Desiree Woo is of counsel in Milbank’s Hong Kong office, and has a leadership role in our Project Finance practice in the Greater China market. She was previously resident in Milbank’s Los Angeles office and relocated to Hong Kong in 1995, and has been of counsel since 2004.
Primary Focus & Experience
Ms. Woo has extensive project development and financing experience in Asia and in the US She has advised project sponsors and lenders in power plants, water treatment, petrochemical, telecom, satellite, mining and other projects in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Thailand, Lao, Indonesia and Korea in Asia. She advised Hynix Semiconductor and its joint venture Hynix-ST Semiconductor in the financing of its US$2 billion facility in Wuxi, China, which won deal of the year awards from Project Finance and Asian Legal Business. She recently represented GNPower Mariveles in its development of a US$1 billion 2x300MW coal-fired project that was the first non-recourse overseas power project financing by China Development Bank and Sinosure, with multiple tranches from Philippine and international banks, winning deal of the year awards from IFLR, Project Finance, Asian Counsel, China Law & Practice and Project Finance International. She is also representing the project company on the US$2 billion-plus development of the Hongsa lignite mine and a 3x600MW power project in Laos with Chinese and Thai equipment and construction contractors, which has been financed by Thai banks. She was also the lead lawyer representing the borrower in one of the first wholly foreign owned power project in China financed on a limited recourse basis, the US$750 million Meizhouwan project in Fujian Province.
Ms. Woo represented the Asian special situation groups within Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan in numerous non-performing assets around Asia after the Asian currency crisis, including China, Taiwan, Korea and the Philippines. She has experience in debt restructuring involving the Daewoo Group in Korea and Bayantel in the Philippines. She represented CCMP in its acquisition of controlling interests in various investee companies in Asia, as well as in its sale of Mando Corporation, a Korea-based global automotive parts manufacturer, to a Korean purchaser.
Recognition & Accomplishments
Ms. Woo has been selected by Asia Law & Practice as a Leading Lawyer in their Guide to Asia’s Leading Lawyers in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and was ranked in Chambers as an asset finance expert in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
Ms. Woo worked for Price Waterhouse in the Los Angeles financial consulting practice for three years. She became a Certified Public Accountant and left Price Waterhouse to return to law school. She reads and writes Chinese and is fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese and Shanghainese dialects.