The Legal 500

Within Foreign firms Leading individuals

Within Foreign firms Leading individuals

Within Local firms, Allen & Gledhill LLP is a first tier firm,

Allen & Gledhill LLP’s 17-partner team, led by Lucien Wong and Christina Ong, has ‘sound business acumen and good industry knowledge’, strong international connections and a pioneering Islamic finance practice. Mark Hudspeth advised DBS Bank and OCBC on S$919m term loan facilities for the Jurong Lake District development. Eugene Ooi advised on the S$256m debt financing of the Sabana sharia-compliant REIT. Lim Wei Ting is singled out for praise.

Within Foreign firms Leading individuals

Within Local firms, Allen & Gledhill LLP is a first tier firm,

Allen & Gledhill LLP’s Jerry Koh advised on Southeast Asia’s largest ever IPO, Hutchison Port Holdings Trust’s $5.5bn IPO and SGX-ST listing. Tan Tze Gay advised Global Logistic Properties on its S$3.9bn IPO and SGX-ST listing. On the debt side, Margaret Chin advised on Singapore Airlines’ innovative S$300m retail bond offering.

Within Foreign firms Leading individuals

Within Local firms, Allen & Gledhill LLP is a first tier firm,

Allen & Gledhill LLP’s 24-partner team, led by Andrew Lim and Lim Mei, ‘provides strong transactional support’. Landmark deals included representing Khazanah and IHH in their successful S$3.5bn bid for Parkway Holdings, and acting for Maybank on Mayban IB Holdings’ S$1.8bn acquisition of Kim Eng Holdings. Lucien Wong and Prawiro Widjaja represented SGX in its aborted merger with ASX. Clients recommend Christopher Koh and Lee Kim Shin. Daren Shiau provides competition, antitrust and regulatory advice.

Within Local firms, Allen & Gledhill LLP is a second tier firm,

Allen & Gledhill LLP’s ‘fast, responsive’ team impresses clients with its ‘high standard of delivery’. Ang Cheng Hock SC is acting for Drydocks World in a S$50m suit against two former directors, and together with William Ong, is defending Deutsche Bank against a former client. Edwin Tong represented RBS in Singapore’s first class action suit.

Within Local firms, Allen & Gledhill LLP is a first tier firm,

Daren Shiau and his team at Allen & Gledhill LLP advise on the employment elements of M&A transactions and stand-alone employment matters, assisting multinational corporations, notably BT, on employee integration and outsourcing. Kelvin Wong, Melissa Anne Teo and Sanjiv Rajan are recommended.

Within Local firms, Allen & Gledhill LLP is a second tier firm,

Allen & Gledhill LLP’s practice includes dedicated biotechnology and patents groups. Practice head Stanley Lai SC successfully defended Martek Biosciences in a high-profile patent revocation action, and is defending APP in a High Court copyright infringement/passing off action. The team handles patent, IP and trade mark matters for Agilent, HP and Ericsson, and recently recruited microelectronics specialist Tan Hiang Teik.

Within International arbitration, Allen & Gledhill LLP is a second tier firm,

Allen & Gledhill LLP provides ‘insightful, knowledgeable advice’. Andrew Yeo represented the project owner in a multimillion-dollar SIAC arbitration concerning a major mass transport infrastructure contract dispute. Together with Dinesh Dhillon, Yeo represented a consortium of international banks in a SIAC arbitration in relation to a claim by a purchaser of distressed assets. Edwin Tong represented a major power generation company in a S$100m dispute.

Within Legal market overview,

The local market is dominated by four preeminent law firms: Allen & Gledhill LLP, WongPartnership LLP, Drew & Napier LLC and Rajah & Tann LLP. While the latter two are particularly strong in litigation, strong transactional firms, notably Shook Lin & Bok LLP, Stamford Law Corporation and Rodyk & Davidson LLP lead the chasing pack. Specialist boutiques are increasingly involved in some of the biggest deals. Loo & Partners LLP is one such example. Asia Practice LLP and RHT Law LLP, the latter recently established an alliance with Taylor Wessing LLP, are breakway boutiques launched by high-profile partners from large local firms.

Within Local firms, Allen & Gledhill LLP is a first tier firm,

Allen & Gledhill LLP has unrivalled experience in PPP and regional energy/infrastructure work, advising RBS on the Jurong Aromatics project, acting for the Ministry of Finance on the Sports Hub PPP, and advising Tuas Power on its state-of-the-art multi-utilities complex on Jurong Island. Kevin Wong, Ho Chien Mien and Kok Chee Wai are recommended.

Within Local firms, Allen & Gledhill LLP is a first tier firm,

Clients rate Allen & Gledhill LLP’s ‘strength in complicated structured transactions’. Big-ticket transactions included the S$982.6m IPO of Mapletree Commercial Trust, Singapore’s largest REIT IPO. Penny Goh advised on the S$664.4m IPO of the Sabana sharia-compliant REIT. Construction specialist Ho Chien Mien is project counsel to the consortium developing the S$2bn South Beach project.

Within Foreign firms Leading individuals

Within Local firms, Allen & Gledhill LLP is a first tier firm,

Allen & Gledhill LLP’s Ronnie Quek and Andrew Chan acted on significant mandates including the scheme of arrangement for TT International. It also advised Nordea Bank Finland and Citicorp International on the high-profile bankruptcy of Korea Line Corporation, and acted for the bank creditor on restructuring S$360m of debt owed by subsidiaries of Jaya Holdings in bankruptcy.

Within Foreign firms Leading individuals

Within Local firms, Allen & Gledhill LLP is a first tier firm,

Allen & Gledhill LLP’s ‘helpful, professional’ team, led by Vivian Ang and Gina Lee Wan, acted for Nordea Bank on cross-border issues concerning Korea Lines Corporation. Clients appreciate Yap Yin Soon’s ‘hands-on’ approach, and recommend litigator Corina Song.

Within Local firms, Allen & Gledhill LLP is a second tier firm,

Tham Kok Leong leads Allen & Gledhill LLP’s practice where Daren Shiau advised Singapore’s Media Development Authority on a joint production fund with Sony Pictures Entertainment. Tan Wee Meng advised SingTel Digital Media’s insing.com on its Super Deals business. Stanley Lai is acting for URA in an information technology dispute against Steria Asia

Within Local firms, Allen & Gledhill LLP is a second tier firm,

Nand Singh Ghandi and Sunit Chabra head Allen & Gledhill LLP’s four-partner tax practice, which has well-established relationships with local tax authorities. Regulatory and transactional work includes matters arising from capital markets deals, notably the largest long-term sukuk issuance in Singapore. Tax litigation included representing a major property owner and developer in the High Court on a fundamental issue concerning valuation for property tax purposes. Another high-profile matter concerned the applicability and scope of the general anti-avoidance provision in Singapore’s Income Tax Act.