Herbert Smith appoints new managing partner for Singapore

22 June, 2008

Herbert Smith announced today that it has appointed London-based corporate partner Austin Sweeney as managing partner of its expanding Singapore office. Austin will report to the firm's head of Asia, Ashley Alder.  His three-year appointment commences on 1 August 2008.

The news follows Herbert Smith's announcement in April of the recruitment to its Singapore office of energy, infrastructure and project finance specialist Richard Nelson as partner.  Last month also saw the firm moving to larger premises in the heart of Singapore's financial district, in the wake of one of the office's most successful years to date since it opened in 1995.

Austin has been a partner at Herbert Smith since 2003, having joined the firm in 1994.  From 2001 to 2003 he was based in Herbert Smith's Tokyo office.  A corporate finance and M&A specialist, Austin has acted on a range of cross-border transactions including advising BP on the US$742 million sale of its stake in Sinopec and British American Tobacco on its €2.7 billion acquisition of Skandinavisk Tobakskompagni's cigarette and snus (a powder tobacco product) businesses.

He takes over from corporate partner Veronica O'Shea who has been managing partner of the office since 2004 and who will resume her full-time focus on client work.  Austin will work alongside Veronica in developing Herbert Smith's leading South/South East Asia corporate practice, encompassing its corporate teams in Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.  He will also work closely with Singapore-based partners Maurice Burke and Michelle Chen, in charge of the firm's regional disputes and banking practices respectively. 

Recent transactional highlights for Herbert Smith Singapore include advising:

• Tui Travel on the acquisition of Asiarooms.com
• China Development Bank on a major loan to Venezuela Development Bank
• Tata Communications Group on various banking facilities
• Shipping groups SVITZER A/S and Wilh. Wilhelmsen on the auction sale of their Singapore--based joint venture Express Offshore Transport to Macquarie Bank
The firm's South East Asia disputes practice, pre-eminent in the region, also had a very busy 2007/8 with Indonesia-related disputes being a continuing growth area.