Dentons Rodyk offer an extensive range of domestic and cross-border advice to founders, investors, start-ups and emerging growth companies. The team assists clients from the life-cycle of companies and incorporation of entities, to investment/ subscription agreements, shareholders’ agreements and ancillary agreements and eventually leading exits via IPO or trade sale. The team is also well known for its specialised ESG expertise, as well as carbon emissions and carbon trading advice for relevant industries. Sunil Rai co-heads the practice focusing on outbound and inbound India-related transactions while Ray Chiang’s main areas of practice include mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and venture technology. S Sivanesan assists on venture capital, venture technology and investment funds.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
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Profile
Work Department
Corporate, M&A, Venture Capital, Private Equity, Investment Funds
Position
S Sivanesan is a senior partner and head of Dentons Rodyk's Corporate practice group. He is also Co-Head of the Environment, Natural Resources & Sustainability practice, Venture Tech & Emerging Growth Companies practice and the Singapore-India relationship partner. Sivanesan's primary areas of practice include mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganisations and restructurings, venture capital, venture technology, investment funds and general corporate commercial matters. He has advised several fund managers, venture capital funds, founders, start-ups and companies on investment deals.
Sivanesan's international work includes cross-border and regional transactions, mergers and acquisitions, VC/PE investment deals in South East Asia, India, China, Japan, Europe, Australia and USA. He has worked with local and foreign clients in establishing businesses in Singapore and the region, transactional matters, foreign direct investment, liaising with regional counsel and establishing effective corporate structures for global operations. He is widely regarded as an authority on corporate governance and venture capital.
Sivanesan is a past chairman of the Pacific Rim Advisory Council, which is an association of 28 top tier independent law firms with more than 12,000 lawyers in more than 50 key business centres around the world.
Sivanesan has addressed regional and international business leaders at conferences and seminars, on topics relating to venture technology, international mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, venture capital and cross border investments. He is a past Chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee of the Singapore Investors Association of Singapore (SIAS). He is currently the independent Chairman of Liberty Insurance Pte Ltd and Liberty Specialty Markets Singapore Pte Limited, members of the Liberty Mutual Group.
Career
Senior Partner, Dentons Rodyk & Davidson LLP (formerly Rodyk & Davidson LLP) (1987 - present)
Languages
English
Memberships
Member of the Board of Governors, NUS High School of Mathematics and Science
Past Chairman, Pacific Rim Advisory Council
Past Chairman, Corporate Governance Committee, Singapore Investors Association of Singapore (SIAS)
Independent Director, Asian Corporate Advisors Pte Ltd
Independent Chairman and Director of Liberty Insurance Pte Ltd, member of the Liberty Mutual Group
Independent Chairman and Director of Liberty Specialty Markets Singapore Pte. Limited, member of the Liberty Mutual Group
Education
MBA (Business Law) (Dean's List) Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, 1998
LLB (2nd Class Hons, Upper Division) National University of Singapore, 1986
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'The team is distinctly founder-centric: practical onboarding checklists, plain-English explainers for term-sheet economics and dilution, step-by-step closing calendars, and disciplined version control. On our recent mandates, they protected essentials, preserved founder rapport, and closed at pace.'
- 'Ray Chiang stands out for availability, founder handholding, and commercial pragmatism. He is present when it matters—responding quickly, framing options with clear consequences, and guiding first-time founders through cap-table math, preferences, consent rights, and board mechanics without grandstanding.'
- 'Commercially-minded, responsive and always ready to offer well-thought-out solutions.'
- 'Client-focused and result-oriented and provides valuable experience in this space.'