Ms Annabelle Yip > WongPartnership LLP > Singapore, Singapore > Lawyer Profile

Ms Annabelle Yip

Work Department

Corporate Group; Mergers & Acquisitions Practice; Corporate Governance & Compliance Practice; Business Establishment Practice; Professional Services Practice; Sustainability & Resposible Business Practice.

Position

Senior Consultant & Principal member of the Corporate Governance & Compliance Practice.

Career

Her expertise also covers Mergers & Acquisitions, Sustainability & Responsible Business, Business Establishment and Employment.

Work Highlights

Significant transactions that Annabelle has been involved in include advising / acting for the following:

• Frasers Property Limited in the acquisition of an approximately 47.82% stake in PGIM Real Estate AsiaRetail Fund Limited (“AsiaRetail”) for up to S$970.5 million in aggregate, and for FCT Holdings (Sigma) Pte. Ltd. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Frasers Centrepoint Trust) in the acquisition of an approximately 18.80% stake in AsiaRetail for up to S$379.9 million in aggregate, from multiple fund investors.
• ESR Funds Management (S) Limited (the manager of ESR-REIT) in the merger with Viva Industrial Trust by way of a trust scheme of arrangement. The merger valued Viva Industrial Trust at S$936.7 million and created Singapore’s fourth largest industrial REIT with approximately S$3 billion in property assets. This deal won Best Singapore Deal at the FinanceAsia Awards 2018 and M&A Deal of the Year (Midsize) at the ALB SE Asia Law Awards, 2019.
• Thai Beverage Public Company Limited (“THBEV”) as Singapore compliance counsel for in the bid and subsequent acquisition by Vietnam Beverage Company Limited, in which THBEV has a 49% stake, of a 53.59% shareholding interest in Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Joint Stock Corporation (Sabeco), for approximately VND109,965.6 billion (approximately US$4.8 billion).
• SMRT Corporation Ltd. (“SMRT Corp”), SMRT Trains Ltd. (“SMRT Trains”) and SMRT Light Rail Pte. Ltd. (“SLRT”) on the transition of SMRT Trains to a new licence to be granted by the Land Transport Authority of Singapore (“LTA”) to operate the North-South, East-West line and Circle line mass rapid transit systems and the Bukit Panjang light rail transit system under the new rail financing framework, and the transfer of ownership of the rail operating assets of SMRT Trains and SLRT, including trains and signalling systems, to the LTA (estimated at approximately S$991 million) in connection therewith, including seeking the approval of shareholders of SMRT Corp for the transfer.
• SMRT Corp in the S$1.2 billion offer by Belford Investments Pte. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited (“Temasek”), for all the issued ordinary shares in SMRT (other than those already held by Temasek) via a scheme of arrangement under Section 210 of the Companies Act (Chapter 50 of Singapore).
• Singapore Post Limited (“SingPost”) in connection with the review of the circumstances surrounding SingPost’s consideration and approval of the acquisition of TradeGlobal Holdings, Inc.

Awards & Accolades 

Annabelle is recommended as a leading practitioner in various publications including Who’s Who Legal (M&A and Governance), the Experts Guides – Women in Business Law, Guide to the World’s Leading Women in Business Law, Asialaw Leading Lawyers – The Guide to Asia-Pacific’s Leading Lawyers, Asialaw Profiles – The Guide to Asia-Pacific’s Leading Domestic Law Firms and The Legal 500: Asia Pacific – The Client’s Guide to the Asia Pacific Legal Profession. Annabelle was identified as one of the top 30 Corporate Governance lawyers in Singapore by Expert Guides: Best of the Best 2018 and was named the winner in the General Corporate category for Singapore in the International Law Office (ILO) Client Choice Awards 2017.

She has been noted by Asialaw Profiles as a lawyer who provides “in-depth knowledge of Corporate and Singapore issues”, “is extremely experienced in corporate M&A, restructuring and governance” is praised for her “very good commercial acumen” and being “willing to go the extra mile to provide additional value-add”. In IFLR1000 – The Guide to the World’s Leading Financial Law Firms she has been praised as an individual that “provides prompt and good quality advice, very experienced and competent lawyer”.

Publications 

• LegisWatch – Issuance of the Code of Corporate Governance 2018 and Consequential Changes to the Listing Rules
• The Corporate Governance Review, Singapore Chapter – 1st – 3rd editions
• European Lawyer Series: Corporate Governance, Singapore Chapter -1st edition
• Corporate Governance International Series, Singapore Chapter – 2nd edition
• Boardroom Matters Volumes 1 and 2 published by the Singapore Institute of Directors

Languages

English, Mandarin.

Memberships

Singapore Institute of Directors, Singapore Academy of Law, Law Society of Singapore.

Education

Admitted, Singapore Bar, 1988; National University of Singapore (LL.B., Hons), 1987; King’s College London, University of London (LL.M.), 1991.