Foley Hoag LLP

Represented the Government of Uganda before the International Court of Justice in a case brought by Congo

A U.S. publicly traded company acquired our client, a UK-based software company, in a transaction that gave our client’s stockholders illiquid stock. Our solution: a private tender in the United Kingdom by the acquirer of our client’s shares, followed by a series of secondary offerings in the United States resulting in more than $100 million in liquidity for our client’s stockholders.

On behalf of a large multinational petroleum company, we prepared a seminal human rights impact assessment on a proposed facility in Papua, Indonesia. The assessment included a risk analysis of issues related to human and labor rights, the rights of indigenous peoples, security, transparency and the environment. The company adopted our recommendations and set the industry standard for best corporate practices.

Appointed by the Organization of American States to mediate a long-standing territorial dispute between Guatemala and Belize. As a result, we produced an historic settlement that both parties agreed to submit to popular referendum.

Our clients, the Government of the Philippines and its National Power Corporation, claimed in arbitration conducted in Switzerland under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce, that a nuclear power plant designed and built by a major multinational company was unsafe and that the construction contract was procured by bribery. The result: a settlement of more than $100,000,000 for our clients.

When a large multinational bank sought to consolidate far-flung data processing operations into a few key jurisdictions, it asked us to help. Could a customer's personal data from Brazil be processed in a centralized data center in Ireland? What consents and approvals were required? How could customers be reassured? After analyzing the privacy and bank secrecy laws in numerous jurisdictions, we identified those that assured the desired protections for our client and its customers.

When the Government of Guyana sought to privatize state-owned enterprises, Foley Hoag was retained to provide strategic and legal advice. We played an integral role in preparing the offering memoranda and RFPs, supervising the competitive bidding process, and negotiating and drafting the final agreements. We also drafted new legislation to facilitate private investment in Guyana, including modern laws to regulate the energy, securities, insurance and electric power industries.

Our lawyers were counsel for Nicaragua in its historic legal triumph over the United States at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The court issued a landmark ruling that U.S. mining of Nicaragua’s ports and support for rebels seeking to overthrow the Nicaraguan Government violated international law. The United States was ordered to cease its aggression against Nicaragua. Uganda also chose us to represent it before the court, in a case filed against it by the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Assisted Benchmark Electronics, Inc. in connection with the purchase, through a bankruptcy auction, of operating companies in the UK, Thailand and Singapore

When the euro became the European Union’s official currency, the Government of France turned to Foley Hoag for a legal opinion on the impact of a single European currency on public and private contracts governed by U.S. law

An innovative Swedish software company seeking equity investments from U.S. venture capital funds was challenged because many funds have charters prohibiting investment in non-U.S. companies. We solved the problem by helping our client create a corporate headquarters in the United States and convert its Swedish operation into a research, development and intellectual property subsidiary of the U.S. parent. This tax-free reorganization enabled the new U.S. parent company to consummate a significant private placement with U.S. venture capital funds.

Among the many U.S. clients we helped launch in China is the world’s largest trade journal publisher. We helped our client structure a range of strategic initiatives, starting with investments in Chinese publishing companies, and building joint ventures and licensing arrangements to publish and distribute Chinese versions of popular Western fashion, business, trade, technical and media journals. In addition, we have represented major investment funds and target companies alike in closing millions of dollars in investments in emerging technologies being developed and marketed in China.

Represented the Government of Guyana in an expedited arbitration relating to an investment dispute in connection with the privatization of the country’s electricity sector

Our Malaysian corporate clients include Petronas, the national oil company, which we advise on international legal matters; Kumpulan Guthrie Berhad, a major conglomerate that asked for our help in international business transactions; and Tenaga Nasional Berhad, the national power company, which we advise on international corporate matters

Assisted the Government of Kenya in connection with matters relating to elections, international assistance, counter-terrorism activities, and other issues of interest to the U.S. Government

A client asked us to create a new investment vehicle to operate and manage renewable forestry assets in New Zealand. Because the investors were tax-exempt pension funds and university endowments, our international team had to devise a multi-layered structure using offshore vehicles in the British Virgin Islands, which avoided taxation by any country. The result was hundreds of millions of dollars in forestry investments in New Zealand.

Our clients also look to us to help them take advantage of opportunities created by the North American Free Trade Agreement. In one case, we assisted a textile manufacturer by analyzing its overall tariff, procurement and manufacturing costs. We advised it where to purchase raw materials and semi-processed goods, and where to process those materials into finished products.

When the African Development Bank (ADB), based in Cote d'Ivoire, sought legal advice about its participation in a new venture capital fund for private investments in Africa, it retained Foley Hoag to structure and negotiate the transaction. The ADB also asked us to advise its board on privatization and law reform in Africa.

During Liberia’s civil war, the interim government was cut off from its main source of foreign exchange, what was its maritime registration and tax revenue collected in New York banks. Various creditors had attached these accounts, denying Liberia access to the funds. As counsel to the government, our lawyers pursued an aggressive litigation strategy in several separate lawsuits in U.S. courts that defeated the creditors' claims, nullified the attachments, and obtained the funds for the government.

We were counsel in a billion-dollar merger that created a Luxembourg-based, multinational cellular telephone company, and one of the cellular industry’s first international data and financial clearinghouses. We also helped a Luxembourg-chartered, satellite-based broadband Internet and interactive digital television company with a successful private placement involving high-profile U.S. and European investors.