Ashurst’s Singapore alliance firm, ADTLaw, has hired four lawyers from Allen & Gledhill, the largest firm in the city-state. Tao Koon Chiam joins as ADTLaw’s head of M&A for Southeast Asia, while Xiaozheng Ko and Choo Yi Ming join as director, and George Kho as associate director.

The hires come at a time when Ashurst has been steadily adding laterals across Asia. In June, it hired M&A transactions expert Yuan Yan as a partner in Shanghai from Clifford Chance, and last week, it added projects lawyer Tom Wilson as special counsel in Tokyo from the Asian Development Bank. Wilson will become a partner once the necessary regulatory approvals are received.

With more 20 years of experience, Tao specializing in deal structuring and execution for cross-border private equity (PE) transactions. He was with A&G for more than 14 years.

Experienced in PE funds on transactions throughout Southeast Asia, Ko advises various sectors including financial services, digital economy, and projects and infrastructure. He worked for A&G for more than 11 years.

Choo focuses on M&A for sovereign wealth funds and large-cap corporates in joint ventures and acquisitions of targets with a particular emphasis on real estate platforms, including for data centres, industrial and logistics properties, hotels, student accommodation and offices. She worked for A&G for more than nine years.

Ko, who was at A&G for more than eight years, advises industries such as food and beverage, education, healthcare, insurance, construction and fast-moving consumer goods on various matters including venture capital transactions.