Morrison & Foerster Expands M&A and Private Equity Practices in Singapore with Addition of Shirin Tang

SINGAPORE, April 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Morrison & Foerster announced that Shirin Tang, a highly accomplished corporate lawyer with deep experience in M&A, private equity, and joint venture transactions, has joined the firm as a corporate partner in Singapore.

"We are delighted to welcome a lawyer of Shirin's caliber to MoFo. Her reputation for M&A work precedes her, and we know she will be instrumental in growing our practice in Singapore," said Eric Piesner, managing partner of the firm's Singapore office and firmwide managing partner for Asia. "Adding another top practitioner to augment partners Jake Robson and Adam Summerly, who joined us last year, means we are well on the way to developing a leading private equity and M&A team in Singapore."

"Morrison & Foerster has consistently been where the M&A action is in Asia, which is one of the main reasons I decided to join the firm," said Ms. Tang. "I am excited to contribute to the group's continued success."

Ms. Tang joins the firm from Shearman & Sterling, where she led a wide range of cross-border transactions and practiced in the firm's New York office for nearly six years. Her recent notable transactions include representing:

• China Investment Corporation and several other Asia-based sovereign wealth funds and national investment companies in co-investments and joint ventures in the U.S., Brazil, Chile and Africa.
• Sanofi in a number of acquisitions and collaborations in China and South East Asia, including a recent collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company and Sanofi's US$520.6 million acquisition of BMP Sunstone Corporation, a U.S.-listed, China-based specialty pharmaceutical company.
• Various Asia-based private equity firms in investments and exits in China, Southeast Asia and the U.S.
• A Japanese multinational in its proposed US$1 billion acquisition of a precision engineering firm headquartered in Singapore.
• Barry Callebaut in its US$950 million acquisition of the cocoa ingredients division of Petra Foods.

Ms. Tang earned her LL.M. from Harvard Law School and her LL.B. from National University of Singapore. She is admitted to practice in New York and Singapore.

Morrison & Foerster opened its Singapore office, the firm's fifth in Asia, early last year to support clients' deepening commitments to South and Southeast Asia. Since then the firm has worked on a number of major cross-border transactions originating in Singapore, including representing Singapore-based Global Logistics Properties in its recent $1.4 billion portfolio acquisition of 34 assets in Brazil from BR Properties S.A., the second largest modern logistics provider in Brazil; in its landmark US$2.5 billion agreement in February with a group of strategic partners to develop GLP's logistics network in China; and in advising an affiliate of GLP in the November 2013 formation of the world's largest China-focused logistics fund. The Singapore office also represented ACE Limited, one of the world's largest multiline property and casualty insurers, on the proposed US$185 million acquisition of a 60.9 percent stake in The Siam Commercial Samaggi Insurance PCL, a general insurance company in Thailand, from Siam Commercial Bank.

Ms. Tang's arrival continues the impressive growth of the Singapore office. Last year, longtime Tokyo litigation partner Daniel Levison relocated to Singapore, and partners Jake Robson and Adam Summerly also joined the firm's Singapore office, anchoring Morrison & Foerster's corporate practice. Key practice areas for the Singapore office include M&A, private equity, real estate, project finance, tax, FCPA and anti-corruption, internal investigations, and dispute resolution.

Chambers Asia Pacific recognized the firm as having leading Asia-wide M&A and Private Equity practices. The firm was named International Deal Firm of the Year at the Asian Legal Business (ALB) Japan Law Awards 2013. M&A Advisor named MoFo Law Firm of the Year in its 2013 Annual International M&A Awards and The American Lawyer honored MoFo for its Grand Prize Global Deal of the Year, in recognition of the firm's role advising SoftBank in its acquisition of Sprint.

Amy Merriweather, Public Relations Manager
(415) 268-6063, amerriweather@mofo.com

SOURCE Morrison & Foerster