Editorial: Mergers & Acquisitions in Singapore

01 October 2007

Allen & Gledhill LLP is said to be “head and shoulders above the rest of the Singapore local market” in this area – a statement borne out by the presence of five partners in this chapter, more than any other firm. The “outstanding” Lucien Wong is the firm’s managing partner and “one of Singapore’s leading lawyers”, widely known for his domestic and international transactional work. Alongside him, the “highly skilled” Andrew Lim is also well known for his local and cross-border work, and was formerly vice chair of the cross-border investments committee of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association. Head of corporate and commercial at the firm Lee Kim Shin is a “phenomenal lawyer”. His expertise in the power and telecoms sectors was highlighted to researchers, as was his M&A experience relating to venture capital, private equity and competitive bids. Lim Mei was commended for her work on behalf of clients such as Pacific Century Regional Developments, Temasek Holdings, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and Raffles Holdings. Lim Teong Sit joined the firm in May 2007 from Shearn Delamore & Co in Malaysia, where he headed the financial services group. A “well known figure in the region”, he is admired for his transactional work as well as for the finance and capital markets work that earns him a place in another chapter in this book. 

Rajah & Tann is another well known corporate firm that is highly rated for its transactional work for private and public companies, vendors and purchasers, both domestically and cross-border. Three partners from the firm appear in this section. Wong Kok Hoe co-heads the firm’s corporate practice group and is reportedly a “first-class public M&A lawyer”. Recent matters he has worked on include the acquisitions of PRC assets by Singapore-listed companies eWorld of Sports.com and ITG in separate transactions, and he also acted as Singapore counsel for US private equity house Silver Lake Partners in a US$200 million investment in Flextronics International. Serene Yeo is head of the firm’s corporate and capital markets (mergers & acquisitions) practice and ranked highly in our survey. A “diligent and effective ally” to her clients, she has experience of takeovers and reverse takeovers, acquisitions, divestments, mergers and schemes of arrangement in domestic and cross-border deals. The strength of Rajah & Tann’s M&A practice is further underlined by the September 2007 arrival of Christina Ng from Drew Napier. Ng is particularly well known for her knowledge of mergers and acquisitions throughout South-East Asia, for her “exemplary work” relating to energy and infrastructure projects and for her “impressive tax practice”. 

WongPartnership boasts two names on the list. Managing partner Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara is “one of the leading corporate lawyers in the region”. The international dimension of his practice attracted much admiration: he has been involved in transactions in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and New Zealand. In recent years, his high-profile deals have included acting for a syndicate of investors in relation to their investment in ACR Capital Holdings, and for Newbridge Capital and TPG-Axon in their acquisition of a shareholding interest in Singapore's largest private healthcare company. Ng Wai King is head of the corporate/mergers & acquisitions practice at the firm, and a “fantastic lawyer”. He worked on the largest M&A transaction in Singapore in 2005, in which he advised Colony Capital regarding the acquisition of the Raffles and Swissôtel hotel business from Raffles Holdings. In addition, he also advised the Sampoerna family in the sale of shares in PT HM Sampoerna to Philip Morris International, the largest M&A transaction in Indonesia in the same year.

David Ang is one of two nominated lawyers from Drew & Napier LLC and head of the corporate and finance department. “Highly knowledgeable”, he was picked out for his international work involving English, Indonesian, Malaysian and Thai law. Gary Pryke has experience of M&A transactions locally and across the region, including in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. “Sensible and effective”, he received praise for his work across the whole corporate finance spectrum. 

Elsewhere in the findings, several other individuals were identified as leaders in the field, including three from leading international firms. Philip Rapp is the joint managing director of Clifford Chance Wong Pte Limited, the Magic Circle firm’s joint law venture in Singapore with WongPartnership. Well regarded for his cross-border M&A work, he is known in particular for his expertise in the field of telecommunications. Linklaters’ Richard Good is also well regarded in this field. He recently advised Temasek on its acquisition of an 11.5 per cent stake in Standard Chartered Bank, a deal that involved teams from Singapore, London and Hong Kong dealing with over 50 jurisdictions. The “very impressive” Christopher Moore in Norton Rose LLP’s Singapore office is particularly well known for his work on insurance transactions, and his international experience in this sector extends to Western, Central and Eastern Europe as well as South-East Asia. 

Lee Suet Fern, senior director of Stamford Law Corporation, earns inclusion in four chapters. “One of the finest corporate lawyers in Singapore”, she represented Neptune Orient Lines Limited in Temasek Holdings’ S$2.8 billion offer for all the NOL shares, as well as SembCorp Logistics in relation to its sale of its 20 per cent stake in Kuehne & Nagel International AG for an aggregate purchase price of S$1.3 billion. Arfat Selvam of Arfat Selvam Alliance LLC garnered praise for her “formidable track record in this area”, including the merger of Keppel Bank with Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation. Her “trailblazing” expertise in Islamic banking and finance was also acknowledged. Chang See Hiang at Chang See Hiang & Partners is “immensely knowledgeable on corporate law”, and appears in both the M&A and corporate governance chapters. At Lee & Lee, Adrian Chan is a “first-class corporate lawyer”. His recent deals include acting for food and beverage company Want Want Holdings in the buy-out and delisting by its chairman, who made an offer of US$805 million for the stock not in his control, as well as acting for German company Siltronic in its US$1 billion joint venture wafer fab plant with Samsung Electronics, the latter’s first manufacturing investment in Singapore. In addition, he has also acted for clients such as Marina Centre Holdings, Wheelock Properties and JEP Precision Engineering in deals recently. At Rodyk & Davidson LLP, Valerie Ong was consistently recommended to our researchers. The head of the firm’s corporate finance practice, her domestic and offshore practice, particularly in the area of management style buy-outs, share and business acquisitions and divestitures, was highly rated.

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