Herbert Smith Freehills took the crown as Asia's TMT Law Firm of the Year 2013 at the inaugural TMT Finance Asia Gala Awards held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Hong Kong on January 16, 2014.
The shortlist of leading legal advisors on TMT deals included five other law firms in Asia Pacific. Notably, Herbert Smith Freehills acted as regulatory advisors on one of the shortlisted TMT deals of the year—XL Axiata's US$865 million acquisition of PT Axis Telekom.
The awards ceremony, which comprises seven categories, recognises outstanding leadership in deal making, finance, innovation and investment by TMT companies, executives, investors, financiers and advisers in both mature and emerging markets.
Distinguished judges on the panel include Sander Hamersma, Head of Communications & Media at Barclays Capital; Ian Sanders, Partner and Telecom Lead Asia Pacific East at PricewaterhouseCoopers; Ranesh Verma, Managing Director and Head of Structured Finance TMT Asia at ING; and Sherzad Desai, Head of Telecom, Media, Entertainment and Technology at ANZ Banking Group.
Asia Pacific TMT partner Damien Bailey accepted the award on behalf of the firm. "2013 has been a remarkable year for our TMT practice," said Damien. "There has been a significant increase in activity across the Asia Pacific region as companies from across the globe look to new regions and new technologies for growth. Having a dedicated TMT team in each of the markets we operate has enabled us to advise on those multi-national deals looking to leverage off the outstanding synergies between different jurisdictions within Asia Pacific." Damien advised China Telecom Global on its application for one of the telecom licences to be issued in Myanmar, as well as its on-going expansion around the region.
Mark Robinson, Singapore-based TMT senior consultant, commented:
"One of the bright spots on our TMT practice last year is Southeast Asia, where a significant increase in TMT infrastructure requirements has given us the opportunity to blaze trails by advising on first-time deals in emerging markets like Myanmar. It's been a very active and interesting region to work in since the sector-related project developments and business consolidations that we have advised require a lot of innovative and commercially-sound advice."
Last year, Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Axiata Group Berhad on the US$180 million strategic merger of Cambodia of Hello Axiata Company Limited and Latelz Company Limited. The deal gave Axiata a 90% stake in the combined entity and made the company one of the largest operators in Cambodia.
In Japan, Herbert Smith Freehills' TMT team is led by Tokyo-based Graeme Preston, and continues to act for industry leaders including Canon, Nintendo, Fujitsu, NEC and NTT DoCoMo. The firm most recently acted as advisor to NEC Corporation, a major Japanese IT and networking solutions provider, on its acquisition of shares in its joint venture company, NEC HCL Technologies Limited.
