About Bui Thanh Tien

Tien has been with Freshfields Vietnam offices since 2002 and is the first ever Vietnamese lawyer elected to the Freshfields partnership. He is widely recognised as a top-tier corporate and finance lawyer in Vietnam.

Tien spends substantial time on helping private equity investors, investment banks, and multinational companies on their investments and divestments in Vietnam. As the lead lawyer for Freshfields Vietnam, Tien has advised on some of the most high-profile transactions and the most complex and innovative structures in Vietnam. Tien also has extensive experience in the banking and finance sector, representing clients from all parts of the world in a range of work, including corporate financing, project and asset financings, and restructurings.

Tien has established a reputation among his clients as an effective and commercially minded lawyer who represents the client’s best interests. Fluent in both Vietnamese and English, Tien is also known as an effective communicator with an ability to present complex legal issues to his clients and the counterparties.

He is the co-author of “Vietnam Corporate Acquisitions and Mergers”, a book published by Wolters Kluwer, now in its sixth edition. He is also the author of the Vietnam chapter of the book entitled “Restructuring and Insolvency 2023”, a book published by Lexology/Getting the Deal Through.

Recent work

• Advising international investors on their US$250m investment by way of convertible bonds and non-convertible warrant-linked bonds issued by one of the leading public property development companies in Vietnam.
• Advising CVC Capital Partners on the acquisition of 60% of Phuong Chau Trade and Investment JSC, the operator of the Phuong Chau-branded maternal and infant care hospitals in southern Vietnam.
• Advising a UK multinational school investor on its acquisition of international schools in Vietnam and the establishment of international schools in Hanoi.
• Advising Mekong Capital on its investment in and divestment of over 50 local companies in Vietnam operating in various industries, including the investment and divestment in MobileWorld, which resulted in a 57x return multiple for the fund over the lifetime of the investment.
• Acting for Jardines on its investments in various Vietnamese listed and public companies in the industrial and FMCG sectors, including its successful US$1bn acquisition of shares in Vinamilk.
• Acting for a Vietnamese fast-growing e-commerce company on its fund-raising activity.
• Advising a U.S. investment bank on the restructuring and further investment in a Vietnamese mobile money company.
• Advising a Singaporean investment company on its Series C investments in Ho Chi Minh City-headquartered Scommerce Investment Corporation.
• Acting for a global energy company on the sale of its entire interest in the Thang Long block in Vietnam, to Bitexco Energy, a subsidiary of the Bitexco Group.
• Acting for a multinational drink and brewing company on the bid for US$5bn stake in Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corporation.
• Advising on the $1.9bn financing of the 1200MW Mong Duong 2 BOT power project in Quang Ninh, Vietnam.
• Advising on the restructuring of two port projects of more than US$200m each.
• Advising on the financing of a new airport passenger terminal in Vietnam.
• Advising a world leading investment bank on its investment in a major Vietnamese entity engaging in regulated businesses.