South Korean law firm Jipyong and Thai counterpart Kudun and Partners (KAP) have entered a strategic alliance, coming at a time when legal work for cross-border transactions between Korea and Thailand has grown significantly.
Ki Il Ban, a senior foreign attorney at Jipyong who leads the Korean firm’s Thai business, told Asia Business Law Journal that Korean companies’ outbound investment into Thailand was a significant trend, but it was not necessarily the case the other way round.
“However, we have recently started to see an increase in interest from Thai companies (particularly in the renewable energy sector) investing directly into Korea,” said Ban.
Ban oversees advice for Korean companies investing in Thailand, while M&A group partner Sehun Ko is responsible for advising Thai companies looking to invest in Korea.
Jipyong has been collaborating with KAP, from time to time, since its foundation in 2015. Ban said the two firms shared the view that now was the right time to take the working relationship to the next level. This led to the signing of a memorandum of understanding to formalise the strategic alliance at a ceremony in Seoul on 27 May between Jipyong’s managing partner Haeng Gyu Lee and KAP’s managing partner Kudun Sukhumananda.
“Legal work for cross-border transactions between Korea and Thailand has grown significantly in both volume and complexity. Korean companies are interested in Thailand’s key growth sectors including electronics, electric vehicles, digital platforms, bio industries, K-content (films, drama, streaming), and K-beauty or cosmetics,” said Ban.
Under the strategic alliance, Jipyong and KAP will collaborate on advisory and transaction mandates in all areas including cross-border M&A, project finance, regulatory compliance, and dispute resolution.
Citing an example of investment from Thailand into Korea, Ban pointed to one of his firm’s major clients – a renewable energy company – which was investing in Korea’s green power sector engaging in solar, onshore and offshore wind projects. He said this reflected Korea’s longstanding and investor-friendly regulatory framework under the Act on the Promotion of New and Renewable Energy, particularly the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) system. The RPS has ensured stable incentives and policy continuity for more than a decade.
For Jipyong, the alliance with KAP was also the result of the Korean firm’s consideration of its long-term development strategy in the Asean region. Beyond Korea and Thailand, Ban said his firm expected to support Thai investors expanding into other countries in the Asean region, particularly Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar and Cambodia, where Jipyong had overseas offices.
On 27 May, KAP managing partner Sukhumananda said, “The alliance with Jipyong reflected the mutual commitment of both firms to international collaboration and reinforced their ability to support clients expanding between Thailand and Korea.”
