Audier & Partners

Audier & Partners advised a major international bank and other lenders on a $250 million secured syndicated loan to PetroVietnam to provide funding in connection with the Dung Quat refinery. Nicolas Audier and Nicolas Picard advised AFD, the French development bank, and five other development banks on the review of the draft law, which is seen to have impact on their financing operations in the country, in preparation for the joint portfolio performance reviews (JPPR) with the Vietnamese government.

Audier & Partners, which has been involved in many recent capital markets transactions in Vietnam including IPOs, listings and the equitisation of, or conversion into a public limited company or corporation, of major state-owned enterprises, advised the government on a $1 billion sovereign bond offering, the country’s first issuance since 2005. The team also advised a foreign investment bank on a potential subscription of US dollar-denominated convertible bonds from a Vietnamese listed utility company.

Audier & Partners regularly advises developers, construction companies and financial institutions on projects such as office buildings, shopping centres, and power and energy infrastructure. Etienne Laumonier and Pham Viet Anh advised Neovia, a global leader in the animal feed sector, on an industrial development project, from a review of the land and construction law issues  to negotiation with the industrial zone and the Vietnamese authorities. Laumonier and Nguyen Cong To assisted a hospitality services operator on a major hospitality and real estate development in Phu Quoc Province containing several residential projects, entertainment and hotel facilities.

Audier & Partners, which advises corporations and other investors on all types of transactions including joint ventures, equity investments and private placements, was on the other side of the Big C Vietnam transaction. Nicolas Audier, Nicolas Picard, Bernadette Fahy and Etienne Laumonier acted for the Casino Group on Big C’s sale for Ä1 billion to Central Group, one of the main family-owned groups in Thailand, as well as the Vietnamese competition law and compliance requirements in relation to the cross-border merger. A client comments the firm has “excellent track record in Vietnam with a seasoned team of veterans”. The team advised Accor, a leading global hotel chain, on the establishment of a nationwide hotel chain in Vietnam.

Audier & Partners has an “excellent team who are well connected at government level and always prepared to go the extra mile”, says a client. The firm is best known for its dispute resolution practice and is described by peers as “the strongest dispute resolution firm in Vietnam”. The team notably acted for the Vietnamese government in major international arbitration proceedings and also represented leading energy companies and a top-state-owned enterprise in arbitration under the International Chamber of Commerce’s rules. Nicolas Audier, Bernadette Fahy and Tran Trong Binh advised one of the leaders in the global trade of an unnamed commodity headquartered in Switzerland in its application for the recognition and enforcement of seven foreign arbitral awards for a total amount of about $21 million through the Vietnamese courts.

The projects, infrastructure and energy practice group at Audier & Partners acted for a Vietnamese client on the Phu My 2.2 gas-fired power plant (700MW) project on the basis of a concession / BOT-type structure, including development, financing and construction. The team also advised a major European oil company on a $250 million bitumen project in the south of Vietnam.

Audier & Partners advised Central Group Vietnam, a leading retail and property group, on restructuring its e-commerce activity in the country. Nicolas Picard, Le Thuy Lan, and Antoine Logeay assisted on aspects such as licensing procedures, drafting contractual documentation for the restructuring of the corporate vehicle of Zalora e-commerce website and other e-commerce activities.

Audier & Partners led a study of the legal environment for BOT projects in Vietnam, providing information from existing Vietnamese regulations to identify the main legal and tax issues concerning foreign investors in relation to BOT projects. Lawyers at the firm acted for Agence Française de Développement (AFD), in relation to a direct non-sovereign concessional loan to Vietnam Electricity (EVN) for the financing of a power project in the North of Vietnam.