The Singapore office of Japanese Big Five firm Nishimura & Asahi has entered into a strategic alliance with Malaysian firm WM Leong & Co, marking its latest expansion in the Southeast Asian region. The alliance will be headed by Nishimura Singapore partner Daisuke Maeshiro.

WM Leong was founded by Wan May Leong, a lawyer with Nishimura’s Singapore office who specialise in M&A and corporate/commercial matters. Prior to joining Nishimura in 2018, she worked at Malaysia’s Zaid Ibrahim & Co.

Nishimura already has a presence in a number of Southeast Asian countries, including Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Singapore (where it entered into a formal law alliance in 2020), Yangon, Bangkok, and Jakarta (through a tie-up with Walalangi & Partners).