UK-headquartered law firm, Linklaters, has announced the appointment of Teguh Arwiko as a partner within the corporate practice of its Indonesian association firm, Widyawan & Partners.
According to Indonesian law, foreign law firms are not allowed to independently operate in Indonesia, but may provide legal services in partnership with local law firms.
Arwiko’s appointment became effective May 9, and he is based in Jakarta where he forms the leadership team alongside senior foreign legal advisor, David Holme. The position is newly created and constitutes “an expansion of our Corporate practice in Indonesia, as we expect to see sustained growth in inbound M&A activities into Indonesia,” a spokesperson for Linklaters told FinanceAsia.
Arwiko was most recently a partner at Herbert Smith Freehills associate firm, Hiswara Bunjamin & Tandjung, which he first joined in 2009, his LinkedIn profile shows. He spent seven years at the firm before a seven month stint at Widyawan & Partners, following which he returned to Hiswara Bunjamin & Tandjung in 2017.
He has experience advising corporates, private equity and sovereign wealth funds on public and private M&A and joint ventures, the announcement said, particularly within financial services, TMT (Technology, Media and Telecoms)/the digital economy, and real estate.
His appointment demonstrates the firm’s commitment to supporting these rapidly growing areas which, alongside digital infrastructure, are often the most complex and challenging M&A transactions in Indonesia, the spokesperson said.
Linklaters has been in formal association with Widyawan & Partners since 2012.
It recently advised Citi Indonesia on the sale of its consumer banking business to PT Bank UOB Indonesia, as part of Citi’s exit from consumer banking in the wider Asia Pacific region. It also advised Affinity Equity Partners on its $150 million investment into online video streaming platform, PT Vidio, in November 2021.
Earlier this month, Indonesia’s Central Statistics Bureau (BPS) announced that the economy grew at 5.01% in the first quarter of 2022, bolstered by high export commodity prices and an easing of social distancing measures. This compares to 5.02% for the final quarter of 2021, and was broadly in line with analyst forecasts.
At its latest monthly board meeting in April, Indonesia’s central bank lowered the country’s 2022 growth forecast from 4.7-5.5% to 4.5-5.3%. It also maintained interest rates unmoved, at 3.5%.
