Pinsent Masons MPillay supports Asian Development Bank on major airport expansion tender in the Philippines

19 Sep 2023 | 11:38 pm | 1 min. read

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons MPillay is supporting the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on its role advising the Philippines Department of Transportation (DOTr) on the refurbishment and expansion of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila.

The PhP170.6 billion project will be completed through a Public-Private Partnership managed by the DOTr and the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA). The tender for the project was released on 23 August 2023 with the successful bidder expected to be announced early next year.

The NAIA is the main airport for international travellers to and from the Philippines. The project is designed to address longstanding passenger capacity and aircraft movement issues.

The Pinsent Masons MPillay team advising on the matter was led by partners James Harris and David Platt and included senior associate Jonathan Fong.

Commenting on the matter, James Harris said: “We are very pleased to be supporting the ADB on the tender for this significant airport upgrade and expansion project for the Philippines Government. This project is vital to the economic development of the Philippines and is one of the largest brownfield PPP projects to launch globally this year.”

Pinsent Masons MPillay has advised on risk allocation and transaction structuring of the project, project and bid documentation, proposed concession agreement from an international best practice standpoint and will also support ADB/DOTr with the competitive tender process, negotiations, and ultimately with financial close. Local legal counsel involvement has been provided by PJS Law, Manila. Other advisers assisting ADB include PwC (financial) and Landrum and Brown (technical).

The firm is a longstanding adviser of ADB supporting it on a number of high-profile projects. In 2021 the firm was appointed to advise it on its Energy Transition Mechanism which will see the phasing out of coal-fired power stations across South East Asia.

The ADB provides its members and partners in the Asia Pacific with transaction advisory services, loans, technical assistance, grants and equity investments to fund projects that focus on social and economic development. The bank has 49 member nations from the Asia Pacific region and a further 19 non-region members.

Latest press releases

Show me all press releases

Pinsent Masons advises Bestinver Infra and FCR on Irish toll road share purchase deal

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has advised Bestinver Infra, FCR, on the acquisition of an interest in N6 (Concession) Holdings Limited and N6 (Operations) Limited from Sacyr Concessions Limited.

Pinsent Masons named Most Innovative Law Firm in Europe 2023 by Financial Times

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has been named the Most Innovative Law Firm in Europe and won the Energy & Security Transition category at this year’s FT Innovative Lawyer Awards.

Pinsent Masons named as a top ten family friendly employer by Working Families

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has been named as a top ten family friendly employer by the national charity for working parents and carers Working Families.

People who viewed this press release also viewed

Show me all press releases

Pinsent Masons advises Bestinver Infra and FCR on Irish toll road share purchase deal

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has advised Bestinver Infra, FCR, on the acquisition of an interest in N6 (Concession) Holdings Limited and N6 (Operations) Limited from Sacyr Concessions Limited.

Multiple wins for Pinsent Masons at China Business Law Awards 2023

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has won in six categories at the China Business Law Journal's awards.

Pinsent Masons advises on multibillion dollar project financing deal in Middle East

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has advised a consortium of major banks on the financing of the NEOM residential communities.

For all media enquiries, including arranging an interview with one of our spokespeople, please contact the press office on

+44 (0)20 7418 8199 or 

Location contacts

We are processing your request. \n Thank you for your patience. An error occurred. This could be due to inactivity on the page - please try again.