It was the first year in which the Taiwan Deal of the Year was presented at the ALB Hong Kong Law Awards 2009, and a whole raft of firms received accolades for their role.
The deal, which beat four other standout deals over the last year, was the Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Going-Private Buyout of ASE Test, on which Allen & Gledhill, Baker & McKenzie, Davis Polk & Wardwell, Sullivan & Cromwell and WongPartnership all provided advice.
The deal was the first cross-border scheme of arrangement which involved not only a dual listing of a Taiwanese company in Taipei and New York, but also a NASDAQ-listed Singapore company.
“We appreciate and are thankful for the increased attention and focus on the Taiwan market as a whole, by giving out awards such as the Taiwan Deal of the Year,” said H Henry Chang, Baker & McKenzie’s Taipei managing partner (pictured left, with Davis Polk's Richard Lee). “Taiwan remains an active and exciting market. Our Taipei office has been an integral part of Taiwan's market developments for over 30 years now and … this award as well as other nominations are tangible recognition of our position in the Taiwan legal market.”
Taiwan firms have also been raising their profile by advising on some of Asia'a highest-profile deals of the past 12 months. Well respected firm Lee and Li, which acted on three of the finalist Taiwan deals this year, beat five other firms to take out the Taiwan Deal Firm of the Year award. The firm continues to act alongside international firms on some of the region’s key deals such as advising the Royal Bank of Scotland on its US$550m sale to ANZ of its Asian assets – ALB’s September deal of the month.
“Winning the award this year is especially gratifying in light of the challenges that everyone faced in the wake of the financial crisis,” said Lee and Li senior counsel Sherry Lin. “Our experience over the last year reinforces our confidence that we remain well-positioned to serve our clients under any market conditions, but especially as the market begins to recover, we hope the award is an indication that others feel the same way about our firm."
LCS & Partners were worthy finalists in the category, having acted on two of the Taiwan finalist deals – the Qimonda – Micron Technology Stake Acquisition in Inotera, and the Acquisition of “Good Bank Assets” of Bowa Bank.
Click here to see the full list of winners at the Macallan ALB Hong Kong Law Awards 2009
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