International firms Hogan Lovells and Baker McKenzie have expanded their Vietnam teams with the addition of corporate partners David Harrison and Chris Milliken, respectively, reflecting the country’s increasing appeal to investors.
“We have seen significant interest from sponsors and financiers in renewable energy projects, including utility-scale wind and solar farms and self-consumption solar projects, as well as investment in LNG-to-power and the supporting infrastructure, including terminals and pipelines,” Gaston Fernandez, the Vietnam managing partner at Hogan Lovells, told Asia Business Law Journal.
Harrison is joining Hogan Lovells’ global infrastructure, energy, resources and projects practice in Ho Chi Minh City. He brings experience in cross-border M&A, banking and finance across Vietnam and other Asian markets including Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mongolia and Sri Lanka.
He previously spent 11 years leading Mayer Brown’s Vietnam practice. In 2024, Mayer Brown and JSM separated, leaving the Vietnam offices under JSM. The firm has since closed those offices.
Meanwhile, Baker McKenzie has added Milliken to its transactional team in the Ho Chi Minh City office. He was recently a counsel in Freshfields’ corporate and finance practice, specialising in M&A, private equity, joint ventures, financing and capital markets transactions.
Oanh Nguyen, managing partner of Baker McKenzie’s Vietnam offices, said Milliken’s international and local market experience, along with his transactional expertise, “further strengthen our broad-based transactional offerings and enhance our ability to meet the demands of increasingly sophisticated financial sponsors and strategic investors seeking innovative solutions in the Vietnamese market”.
