Asia Business Law Journal

18/06/2025

Firms lead on ThaiBev’s USD2bn multicurrency debt issuance https://law.asia/thaibev-multicurrency-debt-issuance/

TTT+Partners, WongPartnership and Linklaters have counselled on Thai Beverage Public Company’s (ThaiBev) launch of its USD2 billion multicurrency debt issuance programme on the Singapore Exchange (SGX).

“One of the main challenges in establishing the programme (particularly for local counsel like us) was assisting the ThaiBev (as an entity listing on the SGX) in obtaining approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission, Thailand (Thai SEC) for an offer for the sale of bonds of all types under the debt issuance programme and on the basis of its existing corporate approval,” TTT+Partners’ Veeranuch Thammavaranucupt said.

Thammavaranucupt, James Lawden and Arnut Pongprueksa led the TTT+Partners team. The transaction also involved WongPartnership advising the issuer on Singapore law, Linklaters’ Lion City office as English law counsel for the arranger and dealer, DBS Bank, and the firm’s Hong Kong office as the trustee’s English law counsel.

18/06/2025

The Association of Corporate Counsel Hong Kong (ACCHK) will host a family bowling event on July 13, 2025 at the Aberdeen Marina Club, Shum Wan Road, Aberdeen.

The event will be held from 10am to 1pm.

ACCHK members may bring up to three family guests, including children. Attendees are asked to wear sports shoes and sportswear.

For more information, visit the ACC event page: https://www.acc.com/education-events

The Association of Corporate Counsel Hong Kong (ACCHK) will host a family bowling event on 13 July 2025 at the Aberdeen Marina Club...

18/06/2025

Toyota Fudosan is set to launch a USD33 billion takeover bid via a stock company as the offeror in December this year to take Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed Japanese forklift maker Toyota Industries Corporation private and make it a wholly owned subsidiary.

Operating as Toyota Group companies, the real estate arm Toyota Fudosan has appointed Mori Hamada & Matsumoto as the offeror’s legal adviser, while Toyota Industries has hired Nishimura & Asahi as its legal counsel.

Hiroki Fujii, who is one of three partners leading Nishimura’s team representing Toyota Industries, told Asia Business Law Journal they advised the client on measures that should be taken to ensure the fairness of procedures in the transactions, and matters including the method and process of decision-making, among other issues.

Earlier this year, Toyota Industries established a special committee consisting of three external independent directors. The special committee hired Gaien Partners as its legal adviser.

Fujii, who is advising Toyota Industries together with Yo Ota and Yamato Nozawa, said Toyota Fudosan and Toyota Industries had to eliminate the arbitrariness in the decision-making process and avoid conflicts of interest.

Toyota Fudosan is set to launch a USD33 billion takeover bid via a stock company as the offeror in December this year to take Tokyo Stock...

18/06/2025

Isshiki boosts IP with ex-Novartis Japan GC’s partner hire https://law.asia/hiromi-furushima-joins-isshiki-partners-strengthens-ip-practice/

Tokyo-based Isshiki & Partners has bolstered its intellectual property practice, hiring Swiss global pharmaceutical giant Novartis’ Japan subsidiary’s former general counsel and head of IP, Hiromi Furushima, as a partner.

Taro Isshiki, a US-qualified co-managing partner of Isshiki & Partners, said his firm had a strong focus on cross-border matters, particularly in IP, litigation and corporate law.

“At Isshiki & Partners, Hiromi will draw on this extensive experience to support clients in a broad array of matters, with a focus on advising pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies,” said Isshiki.

Furushima began her legal career as an associate at Koga & Partners in 1997. She went on to practise as an associate at Nishimura & Asahi and later as an of counsel at Morrison & Foerster.

After being in private practice for more than 13 years, she transitioned to an in-house role in 2011 when she joined Novartis Japan, as a senior legal counsel.

Before her recent return to private practice, she had worked as director of international legal at Alnylam Japan, in Tokyo.

17/06/2025

Delta Law Corporation, a boutique corporate and commercial firm, has launched in Singapore with the aim of providing tech-driven legal solutions across the entire business life cycle.

“Our firm is strategically positioned to serve SMEs, startups, boutique professional firms and financial institutions, high-net-worth individuals, and foreign law firms seeking a Singaporean legal partner,” Delta Law co-founders Joshua Tan, Cephas Yee and Sean Lee, said.
Tan, Yee and Lee previously worked at Aquinas Law Alliance and at BlackOak for several years.

With the trio’s combined expertise, they launched Delta Law as partners and co-founders, alongside two associates who have joined them from Aquinas Law Alliance.

Delta Law plans to expand its team by welcoming one counsel and two lawyers at senior associate level in July. The firm is also actively recruiting junior lawyers and prospective trainees.

The trio is also in discussions to collaborate with their close counterparts at leading mainland Chinese law firms to engage them as consultants or advisers at Delta Law.

Delta Law Corporation, a boutique corporate and commercial firm, has launched in Singapore to provide tech-driven legal solutions...

17/06/2025

The Association of Corporate Counsel Hong Kong (ACCHK) has advocated access to justice with its support for Hong Kong Pro Bono Week 2025.

This year’s theme, “Turning Law into Justice”, highlights the role of the legal community in making the law more accessible and impactful.

The launch featured a welcome speech from Kevin Zervos, a judge of the Court of Appeal of Hong Kong, and Hong Kong Bar Association Pro Bono Committee co-chairs Azan Marwah and Norman Hui.

Throughout the week, in-house lawyers demonstrated how corporate legal expertise could serve the wider community. The ACCHK’s involvement underscored the role of corporate counsel in advancing access to justice, beyond traditional frameworks.

The Association of Corporate Counsel Hong Kong (ACCHK) has advocated access to justice with its support for Hong Kong Pro Bono…

17/06/2025

Hughes Hubbard boosts Asia presence with new Tokyo head https://law.asia/hughes-hubbard-tokyo-office-justin-terada/

New York-based Hughes Hubbard & Reed has strengthened its Asia-Pacific presence with the addition of international corporate and M&A lawyer Justin Terada as counsel and head of its Tokyo office.

Seth Rothman of Hughes Hubbard, told Asia Business Law Journal that, as part of the firm’s practice in the region, it maintained an office in Tokyo to ensure that they were available and responsive to Japanese clients and law firm partners.

Rothman said Terada’s arrival in Tokyo would help the firm continue to do that.
Terada has joined from DLA Piper where he practised as a senior associate.

He started his legal career with Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu. A fluent Japanese speaker, Terada also previously worked for close to 13 years at White & Case in Tokyo and Frankfurt.

17/06/2025

Patrick Ang, vice chairman at Rajah & Tann Asia and former managing partner at Rajah & Tann Singapore, has died at the age of 61. Tributes poured in from key legal figures, highlighting Ang’s legacy and character.

News of Ang’s death was shared on Rajah & Tann Asia’s website, which described Ang as “not only a towering figure in the legal community”, and “the heart of our firm”.

The firm added that “his brilliance in corporate restructuring and insolvency, unwavering integrity, and deep care for people made him a respected leader and a beloved mentor.”

Ang’s legacy is marked by his transformative leadership as managing partner of Rajah & Tann Singapore from 2019 to March 2025.

Under his helm, the firm strengthened its reputation, expanded its regional footprint, and embraced innovation, helping businesses adapt to a fast-evolving digital economy.

Patrick Ang, vice chairman at Rajah & Tann Asia and former managing partner at Rajah & Tann Singapore, has died at the age of 61.

17/06/2025

Scores of in-house counsel and legal professionals have explored leadership, innovation and regulatory risk at the 2025 Association of Corporate Counsel Asia-Pacific (ACC Asia-Pacific) Annual Meeting.

The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), in partnership with Lexology, organised the event developed with input from a committee of senior in-house counsel from across the region.

ACC president and CEO Veta Richardson opened the event, following an icebreaker led by ACC Singapore president David Sullivan. The keynote panel was moderated by Andrew Macintosh, senior managing director at FTI Consulting.

The two-day agenda featured a wide range of sessions designed to equip in-house counsel with strategic, technical and leadership capabilities across key areas of legal practice.

One of the first sessions were led by speakers Schellie-Jayne Price, senior legal counsel at Nooriam, Jayne Kuriakose, Asia head of disputes and litigation at DXC Technology, and Kenneth Ong, senior privacy counsel, Asia-Pacific privacy leader at GE Healthcare.

The closing plenary were led by Tom Stephenson, vice president of community and legal operations at Legal.Io, and Priyanka Mukherjee, legal director at Pfizer.

Scores of in-house counsel and legal professionals have explored leadership, innovation and regulatory risk at the 2025 Association of...

17/06/2025

Former Supreme Court justice boosts Bae, Kim & Lee’s IP team https://law.asia/bae-kim-lee-hires-supreme-court-justice-kitaik-lee-ip-litigation/

Korean firm Bae, Kim & Lee (BKL) has strengthened its intellectual property litigation practice with the onboarding of Kitaik Lee, formerly a judge for 36 years and one of the country’s Supreme Court justices from 2015 to 2021.

“Lee handled a wide range of IP cases while he was serving at the Patent Court and the IP division of the Seoul High Court, and also established precedents in this field during his tenure at the Supreme Court,” Managing partner Wucheol Song of BKL, said.

Lee began his legal career as a judge at the Seoul Civil District Court in 1985 and subsequently held judicial positions for more than three decades. After serving a six-year term as a Supreme Court justice, he became a distinguished professor at Sogang University Law School in 2022.

At BKL, Lee will contribute to the firm’s litigation group and litigation support team, which is led by managing partner Song.

16/06/2025

Lee & Ko has expanded its corporate law practice with the recruitment of Yun Seek Hahm as a partner, who is a former judge and most recently the general counsel and executive vice president at Woowa Brothers.

“Hahm has experience working as an executive for a prominent and market leading platform business,” Sanggon Kim, the senior managing partner at Lee & Ko told Asia Business Law Journal.

Admitted to the Korean bar in 1998, Hahm served as a judge in several district courts for 15 years and finally a judge at the Seoul High Court before he joined Kim & Chang in 2016.

Lee & Ko has expanded its corporate law practice with the recruitment of Yun Seek Hahm as a partner, who is a former judge and...

16/06/2025

TTT+Partners, WongPartnership and Linklaters have counselled on Thai Beverage Public Company’s (ThaiBev) launch of its USD2 billion multicurrency debt issuance programme on the Singapore Exchange (SGX).

“One of the main challenges in establishing the programme (particularly for local counsel like us) was assisting the ThaiBev (as an entity listing on the SGX) in obtaining approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission, Thailand (Thai SEC) for an offer for the sale of bonds of all types under the debt issuance programme and on the basis of its existing corporate approval,” TTT+Partners’ Veeranuch Thammavaranucupt told Asia Business Law Journal.

Thammavaranucupt, James Lawden and Arnut Pongprueksa led the TTT+Partners team. The transaction also involved WongPartnership advising the issuer on Singapore law, Linklaters’ Lion City office as English law counsel for the arranger and dealer, DBS Bank, and the firm’s Hong Kong office as the trustee’s English law counsel.

TTT+Partners, WongPartnership and Linklaters have counselled on Thai Beverage Public Company’s (ThaiBev) launch of its...