Leading global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Malaysia's Axiata Group Bhd on the sale of a 10% stake in its Cambodian mobile subsidiary to Japan's Mitsui & Co., Ltd.

Axiata will retain an 82.5% stake in Smart Axiata Co Ltd, Cambodia's leading mobile service provider with over 8 million customers.

Axiata is one of the leading telecommunications groups in Asia with approximately 320 million subscribers in 10 countries, and a longstanding client of the firm.  Herbert Smith Freehills has advised the company on a series of M&A and finance transactions, including the original 2012 merger between Hello Axiata and Latelz that formed today's Smart Mobile.

The transaction has completed shortly after formal licence approval from Bar Council Malaysia for the firm to open for business in Kuala Lumpur.

Kuala Lumpur is Herbert Smith Freehills' ninth office in Asia, and the 27th office in its global network.

With the opening of the new office, Herbert Smith Freehills now operates across Southeast Asia from four of the region's most important business centres – Singapore, Jakarta*, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur – handling matters for clients in and across all 10 ASEAN nations.