YKVN

The banking and finance practice of YKVN is one of the few to represent all four major Vietnamese state-owned banks, as well as global investment banks. Practice head Truong Nhat Quang leads a team which regularly advises on implementing new banking products in Vietnam and restructuring of state-owned banks. Truong and Duong Thu Ha have been advising the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam on the sale of a strategic stake under an equitisation process. The deal is an example of the trend of state-owned enterprises across industries becoming more commercially-oriented.

YKVN’s capital markets practice is highly regarded in Vietnam. Led by Truong Nhat Quang, the group has acted as counsel in some of the most pioneering, high value transactions. In addition to representing Masan Consumer, the issuer, on its D9 trillion corporate bonds, the team, headed by Duong Thu Ha, worked with international law firms in China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam to bring a high-yield bond issuance to market. The bonds, a Rule 144A/Regulation S offering, are expected to be listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. Rule 144A allows qualified institutional buyers to trade privately placed securities among themselves during a two-year holding period, and Reg S exempts an issuer from registering offerings made outside the US under the US Securities Act.

The corporate and M&A team at YKVN, one of the few Vietnamese firms to have an office abroad (in Singapore) specialises in cross-border corporate restructurings, disposals, joint ventures, M&A and takeovers. During the past nine years the practice has advised on most if not all of the sales of stakes in the large state-owned enterprises. Minh Dang and Diep Hoai Nam have been managing the team, with Truong Nhat Quang acting as local counsel on a Vietnamese consumer goods company’s tailor-made and heavily negotiated sale of an equity stake to a strategic buyer.

Headed by Truong Trong Nghia and Luu Tien Dzung, YKVN’s dispute resolution and litigation group has expanded significantly into international arbitration under Minh Dang. A diverse mix of internationally-qualified talent enables the practice to advise on cross-border disputes, a specialty likely to grow given Vietnam’s economic liberalisation. Truong Trong Nghia advised Bunge Group, a US agribusiness and food company, on a matter with a roughly $60 million Vietnamese joint venture company. While the chief justice of the Supreme Court had the case under review, the team was able to persuade a shareholder to sell its stake and collaborated with the Department of Planning and Investment to prevent the recurrence of one of the underlying legal issues.

Led by Truong Nhat Quang, head of the energy and natural resources group, and Diep Hoai Nam, YKVN advised the Export–Import Bank of Korea and Korea Trade Insurance, and a consortium of 12 foreign banks, on the $2.1 billion Mong Duong 2 coal-fired power project. Legal advice is expected to continue until 2018.

The projects and infrastructure team at YKVN has substantial expertise in project finance, including cross-border finance from export credit agencies, and engineering, procurement, and construction project documents in complex transactions. Vu Dzung and Nguyen Hong Diep had advised Metro Pacific Tollways, one of the largest Philippine toll way companies, on a complex deal with a Vietnamese company.