A&O advises DFC on USD37 million financing to advance Fulbright University Vietnam campus expansion

A&O’s U.S. and Vietnam-based practice groups advised on the transaction as both international and local counsel to DFC.

The new campus is designed to support the region with advanced higher education and workforce development opportunities, with emphasis on increasing and complex challenges such as climate change, defensive cybersecurity and urbanization.

“We are proud to advise this transaction on both sides of the globe and help provide FUV students and community members with new opportunities to learn critical skills for an evolving economy,” said Jean Lee, partner and co-lead of A&O’s Agency Financing practice in the Washington, D.C. office. “We look forward to advising clients on other cross-border agreements as countries worldwide seek to upskill their workforce to meet the market challenges of tomorrow, such as climate change.”

The deal was signed during the U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit on May 12, 2022, which was attended by Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and DFC CEO Scott Nathan.

The A&O deal team was led by partners Jean Lee in D.C. and Duc Tran in Ho Chi Minh City; with support from associates Gideon Wiginton and Nancy Canales in D.C., Tam Tran, Thuy Huynh, Phuong Chau, Minh Tran in Ho Chi Minh City, and trainee Nhan Dang in Ho Chi Minh City.