“We do not have to fight competition in a head-on bloody fight, we can explore new frontiers in areas where there is no competition yet. The blue ocean strategy renders competition irrelevant.” — Azmi Mohd Ali, senior partner of Azmi & Associates.
Mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures are a sure sign of burgeoning markets, with companies consolidating their resources to play on par with the “big boys”. The Malaysian Islamic finance market has been the benchmark for countries with emerging markets, due to its proactive regulators and laws that have made such growth possible.
Competition is also starting to heat up on the legal front, with firms now finding themselves faced with the new challenges of corporate governance and innovative forms of financing and syndications, thus signaling the need to evolve and expand accordingly. The relatively young firm of Azmi & Associates, established in September 2000, is the latest Malaysian legal firm to acknowledge this need. It recently merged with Illiayas, established by Singapore-trained lawyer Mohamad Illiayas Seyed Ibrahim.
The merger took place on the 24th April 2008, and was officially launched at the Malaysian Petroleum Club in the Kuala Lumpur City Center. The merger was launched by Tengku Datuk Dr Mohd Azzman Sharifadeen Tengku Ibrahim, former president and CEO of MIMOS Berhad.
The event was further notable by the presence of Gary Gilbertson, recipient of US Entrepeneur of the Year also founder and chairman of the Synergy Group of Companies presenting his speech on “Entrepeneurship, Innovation, Growth and Globalisation for Malaysia Consulting Firms and Enterprises”.
The merger aims to create a larger Malaysian law firm with expanded practice areas and partnership base, combining Azmi’s manpower of seven partners, 24 lawyers and 15 trainee solicitors with Illiayas’ three partners and six support staff.
Azmi’s legal services currently include capital and debt market; energy and utility; intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions, projects, real estate, Islamic banking, Islamic private debt securities, venture capital, and litigation and dispute resolution.
The firm is also an exclusive member of TerraLex, an international network of 159 commercial law firms and more than 16,000 lawyers worldwide.
Illiayas, which was established in 1996, covers banking, Islamic banking, litigation, insurance and conveyancing.
The merged entity will continue to operate as “Azmi & Associates”. The firm’s strategic process aims to focus on identifying the core competencies and competitive strengths that create opportunities to build a competitive position in the ever-changing marketplace for legal services. In identifying the firms’ competitive position, both Azmi & Associates and Illiayas share the view that a merger will enable them to achieve synergies to support vision and growth.
This strategic union of Azmi & Associates and Illiayas is envisioned to immediately increase the standing of the combined firm to Tier 2, ranking them among the top ten law firms in Malaysia, and eventually in regional countries.
The firm has also affirmed its commitment to Islamic banking and finance, especially in the Middle Eastern market, and to fill the gaps in expertise and increase its areas of specialization.
Increasingly, the general counsel is looking for breadth, depth and experience when making hiring decisions. This can put small and mid-size firms at a disadvantage in competing for higher level work. This merger is envisioned to provide considerable benefit for Azmi & Associates and Illiayas in striving to advance their position as a top tier-practice.
In his statement to the press, Azmi Mohd Ali, senior partner at Azmi & Associates, affirmed: “Azmi & Associates intends to increase its business in cross-border transactions, rendering services to Malaysian companies doing business outside Malaysia and winning mandates from foreign clients doing business in Malaysia.”