James Grandolfo, head of Milbank LLP’s Hong Kong office, recently discussed the firm’s successful growth strategy in Asia with Law.com.
The article, “Milbank Doubles Down in Hong Kong. Will Its New Strategy Pay Off?,” highlights Milbank’s thriving Asia practice, which has focused on expanding its presence in Hong Kong as other international firms are downsizing there. The firm’s strategy of avoiding an overreliance on the Chinese market and focusing more on regional transactions is also discussed.
With the firm’s optimism towards increasing opportunities for its global clients as they continue to grow in the Asian markets, especially in the leveraged finance, private equity and M&A spaces, Grandolfo framed the expansion. “We are coming to meet that demand and that need,” he said, adding that global clients are expanding in the region because there are significant opportunities to find the transactions with the returns on investment they expect.
Underscoring the significance of Milbank’s partner additions in Hong Kong in recent months – Alex Tao, John Bona, Davide Mencacci, Neeraj Budhwani and Andrew Whan – and its hiring of “at least 15 new associates for its Hong Kong office,” the article confirms that “Milbank is now one of the 50 largest international firms in Asia.”
“The idea was to broaden out the practices within the Hong Kong office, ensure that we had a size that was relevant for the Asia and Hong Kong market,” said Grandolfo. “We were really looking to find practice areas that were going to be profitable in Asia but were also going to fit what Milbank’s best at.” He added that the Firm’s expansion in Hong Kong fits in extremely well with its thriving private equity, M&A and leveraged finance practices in the US and Europe giving the firm true global capability in these businesses.
Grandolfo specializes in debt and equity capital markets, M&A and private equity transactions acting for clients in every major country in Asia. With over 20 years of experience in Asia and after almost a decade spent leading Milbank’s Hong Kong office, he has been instrumental in the firm’s growth strategy.
The Firm’s numerous deals in the Philippines, India, Vietnam, Mongolia and Papua New Guinea are noted, including its work on high-end equity capital markets transactions, high-yield bond offerings, corporate hybrid offerings and investment grade offerings, Rule 144A/Regulation S transactions and SEC-registered offerings. Grandolfo and Hong Kong partner Paul Pery recently advised on Monde Nissin Corporation’s IPO valued at US$1 billion—the largest IPO in the Philippines to date. Other recent notable deals executed by the Hong Kong team include JSW Steel’s dual tranche US$1 billion bond offering, JSW Hydro’s US$707 million debut green project bond issuance, Filinvest on the first-ever Philippine sustainability-themed REIT IPO, GCL New Energy’s successful US$500 million senior notes restructuring and SMC Global Power’s US$600 million issuance - one of the first equity-linked securities deals out of the Philippines in 2021 with significant benchmark size.
