SINGAPORE (July 25, 2013) – Jake Robson and Adam Summerly will join Morrison & Foerster as partners as the firm continues to expand its recently opened Singapore office. Messrs. Robson and Summerly, who have been based in Singapore for eight and 14 years respectively, are veteran deal advisers with substantial experience handling inbound, outbound and intra-regional transactions across South and Southeast Asia.
Mr. Robson’s practice is focused on M&A, private equity, cross-border investment, joint ventures and asset-based deals throughout Asia, primarily in the banking, insurance, natural resources, commodities and telecommunications sectors. He also handles capital markets transactions representing issuers and underwriters in public securities offerings in the region. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Exeter, attended the College of Law in London and is admitted to practice in England and Wales.
Mr. Summerly advises clients on a wide range of corporate transactions, including M&A, private equity, cross-border investment and joint ventures, primarily in the infrastructure, transportation, natural resources, telecommunications and oil and gas sectors. He earned his undergraduate degree from Nottingham University, attended the College of Law Guildford and is admitted to practice in England and Wales as well as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Both partners will join Morrison & Foerster from the Singapore office of Norton Rose Fulbright.
Morrison & Foerster opened its Singapore office, the firm’s fifth in Asia, earlier this year to support clients’ deepening commitments to South and Southeast Asia, said Eric Piesner, Singapore managing partner and firmwide managing partner for Asia.
“As more multinational companies expand in the region, Singapore has continued to grow as a key financial and economic center. The surge of corporate deal making in South and Southeast Asia has created a significant demand for high-quality legal services,” said Mr. Piesner. “Jake and Adam, both of whom have extensive M&A experience, bring distinguished track records advising on large and cutting-edge transactions throughout the region. They will greatly enhance our ability to serve clients as we continue to grow our capabilities in the region.”
Morrison & Foerster has worked on a number of major cross-border transactions originating in Singapore during the past year. Mr. Piesner represented Singapore-based Global Logistics Properties in two joint venture acquisitions of multi-property warehouse portfolios in Japan and Brazil, valued at approximately US$3 billion. Key practice areas for the Singapore office include M&A, private equity, real estate, project finance, tax, FCPA & anti-corruption, internal investigations and dispute resolution.
Morrison & Foerster is the largest international law firm in Japan and has a strong presence throughout Asia in addition to Singapore with offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Morrison & Foerster has steadily added experienced talent to its Asia offices in recent months, including corporate partners Marcia Ellis, Jeremy Hunt and Melody He-Chen in Hong Kong, capital markets partner Kenji Taneda in Tokyo and corporate partner Thomas Man in Beijing. In May, longtime Tokyo litigation partner Daniel Levison relocated to Singapore. A member of the firm’s FCPA & Anti-Corruption Task Force, Mr. Levison advises clients in complex compliance matters and internal investigations across the Asia-Pacific region.
Morrison & Foerster has been at the center of recent milestone deals in Asia. The firm recently represented SoftBank, a leading Japanese wireless carrier, in its US$21.6 billion investment in Sprint Nextel, which is the largest outbound investment in Japan’s history. In May, the firm advised Shanghai-based Fosun International in the US$3.5 billion going-private transaction of Focus Media Holding Ltd. The delisting, which closed on May 23, marks the largest-ever going private transaction by a Chinese company.
Chambers Asia Pacific named Morrison & Foerster the 2013 Japan International Firm of the Year and recognized the firm as having leading Asia-wide Capital Markets, M&A, Private Equity, Energy & Natural Resources and Intellectual Property practices. The firm was named International Deal Firm of the Year, IP Law Firm of the Year and Litigation Law Firm of the Year (for the second year in a row) at the Asian Legal Business (ALB) Japan Law Awards 2013. ALB also honored MoFo as the 2012 Asian-Counsel Firm of the Year for Japan Real Estate/Construction and received honorable mentions in four additional categories for Japan — Capital Markets, Corporate and M&A, Tax and Most Responsive Law Firm of the Year. Morrison & Foerster is the only firm ranked by Legal 500 in Tier 1 for Technology across China, Hong Kong and the United States. M&A Advisor named MoFo Law Firm of the Year in its 2013 Annual International M&A Awards.