What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

As Executive Director (Legal) of Dymon Asia Private Equity (DAPE), I have responsibility for the legal function across the DAPE funds, covering investments, exits, and ongoing portfolio support to our investee companies.

In 2025, I led the legal execution of a total of 7 deals (comprising both investments and exits), often involving complex structuring, regulatory, and commercial considerations.

From an investment perspective, the DAPE legal team is closely involved in the investment process from an early stage, advising on key deal terms and transaction structure. The legal team also manages multi-jurisdictional legal due diligence exercises and negotiates transaction documentation, with a focus on addressing material legal risks and ensuring consistency and parity of terms across all transaction documents.

I also led the legal workstream for all DAPE exits completed in 2025, through a mix of bilateral transactions, auction sale processes and pre-agreed married trades. By coordinating with multiple external counsel and maintaining a consistent approach across transaction documents, I helped streamline exit processes and support timely completion of each transaction.

Beyond transactional matters, I provide ongoing legal and governance support to portfolio companies. I have also driven improvements in governance and legal processes across the portfolio, including the implementation of consistent governance frameworks.

What do you see as an opportunity or risk over the next six months?

Considering a PE fund’s lifecycle, I see a significant opportunity in ensuring that our portfolio companies slated for divestment are exit-ready from a legal and governance preparedness standpoint. By proactively addressing legacy compliance, contractual, and regulatory issues, and embedding robust governance frameworks, we reduce execution risk and position companies for smoother, faster sales processes.

For new investments, such effort can commence as early as during the due diligence stage – early involvement allows us to anticipate regulatory or operational hurdles that could affect buyer confidence upon exit, and seek to address these issues in our transaction documents. This gives us more lead time to progressively make the company exit-ready, improving the likelihood of a smooth and value-accretive divestment at a suitable time.

Can you describe a situation where legal input materially influenced a key business decision?

Without going into specifics, at a critical stage of negotiation, the other side applied pressure in an attempt to obtain a desired outcome. By creatively reviewing the transaction documents, I identified an alternative deal structure that allowed the fund to negotiate from a position of strength. The legal levers give our investment team confidence to pursue a commercially optimal outcome for the fund.

What do you find most rewarding about working as an in-house lawyer?

What I find most rewarding about working as an in-house lawyer in private equity is the opportunity to work on complex, intellectually challenging transactions across Southeast Asia. Each deal presents unique commercial, legal and regulatory considerations, requiring careful analysis and creative problem-solving.

I particularly value being able to translate complex legal issues into actionable guidance that directly supports deal strategy and execution, and improves deal outcome. By doing so, the legal function becomes an integral part of the deal process, helping the investment team navigate risks while advancing commercial objectives. I also find it rewarding to draw on lessons learned from prior transactions to anticipate potential issues and continuously refine our deal approach, ensuring each deal benefits from collective experience.

How has the current global economic or geopolitical environment influenced your approach to legal risk?

Rapid shifts in international trade, export controls and sanctions regime across Southeast Asia and beyond mean that even routine business can carry unexpected regulatory exposure.

We keep abreast of these developments and seek to help trade-heavy portfolio companies and potential investees ensure that contracts are carefully considered and transactions are properly structured to avoid unintended breaches. This requires close attention, as any non-compliance could potentially create liabilities that the fund would ultimately need to stand behind during an exit, thereby affecting returns to investors. By anticipating potential regulatory challenges, we support companies in navigating complex trade obligations in an evolving landscape, helping to protect the portfolio company’s operational integrity.