Mark Fraser

Founder and Managing Partner

Email mark.fraser@frasersvn.com

Phone +84 28 3824 2733

Mark has been advising clients on transactions in Vietnam since 1994.  In 2004, he founded Frasers Law Company, the first law firm to obtain a foreign law company licence in Vietnam.

In almost three decades that Mark has been based in Vietnam, Mark’s practice has focused on corporate matters, especially mergers and acquisitions, banking and finance, restructuring and insolvency, commercial real estate transactions, and infrastructure projects. This involves debt and equity structuring of investment projects and the preparation and negotiation of documents. Mark has been involved in numerous power generation, water treatment, road tollway, telecommunications, and oil and gas projects in various jurisdictions within Asia and has advised on a plethora of Vietnamese matters in the banking and finance, corporate and commercial, infrastructure, capital markets, property development, and dispute resolution areas.

Mark’s international legal expertise and in-depth knowledge of Vietnam, as much from a legal perspective as commercially, are well renowned, and he is ranked as a top-tier lawyer practising in Vietnam by publications such as Asialaw Profiles, Chambers Asia Pacific, Chambers Global, IFLR1000, and The Legal 500 Asia Pacific where he is recognised in the Hall of Fame in Vietnam.

Mark has more than 25 years’ experience on advising clients from all over the globe and was previously based in London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Brunei (as well as Ho Chi Minh City) with the same Magic Circle law firm for more than ten years.

A sample of some recent matters upon which Mark Fraser has advised include:

  • Acting for one of Japan’s largest steel manufacturers on its acquisition of a significant equity stake in a large-scale steel manufacturing company, domiciled in Vietnam (total investment in the company of over US$ 1.2 billion).
  • Advising one of the world’s largest multinational insurance companies on its proposed acquisition of shares in a listed Vietnamese company via a Mandatory Public Offer.
  • Advising a large Japanese FMCG company on acquiring a majority stake in a foreign-invested company in a large-scale beverage manufacturing and distribution operation in Vietnam.
  • Advising a Japanese corporation proposing to acquire a company listed on Vietnam’s HOSE, which is active in the pharmaceuticals sector.
  • Advising a large number of international banks and other financial institutions on syndicated loan facilities (including one of the first syndicated loan facilities guaranteed by the State Bank of Vietnam); trade finance; secured lending; finance leasing; enforcement of security interests; regulatory matters.
  • Advising international lenders in relation to the financing of the first major international hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.
  • Acting as the Vietnam counsel for a US$401 million Vietnam-focused infrastructure fund’s listing on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange.
  • Acting for a US diversified oil and gas, multinational corporation in relation to a strategic market study in Vietnam, as well as advising on its production sharing contract (PSC) negotiations in various different oil and gas blocks in Vietnam; also advising on its upstream projects and project documentation in Vietnam; on PSC and JOA issues relating to the development of its Vietnam upstream assets; and on supply chain management (SCM)/procurement issues and applicable bidding rules under Vietnamese law.
  • Acting for an international financial institution in respect of its proposed role as a cornerstone foreign lender to project bidders for the Nghi Son 2 1200 MW coal-fired power generation project to be undertaken on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis in Vietnam.
  • Advising on a proposal for a joint venture between a client and a Vietnamese state-run telecom company to jointly operate a satellite. The advice covered cross-border service provisions, TV broadcasting, and TV payments in Vietnam, as well as the legal structure for effective control of the foreign investor over the joint venture.

A more detailed list of Mark Fraser’s experience can be provided upon request.

Expertise

Senior team

Gwendoline Brooker

Ho Thuy Ngoc Tram

Duong Thi Mai Huong

Dr Nguyen Van Vien

Phan Xuan Qui

Pham Thanh Mai

Nguyen Le Quynh Chi

Dang Quynh Chau

Meet the team