In 2021, Ms. Gandia was named Asia Future Leader by the International Financial Law Review, the first and only one recognized from the Philippines. She has been ranked by IFLR1000: The Guide to the World’s Leading Financial Law Firms as a  Notable Practitioner, following constant recognition as a Rising Star in M&A, Banking and Finance and Capital Markets since 2020 - the only one to be recognized across three areas among three exclusively ranked lawyers in the country.

Ms. Gandia is also among the first to be ranked by Legal 500 as a Next Generation Lawyer/Rising Star in the section’s inauguration in 2016, and has been consistently recognized as one of the elite up-and-coming lawyers in Corporate and M&A ever since. She was also cited as a Recommended Lawyer by the same publication in M&A,  Antitrust and Competition, Real Estate and Construction and Intellectual Property.

As a Partner, Ms. Gandia is now ranked as a Next Generation Partner by the Legal 500 and a Rising Star Partner by  IFLR 1000.

Ms. Gandia’s strong professional experience involves acting as counsel to some of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines in their acquisitions and related financing transactions in the shipping, logistics, energy and banking sectors. She also regularly advises issuers and underwriters on public offerings, both debt and equity. She likewise gathered expertise in Competition Law, a relatively new yet increasingly important and relevant niche in the Philippine M&A scene, having represented notifying parties in merger notification reviews, with pioneering experience in adjudication proceedings and negotiations of voluntary commitments with the Philippine Competition Commission.

Ms. Gandia also handles corporate governance requirements of several companies listed in the  Philippine Stock Exchange and of corporations holding secondary licenses from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, among others.

Partner

Ms. Gandia holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of the Philippines. She graduated cum laude for her BA Political Science degree from the same university.