas agreement and are negotiating transfer rights under the production sharing contract.

Cheah Swee Gim and Lyra Miragrace Flores, of the energy and natural resources team at Kelvin Chia Partnership, advised Sein Wut Hmon on its $20 million joint venture with Japanese trading house Marubeni for the production and distribution of fertiliser in Myanmar.

The energy and natural resources practice at Myanmar Legal Services advises on cross-border energy transactions, local and international oil and gas exploration, and mineral exploration and mining. Khin Cho Kyi represents energy companies on corporate formation and regulatory approvals from the MIC. Kyi and Nwe Nwe Kyaw Myint have advised PTT Exploration and Production since 2010 on a $2 billion project, including construction of Zawtika, a 63 km natural gas pipeline from Myanmar to the Thai border. Counsel covered land disputes, legal and regulatory processes and requirements, and contract drafting, negotiating and finalising.

Edwin Vanderbruggen, Chris Sheridan and Aung Soe Moe of VDB Loi advised Zeya Associates on its $150 million 15 megawatt waste-to-energy power plant expected to come online by the end of 2016.

Bolstered by a solid relationship with the CBM, Myanmar Legal Services advised offshore banks on CBM approval to open branch offices. Khin Cho Kyi has also advised on the $60 million project financing of a Kempinski hotel.

Kelvin Chia Partnership maintains a large intellectual property (IP) registration portfolio and is legal counsel for many international patent and trade mark agents. Instructed by Jardine Restaurant Group and CM Foods, Cheah Swee Gim advised on the establishment of a restaurant chain in Myanmar under the Pizza Hut franchise.

Supported by the IP expertise of Tilleke & Gibbins’s Bangkok office, the Myanmar team is becoming a leader in the market. French apparel company Lacoste engaged Yuwadee Thean-ngarm and Nwe Oo to assert its rights against trade mark infringement by a local retailer. Instructed by a global confectionery manufacturer and distributor, Thean-ngarm, Oo, May Thwe Hlaing, and Shalini Ghosh evaluated alleged infringement and parallel-import liability in Myanmar.

Myanmar Legal Services has expanded its presence in IT, telecommunications and media by securing mandates from large clients. Albert Chandler, Khin Cho Kyi, Jutharat Anuktanakul, Thaw Dar Sein conducted due diligence for the Export-Import Bank of China on the Myanmar Fibre Optic Communications Network. Kyi and Nwe Nwe Kyaw Myint have been advising Telenor Myanmar on its Burmese business operations since 2012. The practice has also been advising a local software engineering company.

Polastri Wint & Partners’s IT, telecommunications and media practice has advised a telecommunications equipment manufacturer on establishing its Myanmar operations. The practice regularly advises telecommunications tower companies on concessions from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and construction of the tower networks.

Jean Loi, managing partner of VDB Loi, has particular expertise in telecommunications projects. The IT, telecommunications and media practice advised a multinational telecommunications operator on its bid for a nationwide licence in Myanmar. The team also advised a European multinational supplier of network solutions on the legal risks in its local business.

An important aspect of Myanmar Legal Services’s labour and employment practice is the advice it provides in large transactions. Khin Cho Kyi applied for stay permits and other employment documents for Srisuban Myanmar, as well as structured employment agreements for about a handful of new employees, during the establishment of a palm-oil plantation.

VDB Loi has extensive experience in handling labour and employment matters. Jean Loi and Chris Sheridan advised Malaysian Airline System (MAS) on the requirements for the termination and transfer of employees in Myanmar to Malaysian Airlines under Burmese employment laws following MAS’s restructuring.

VDB Loi’s private equity practice advised a fund on its local and international corporate structure in Myanmar. Edwin Vanderbruggen also counselled a private equity fund on its tax structuring in Cambodia. Private equity is expected to accelerate in Myanmar, due, in part, to the Asian Development Bank’s low interest loans, totalling $1.75 billion from 2017 to 2022.

The energy, mining, and infrastructure (EMI) group at DFDL is one of its most experienced practices. Drawing on its regional network of projects and infrastructure experts, the Yangon office regularly manages large cross-border transactions including project finance. Regional head of EMI and specialist in energy, David Doran, praised by a client for his “experience, history, network, and culture understanding”, has advised on projects worth $25 billion in the Mekong region and beyond. William Greenlee and Nick Towle advised on Digicel Group’s $60 million debt facility and an Islamic financing from a Qatari sovereign fund to construct 1,250 telecommunications towers for the Ooredoo network in Myanmar.

Kelvin Chia Partnership has a team of Myanmar lawyers with robust local knowledge and experience of the country’s projects and infrastructure laws and regulations. Cheah Swee Gim advised Kianjoo Can and Boxpak on the formation of about $25 million of foreign-owned manufacturing facilities in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone.

The projects and infrastructure practice at Myanmar Legal Services has been involved in significant projects in Myanmar. Instructed by Mitsubishi, Khin Cho Kyi, Thaw Dar Sein and Nwe Nwe Kyaw Myint advised on the tender process for Mandalay International Airport’s refurbishment and operation. After winning the tender Mitsubishi has retained the firm for more legal services.

At VDB Loi, Edwin Vanderbruggen and Chris Sheridan advised on all transactional matters for the Ministry of Rail Transportation (MRT) for one of Myanmar’s first public-private partnerships, a $320 million telecommunications network.

Khin Cho Kyi, Albert Chandler, Jutharat Anuktanakul and Nwe Nwe Kyaw Myint of Myanmar Legal Services advised Srisuban Myanmar on its review of foreign direct investment issues and restructuring of corporate shareholdings.

DFDL has developed a sophisticated understanding of the aviation industry. The aviation practice has advised on several cross-practice transactions with the banking and finance team. Instructed by the Export-Import Bank of the United States, James Finch and Thida Aye managed the air finance transaction for two aircraft of Myanmar National Airlines, one of the first purchase financings to be executed strictly under local Myanmar laws and regulations.

A significant amount of work in DFDL’s tax practice comes from cross-practice maters with the energy, mining and infrastructure group. William Greenlee and Angus Mitchell provided extensive legal and tax structuring advice during tendering for domestic oil and gas blocks.