ATMD Bird & Bird and VILAF have helped low-cost carrier AirAsia establish a JV with Vietnam’s Vietjet Aviation, a transaction which will allow it to offer flights in Vietnam for the first time.
ATMD Bird & Bird helped AirAsia purchase a 30% stake in Vietjet, paving its way to set up a new airline called Vietjet AirAsia, and allowing it to offer both international and domestic flights by mid-2010. Bird & Bird’s head of aviation Paul Briggs led the transaction for AirAsia, while ATMD Singapore partner Tay Beng Chai and associate Natalie Goh assisted on issues relating to M&A. Local advice was provided by AirAsia’s long-term Vietnamese external counsel, VILAF, which previously advised on its entry to Vietnam four years ago.
This transaction highlights the importance of having a network of referral firms and alliances. VILAF was retained through ATMD Bird & Bird, who itself was approached by AirAsia due to its international presence. “We engaged Bird & Bird as we needed an international legal firm, and it turned out that they [Bird & Bird] already had VILAF in mind as a domestic legal counsel. That was [ideal] since we were already acquainted with VILAF,” said AirAsia’s senior counsel, Amir Fazael Zakaria.
The referrals helped the transaction run smoothly for the client. “Everybody worked in tandem … and it helped that we were assisted by experienced firms working well with our internal legal team. Our internal team have a lot of experience on these matters and we knew what we wanted,” said Zakaria.
AirAsia, now Asia’s fourth largest carrier, is known for mixing its use of external legal counsel around the region for different transactions – last month AirAsia X retained Stephenson Harwood for regulatory advice on its EU emission trading obligations.
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