Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz Law Offices (ACCRALaw)

Senior Partner Banking and Finance | Construction | Investment, Mergers and Acquisitions | Real Estate | Securities and Capital Markets

Ms. Hao is the Head of the Firm’s Corporate & Special Projects Department. She advises on the entry of foreign investments to the Philippines including the establishment of branch offices, subsidiaries, representative offices and regional operating headquarters of foreign enterprises. She has advised on the registration of incentives with the Board of Investments and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, including the Clark Special Economic Zone.

Ms. Hao has provided advice on various business transactions of clients involving joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, legal due diligence reviews, privatization, reorganization, build-operate-transfer projects, franchising and licensing agreements, construction contracts, and real estate transactions. Ms. Hao has been involved in acquisitions covering, among others, a toll road project, an airport development project and a metro railway construction and development project.

Ms. Hao has also provided banking advisory services to local and foreign banks and has assisted in the preparation and documentation of loans, other credit transactions, and security documents. Ms. Hao also advises clients on projects involving the Real Estate Investment Trust Act and securities laws, and has represented issuers and underwriters on equity and debt capital raising transactions such as the offering of bonds, stock rights offering and private placements.

She has handled significant transactions where she:

acted as domestic counsel to joint lead managers in relation to the issuance by Petron Corporation of USD-denominated senior perpetual capital securities and the voluntary tender offer undertaken by Petron Corporation; acted as counsel for the arrangers and dealers in connection with the establishment of the medium-term note programme of BDO Unibank, and n the issuance by BDO Unibank, Inc. of senior notes from the programme; assisted San Miguel Corporation in, among others, (a) its investment in Philippine Airlines, Inc. and Air Philippines, Inc., (b) in the acquisition of the company that owns the concession to construct and operate the MRT-7, and (c) in the acquisition of the company that owns the right to extend, rehabilitate and operate the Caticlan Airport. acted as counsel for the placement agent in the sale of shares of Metro Pacific Investment Corp. in the Manila Electric Company; acted as Philippine counsel to the joint lead managers, in connection with the US$330-million bonds issued by BDO Unibank, Inc; and, acted as domestic counsel for underwriters in connection with the initial public offering of Resorts World, Inc.

Ms. Hao has been cited by IFLR 1000, Asia Pacific Legal 500, Chambers and Partners, and Asialaw Profiles as one of the leading lawyers and market expert in the field of corporate and mergers and acquisitions and capital markets.

Ms. Hao was recognized by Asialaw Profiles as a Distinguished Practitioner in the practice areas of capital markets and corporate and M&A in 2019.

She was regarded as a “Leading Lawyer,” and was recommended for the practice areas of Banking and Finance, Capital Markets, Real Estate and Construction, and Corporate and M&A in the Asia Pacific Legal 500 for 2020.

English Pilipino

Ms. Hao is a member of the Quezon City Chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, the Philippine Bar Association, Federacion International de Abogadas, and the University of the Philippines Women Lawyers’ Circle.

Master of LawsUniversity of Michigan, USA, 2002

Bachelor of LawsUniversity of the Philippines, 1996Dean’s Medalist

Bachelor of Arts in PsychologyUniversity of the Philippines, 1992cum laude