Sharon Lau > Latham & Watkins LLP > Singapore, Singapore > Lawyer Profile

Latham & Watkins LLP acts for corporate issuers, underwriters, placement agents, and initial purchasers on the full range of debt and equity offerings, with demonstrable capability advising on cross-border mandates, spanning South and Southeast Asia. Sharon Lau leads the team and is noted for her expertise in IPOs, REIT offerings and high-yield debt offerings, while Rajiv Gupta spearheads the firm’s India practice group and advises on high-profile capital markets transactions in this region. Timothy Hia counts corporate borrows, private equity investors, underwriters, and financial advisers among his key roster of clients, and Jeremy Wang handles the full spectrum of securities offerings. Stacey Wong, who advises on US-registered and cross-border Southeast Asia capital markets deals, was promoted to partner in October 2022.

Noted for its capabilities in US, English and Singapore law advice, Latham & Watkins LLP handles the full spectrum of mandates, including public M&A, private takeovers, joint ventures, corporate restructuring and disposals. Amy Beckingham, who splits her time between the firm’s offices in Singapore and Hong Kong, advises on public and private M&A and joint ventures, while Sidharth Bhasin acts for private equity, sovereign wealth, and pension funds, as well as Asian and international corporates, on cross-border transactions. James Clayton-Payne focuses on multi-jurisdictional M&A and joint ventures, and Sharon Lau has experience in acquisitions and corporate finance transactions. Other key contacts in the group include Marcus Lee and Farhana Sharmeen.

The practice at Latham & Watkins LLP acts for its roster of domestic and international clients on an array of corporate and finance transactions in Malaysia, from capital markets, M&A and private equity to venture capital, project developments and Islamic finance structures. Based in the Singapore office, Sharon Lau leads the team and is noted for her expertise in capital markets, M&A and private equity-related matters. Key sectors of expertise include food and beverage, technology, traditional and renewable energy, oil and gas, telecoms and real estate.

Latham & Watkins LLP’s Vietnam practice, led by Hong Kong and Singapore-based Amy Beckingham alongside Sharon Lau based in Singapore, continues to assist major Vietnamese companies, financial institutions, private equity firms, and fintech startups. Global corporate vice chair Beckingham specialises in M&A, joint venture, and equity capital markets deals throughout Asia. She has considerable experience advising international investors in relation to their investments into Vietnam. Lau, a member of the firm’s global executive committee, regularly represents issuers and underwriters in connection with IPOs and securities offerings in Vietnam or with Vietnamese elements. She has recently led a team representing electric-vehicle producer VinFast in relation to its US IPO, the first Vietnamese company to publicly file for an IPO in the US.