IFLR is delighted to present its shortlist for the 2021 IFLR Asia-Pacific Awards.
All deal, team, national and international firm of the year shortlists are listed below. All the shortlists were carefully selected by the IFLR editorial team after months of research, interviews, analysis and deliberation. We hope they inspire.
Winners will be announced on March 25 2021. Please register for the winners’ presentation here:
Throughout the research IFLR kept a laser focus on legal innovation in the cross-border market. The shortlist reflects hard work and ingenuity, and seeks to showcase transactions that broke new ground and set new legal high-water marks in the region.
As ever, our decisions were based exclusively on innovation in cross-border deals; we have disregarded deal values, client prestige and other such aspects as much as possible. All the shortlisted deals closed during the awards review period, which was between January 1 2020 to December 31 2020.
The shortlist is based on our own preliminary research, including direct written nominations and conversations with law firms, in-house teams and clients. If your team advised on one of these deals but is not listed, please contact James Wilson: james.wilson@legalmediagroup.com
IFLR will be revealing the winners on March 25 via an awards programme that will include a virtual winners’ presentation, writes ups, podcasts and other media. To find out more - and to find out about how you can promote your success - please contact Anicette Indiana: anicette.indiana@euromoneyasia.com.
DEALS OF THE YEAR
Debt and equity-linked
Aviva Singlife Tier 2 notes and bridge-to-bond
Allen & Gledhill
Allen & Overy
Latham & Watkins
Norton Rose Fulbright
Slaughter and May
Bank of China blue bonds
Allen & Overy
Jingtian & Gongcheng
Linklaters
Manila Water Company
Dechert
Milbank
Picazo Buyco Tan Fider & Santos
Olam International Reg S SGD issuance
Clifford Chance
WongPartnership
Scentre Group hybrid note issuance
Allen & Overy
K&L Gates
Linklaters
Russell McVeagh
Sidley Austin
Singapore Airlines convertible bonds
Allen & Gledhill
WongPartnership
Star Energy Geothermal Salak green project bonds
Assegaf Hamzah & Partners
Clifford Chance
Hiswara Bunjamin Tandjung
King & Spalding
Lennox Patton
Mayer Brown
Milbank
Rajah & Tann
Walkers
Xero Investments convertible notes and buyback
Allens
Belly Gully
Gilbert + Tobin
Linklaters
Equity
AREIT IPO
Allen & Overy
Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz Law Offices
Dechert
Latham & Watkins
Picazo Buyco Tan Fider & Santos Law Offices
Big Hit Entertainment IPO
Bae Kim Lee
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Greenberg Traurig
Kim & Chang
China Merchants Securities A+H shares rights issue
Allbright Law Offices
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Harneys
King & Wood Mallesons
China Pacific Insurance GDRs and listing
Baker McKenzie
Clifford Chance
Fangda Partners
King & Wood Mallesons
Linklaters
China Yangtze Power Shanghai-London Stock Connect GDRs
Allen & Overy
Baker McKenzie
Linklaters
JunHe
King & Wood Mallesons
JD.com IPO and secondary listing
Clifford Chance
Han Kun Law Firm
Maples Group
Shihui Partners
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
KE Holdings IPO
Davis Polk & Wardwell
Han Kun Law Offices
Jingtian & Gongcheng
Maples Group
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
Lufax Holding IPO
Conyers Dill & Pearman
Haiwen & Partners
Kirkland & Ellis
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
Zhong Lun Law Firm
High yield
Alam Sutera Realty exchange offer
Allen & Gledhill
Assegaf Hamzah & Partners
Clifford Chance
Milbank
Shearman & Sterling
Widyawan & Partners
China Evergrande Group and Scenery Journey
Commerce & Finance Law Offices
King & Wood Mallesons
Maples Group
Norton Rose Fulbright
Sidley Austin
Government of Mongolia sustainable development bond
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
DB & GTS
Dorsey & Whitney
Mayer Brown
Melville Erdenedalai
Indika Energy
Allen & Gledhill
Assegaf Hamzah & Partners
Sidley Austin
Shearman & Sterling
Widyawan & Partners
Medco Energi Internasional
Allen & Gledhill
Allens
Argyrou & Konstantinou
Assegaf Hamzah & Partners
Barrow & Williams
Chandler MHM
Conyers Dill & Pearman
Cox Hallett Wilkinson
De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek
Dentons
Jeff Leong Poon & Wong
Mayer Brown
Russin & Vecchi
Shearman & Sterling
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
Venture Law
Walkers
Witara Cakra Advocates
Yida China exchange offer and consent solicitation
Commerce & Finance Law Offices
Conyers Dill & Pearman
Jingtian & Gongcheng
Sidley Austin
Shearman & Sterling
Vedanta Resources
BLC Roberts & Associates
Carey Olsen
Hogan Lovells Lee & Lee
Khaitan & Co
Latham & Watkins
Linklaters
M&A
Amundi - Bank of China Wealth Management JV
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
King & Wood Mallesons
Zhong Lun Law Firm
Bitauto take-private
Conyers Dill & Pearman
Han Kun Law Offices
Kirkland & Ellis
Latham & Watkins
Maples Group
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
Zhong Lun Law Firm
CP Group / Tesco’s Thailand and Malaysia
Allen & Overy
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
DLA Piper
Linklaters
Rahmat Lim & Partners
Fosun Pharma - BioNTech strategic alliance
Covington & Burlington
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Paul Hastings
Stephenson Harwood
Grifols / Shanghai RAAS
Grandway
Hogan Lovells
JunHe
Kirkland & Ellis
Osborne Clarke
Proskauer Rose
Kimberly-Clark Corporation / Softex Indonesia
Allen & Gledhill
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
Makarim & Taira S
Maples Group
Soemadipradja & Taher
Resolution / Vinum
Ashurst
Bell Gully
Debevoise & Plimpton
King & Wood Mallesons
Singapore Life / Aviva Singapore
Allen & Gledhill
Latham & Watkins
Maples Group
Norton Rose Fulbright
Slaughter and May
Private equity
58.com take-private
Conyers Dill & Pearman
Davis Polk & Wardwell
Fangda Partners
Fenwick & West
Han Kun Law Offices
Kirkland & Ellis
Maples Group
Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
Weil Gotshal & Manges
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Bain Capital Private Equity / Nichiigakkan
Anderson Mori & Tomotsune
Mori Hamada & Matsumoto
Oh-Ebashi
Ropes & Gray
White & Case
Baring Private Equity / Hexaware Technology
AZB & Partners
Kirkland & Ellis
Carlyle Group / Japan Asia Group, Kokusai Kogyo and JAG Energy
Anderson Mori & Tomotsune
Nishimura & Asahi
KKR / JB Chemicals
Allen & Overy
Platinum Partners
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
KKR / ESG and ESG Cheongwon
Kim & Chang
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Lone Star / Unizo Holdings
Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu
TMI Associates
Magnus Private Equity Fund / MagnaChip Semiconductor
Kim & Chang
Lee & Ko
Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
Project finance
Almaty ring road PPP
Aequitas Law Firm
Allen & Overy
Kim & Chang
White & Case
Changfang and Xidao Offshore wind farms
Baker McKenzie
Lee & Li
Linklaters
Orrick
Watson Farley & Williams
White & Case
Cleantech Solar rooftop photovoltaic project
Adnan Sundra & Low
Baker & McKenzie Wong & Leow
Bun & Associates
DFDL
Norton Rose Fulbright
Hanwha Energy 3 solar projects
Kim & Chang
Nishimura & Asahi
Phu Yen solar power plant
Baker McKenzie
Chandler MHM
Clifford Chance
DFDL
Frasers Law Company
Phnom Penh power transmission line refinancing
Clifford Chance
DFDL
Sidrap Wind Farm refinancing
Allen & Overy
Assegaf Hamzah & Partners
Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow
Baker McKenzie
HHP Law Firm
Shearman & Sterling
Restructuring
Duniatex Group
Aji Wijaya & Co
Allen & Overy
Baker McKenzie
BlackOak
Borrelli Walsh
Gibson Dunn
Ginting & Reksodiputro
Hadiputranto Hadinoto & Partners
Mehigan
Hotman Paris Hutapea
MARX & Co
Liaoning Huishan Dairy Group
JunHe
Zhong Lun Law Firm
Peking University Resources Group
Addleshaw Goddard
Allen & Overy
Clifford Chance
King & Wood Mallesons
Ogier
Zhong Lun Law Firm
Shanghai Huaxin Group wind-down
AllBright Law Offices
Fangda Partners
King & Wood Mallesons
Latham & Watkins
Rajah & Tann
Shook Lin & Bok
Suzlon Energy
Allen & Overy
Kirkland & Ellis
L&L Partners
Hogan Lovells
Tianqi Lithium
Allen & Overy
Barros & Errazuriz
Carey
Clayton Utz
Corrs Chambers Westgarth
Global Law Office
Herbert Smith Freehills
JunHe
Latham & Watkins
White & Case
Zhong Lun Law Firm
Virgin Australia
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
Clayton Utz
Herbert Smith Freehills
Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
Corrs Chambers Westgarth
Structured finance and securitisation
Daimler asset-backed notes
Baker McKenzie
FenXun Partners
Guotai Junan Securities loan repackaged secured notes
King & Wood Mallesons
William Fry
Heartland reverse mortgage securitisation
Allen & Overy
Clayton Utz
Norton Rose Fulbright
Slaughter and May
KAL ABS 27 securitisation programme
Jones Day
Kim & Chang
Lee & Ko
Tiang & Partners
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank covered bonds
Linklaters
Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu
TEAMS OF THE YEAR
Debt and equity-linked
Allen & Overy
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Clifford Chance
Davis Polk ＆ Wardwell
Linklaters
Latham & Watkins
Milbank
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Equity
Allen & Overy
Baker McKenzie
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Clifford Chance
Latham & Watkins
Linklaters
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
High yield
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Latham & Watkins
Linklaters
Mayer Brown
Milbank
Shearman & Sterling
Sidley Austin
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
M&A
Allen & Overy
Clifford Chance
Debevoise & Plimpton
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
King & Wood Mallesons
Latham & Watkins
Linklaters
Slaughter and May
Private equity
Kirkland & Ellis
Morrison & Foerster
Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
Ropes & Gray
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Weil Gotshal & Manges
Project finance
Allen & Overy
Baker McKenzie
Clifford Chance
Latham & Watkins
Linklaters
Shearman & Sterling
Watson Farley & Williams
White & Case
Restructuring
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
Allen & Overy
Clifford Chance
Baker McKenzie
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
Kirkland & Ellis
Latham & Watkins
Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
Structured finance and securitisation
Allen & Overy
Baker McKenzie
Clifford Chance
King & Wood Mallesons
Jones Day
Linklaters
Zhong Lun Law Firm
Financial services regulatory
Clifford Chance
Davis Polk & Wardwell
Deacons
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Herbert Smith Freehills
King & Wood Mallesons
Latham & Watkins
Mayer Brown
Pro bono
Allen & Overy
Ashurst
Baker McKenzie
Mayer Brown
Nagashima Ohno and Tsunematsu
Nishimura & Asahi
Shearman & Sterling
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
IN-HOUSE TEAMS OF THE YEAR
In-house debt team
Citigroup
Credit Suisse
Goldman Sachs
HSBC
JP Morgan
Morgan Stanley & Co
Standard Chartered Bank
UBS
In-house equity team
Bank of America
CLSA
Credit Suisse
Goldman Sachs
Morgan Stanley
UBS
LAW FIRMS OF THE YEAR
Regional firm
Allen & Gledhill
Han Kun Law Offices
JunHe
Kim & Chang
King & Wood Mallesons
Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu
Nishimura & Ashai
Zhong Lun Law Firm
Offshore firm
Appleby
Conyers Dill & Pearman
Harneys
Maples Group
Ogier
Walkers
India practice
Allen & Overy
Baker McKenzie
Clifford Chance
Latham & Watkins
Linklaters
Kirkland & Ellis
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
China practice
Allen & Overy
Baker McKenzie
Clifford Chance
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Kirkland & Ellis
Linklaters
Paul Hastings
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
US law firm
Baker McKenzie
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Kirkland & Ellis
Latham & Watkins
Mayer Brown
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Shearman & Sterling
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
International law firm
Allen & Overy
Baker McKenzie
Clifford Chance
Latham & Watkins
Linklaters
Kirkland & Ellis
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
MOST INNOVATIVE NATIONAL LAW FIRMS OF THE YEAR
Australia
Allens
Ashurst
Clayton Utz
Corrs Chambers Westgarth
Herbert Smith Freehills
King & Wood Mallesons
Cambodia
Bun & Associates
DFDL
R&T Sok & Heng
Hong Kong SAR
Deacons
LC Lawyers
Tanner de Witt
Woo Kwan Lee & Lo
India
AZB & Partners
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
Indus Law
Khaitan & Co
L&L Partners
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co
Indonesia
Assegaf Hamza & Partners
Ginting & Reksodiputro
Hadiputranto Hadinoto & Partners
Hiswara Bunjamin & Tandjung
Makarim & Taira S
Widyawan & Partners
Japan
Anderson Mori & Tomotsune
Mori Hamada & Matsumoto
Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu
Nishimura & Asahi
China
There is no shortlist for China Firm of the Year and the winner will be announced on 25 March.
China - Debt capital markets firm of the year
Commerce & Finance Law Offices
Global Law Office
Jingtian & Gongcheng
JunHe
King & Wood Mallesons
China - Equity capital markets firm year
Haiwen & Partners
Han Kun Law Offices
Jingtian & Gongcheng
JunHe
King & Wood Mallesons
China - Corporate firm of the year
Fangda Partners
JunHe
Han Kun Law Offices
King & Wood Mallesons
Zhong Lun Law Firm
Malaysia
Adnan Sundra & Low
Albar & Partners
Christopher & Lee Ong
Kadir Andri & Partners
Wong & Partners
New Zealand
Bell Gully
Chapman Tripp
MinterEllisonRuddWatts
Russell McVeagh
Simpson Grierson
Philippines
Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz
Picazo Buyco Tan Fider & Santos
Quisumbing Torres
Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & De Los Angeles
SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan
Singapore
Allen & Gledhill
Drew & Napier
Rajah & Tann Singapore
Shook Lin & Bok
WongPartnership
South Korea
Bae Kim & Lee
Kim & Chang
Lee & Ko
Shin & Kim
Yulchon
Taiwan
Baker McKenzie
LCS & Partners
Lee and Li
Tsar & Tsai
Thailand
Allen & Overy
Baker McKenzie
Chandler MHM
Kudun & Partners
Weerawong Chinnavat & Partners
Vietnam
Allen & Overy
Frasers Law Company
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
VILAF
YKVN
