Chris Milliken
Biography
Chris Milliken is a partner in Baker McKenzie’s Ho Chi Minh City office and a member of the Firm's Mergers and Acquisitions practice. He has led several high-profile corporate and commercial transactions in Vietnam and across Southeast Asia. He has extensive experience representing banks, private equity firms, private buyers and sellers in public deals and large-scale M&A and complex, cross-border structured investments.
Chris is an active figure within the Vietnam business community, serving as vice chair of the British Chamber of Commerce Vietnam and participating in several professional associations. He is recognized in several legal directories, most notably as a Rising Star for M&A, Capital Markets and Banking & Finance in Vietnam by IFLR1000.
Practice Focus
Chris has a broad corporate finance practice, with expertise in mergers and acquisitions, private equity, joint ventures, and financing and capital markets transactions. With deep experience in Vietnam and other emerging markets, Chris is adept at handling matters across Asia and possesses extensive knowledge of M&A trends and practices both within Vietnam and internationally. Chris has a keen interest in public deals and large-scale M&A, as well as complex and structured investments, and energy matters.
Representative Legal Matters
- Advised Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation on its strategic USD 1.5 billion investment in Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank.*
- Advised Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group on its acquisition of a 49% stake in FE Credit — one of the largest consumer finance companies in Vietnam — for a reported consideration of over USD 1.4 billion.*
- Advised a leading international financial institution on the divestment of its stake in a local bank.*
- Advised Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation on its investment in a Vietnamese digital payment company.*
- Advised a private equity investor on a novel, complex and unprecedented bond restructuring transaction with a major real estate developer in Vietnam.*
- Advised CVC Capital Partners on its investment in a majority stake of Vietnam-based Phuong Chau Trade and Investment JSC, the operator of Phuong Chau-branded maternal and infant care hospitals in southern Vietnam.*
- Advised a leading Asian private equity firm on its investment in a group of Vietnamese companies engaged in media and paid-TV services.*
- Advised international investors on their USD 250 million investment through convertible bonds and nonconvertible warrant-linked bonds issued by one of the leading public property development companies in Vietnam.*
- Advised a major US private equity investor on its investment in a majority stake in Trans-Asia Hospital Investment Joint Stock Company.*
- Advised Quadria Capital on its investment in Con Cung, one of Vietnam's leading mother and baby retailers.*
- Advised CDH and Partners Group on the divestment of its investment in Golden Gate Group, a leading F&B company in Vietnam.*
- Advised a US private equity investor on its USD 370 million pre-IPO investment in Techcombank, one of the largest commercial banks in Vietnam.*
- Advised a multinational energy company on the potential divestment of certain energy assets in the US.*
* Matters before joining Baker McKenzie
Professional Honors
- Ranked lawyer for Corporate/M&A in Chambers and Partners, Vietnam, 2025
- Rising Star for Banking and Finance, Capital Markets and M&A in the IFLR1000, Vietnam, 2024
Professional Associations and Memberships
- British Chamber of Commerce, Vietnam - Vice-chair
- British Chamber of Commerce, Vietnam - Member of the Energy Working Group and the Professional Services Working Group
- Vietnam Business Forum - Member of the Power and Energy, Capital Markets and Investment and Trade Working Groups
Admissions
- England & Wales (2014)
Education
- BPP Law School (Legal Practice Course and Post-Graduate Diploma in Law) (2012)
- University of Cambridge (MA, honors) (2010)
Languages
- English