Shearman & Sterling Receives Top-Tier Ranking from Chambers Asia
8 Nov 2007
Matthew Bersani, Lee Edwards, Masahisa Ikeda, Kenneth J. Lebrun, Bill McCormack, Gail Ong, Andrew Ruff, John Savage, Alan Seem, Paul Strecker, Yu-Jin Tay

Hong Kong, November 8, 2007—“A compact operation with an outstanding reputation” is how the recently published first edition of Chambers Asia ranks Shearman & Sterling in its detailed coverage of the growing Asian legal market and of the leading international law firms engaged in the region.

According to the Chambers Asia rankings, when measured against the competition, Shearman & Sterling’s high-quality legal work and the professional capabilities of its people consistently stand out. Highlights from the rankings include the following:

Asia-wide

• Arbitration, International: Tier 1
• Capital Markets, Debt & Equity: Tier 1
• Capital Markets, High-Yield Products: Tier 2 (the first year the firm is ranked in this category)
• Corporate/M&A and Private Equity: Tier 1
• Investment Funds, Private Equity: Tier

China-Hong Kong

• Capital Markets, International and Hong Kong Law, Equity: Tier 1
• Capital Markets, International and Hong Kong Law, High-Yield: Tier 2 (the first year the firm is ranked in this category)
• Corporate/M&A, Foreign: Tier 1

Japan

• Corporate/M&A, Foreign, Investment Funds: Tier 1

Singapore

• Capital Markets, Foreign: Tier 2
• Dispute Resolution, Foreign: Tier 1
• Projects & Energy, Foreign: Tier 1

Leadership in Practice Areas

Chambers Asia observes that Shearman & Sterling made an early arrival in the Asia market, opening its first office in Hong Kong in 1978. The firm now boasts a network of five Asian offices (Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo) and is noted for its formidable leadership in several practice areas.

International Arbitration

The firm’s high-end practice consists of 11 full-time arbitration lawyers, split between Singapore and Beijing, from seven different nationalities, who handle the full gamut of commercial disputes, including high-profile construction, infrastructure, and joint-venture arbitrations. The firm, states Chambers Asia, is also “one of the few in the region with significant experience in managing bilateral investment treaty disputes.” The arbitration team is commended for its “truly excellent work,” and its peers consider it “a worthy opponent in every sense.”

Partner John Savage is singled out as a “key player in the global arbitration community and universally acknowledged as one of the region’s finest practitioners.”

Corporate/M&A and Private Equity

The firm is lauded as a “clear leader” in corporate M&A and private equity work, including investment funds. Chambers Asia praises its M&A Asia practice as a “truly exceptional” one, and points to clients’ assertions that the firm’s “lawyers are absolutely committed to the deals, are exceptionally creative, and always go the extra mile for their clients.” The M&A team in China offers Mandarin Chinese execution of transactions and draws clients to the practice because of its ability to “work seamlessly across different regions.”

China managing partner Lee Edwards, as well as Tokyo partners Masahisa Ikeda and Kenneth Lebrun and Singapore’s Bill McCormack, are noted for their extensive experience and capabilities in the M&A field across the region. Hong Kong partner Paul Strecker is mentioned for his in-depth knowledge of US- and Asia-based private equity fund investment in Asia, and Shanghai managing partner Andrew Ruff is recommended by clients for his exceptional “understanding of the Asian, and particularly Chinese, landscape.”

Capital Markets

The Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo offices “field the strongest teams in Asia for Capital Markets, M&A, and private equity work,” according to Chambers Asia. Moreover, it notes that Shearman & Sterling boasts an enviable client base of Asia-based private equity funds rather than solely US funds investing in the region.

The firm’s Capital Markets team “has claimed a good share of the top China deals—it features in most state-owned enterprise privatizations and is a favorite with leading global investment and Chinese banks—and it combines this outstanding track record with a smattering of good deals in India, Vietnam (where Singapore-based senior associate Nam Lee is noted for his work on some of the largest cross-border transactions), the Philippines, Korea and Indonesia,” reports Chambers Asia. Additionally, the practice enjoys a “very good” reputation for equity, investment grade, and high-yield debt offerings. Among peers and clients, Hong Kong-based counsel Wong Lee is “highly respected for his expertise in high-yield transactions.”

Matthew Bersani, Asia managing partner and co-head of Capital Markets for Asia and Europe, is recognized as “a star of the equity capital markets world” for his work on groundbreaking IPOs. Beijing-based partner Alan Seem and Singapore-based counsel Gail Ong are also singled out for their impressive track records in IPOs, privatizations, and other security offerings, equity, and bond deals.

Projects and Energy

In projects and energy, the firm’s main centers of activity are in China and Singapore. With a focus on power, oil and gas, the firm handles a broad range of traditional projects, including acquisitions, financings, re-financings and expansions. According to clients, the firm is “successful in achieving the right results; [it] minimizes risks, anticipating any weaknesses and acting accordingly,” says Chambers Asia. Singapore partner Bill McCormack is described as “effective, efficient and diplomatic,” and clients appreciate his “hands-on style” and “impressive negotiation skills.” Andrew Ruff, Shanghai managing partner, is characterized as “smart, commercially minded, and always focused on closing the deal.” He is also noted for his fluency in Mandarin. 

Major Deals Listed in Chambers Asia

Notable cases listed in Chambers Asia include the following: 

• The firm represented Lahmeyer International Pally Power Services in two UNCITRAL arbitrations in Singapore against a Bangladeshi state utility. The successful closure of one claim garnered a US$20 million award; the other case is ongoing.
• The Capital Markets team represented JPMorgan and UBS in the Rule 144A/Regulation S US$116 million IPO of Chemoil Energy, one of the world’s largest integrated physical suppliers of marine fuel products. The team also represented PetroChina in its US $2.7 billion follow-on offering and new placement of H shares and advised UBS and DBS Bank on Yangzijiang Shipbuilding’s US$717 million IPO—the largest IPO in Singapore in recent years.
• The Singapore PDF group has been involved in the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking and BNP Paribas’ financing of the acquisition by Tanjong of the Suez Gulf and Port Said power projects in Egypt and the Société Général and Barclays Capital’s US$1.5 billion financing for the acquisition and expansion by SembCorp Utilities of the Fujairah Independent Water and Power Plant in the UAE.
• The China M&A team represented Hunan Valin Iron & Steel Group in the sale of its interest in Hunan Valin Steel Tube & Wire to Mittal Steel. The team also advised Target Media in the sale of its assets to the Focus Media Group. On the transactional side, the team recently acted for Dow Chemical in its US$9 billion coal-to-chemicals project in Shaanxi province.
• The PDF team in China advised BASF and Sinopec in the US$500 million expansion of the Nanjing petrochemicals project—one of the largest take-out re-financings of a project in China.
• In Japan, the Tokyo Capital Markets team represented Toyota and the Japanese government (as a selling shareholder) in a US$2.6 billion SEC-registered global equity offering. Another highlight for the Tokyo team was advising Nomura Securities and Goldman Sachs on the US$1.5 billion global offering for AEON.