Christopher & Lee Ong

The practice at Christopher & Lee Ong’s has had notable equity capital markets during the past 12 months. Hock Chye Lee and Chuei Ying Por’s worked on a S$2 billion follow on rights issue. In addition, Christopher Lee, a leading lawyer, and See Ting Yon, practice head, advised JCBNext, a Malaysian digital advertising and marketing company, on its privatisation by two shareholders for RM57 million.   

Christopher & Lee Ong has delivered on distribution agreements, abuse of dominance and price fixing cases. See Ting Yon, practice co-head, advised a Malaysian diversified bank on distribution agreements with suppliers. Team co-leader Yew Chen Kuok and Intan Haryati are assisting edotco Group, a telecommunications infrastructure solutions provider, on a price fixing matter.

Christopher & Lee Ong’s “expertise in construction and telecom field” is noted by clients. “Experienced” Yee Ming Yau with “nice communication” and Chuei Ying Por lead the practice. Yew Chen Kuok, a leading lawyer, advised MM2 Asia on its RM118 million acquisition of 13 cinemas with an option to purchase more. See Ting Yon, who is “professional, straight to the point and gets things done” according to a client, and Kelvin Kho acted for Valeo, a French automotive supplier, on its RM130 million acquisition of Frencken Group’s Precico Electronics. Siaw Wan Lim left the team.

Christopher & Lee Ong’s team manages energy and natural resource project quite well. “Always in control of the project and firmly leading the negotiations,” comments a client. Another adds: “You felt their leadership was overwhelming.” Practice co-heads Christopher Lee and Eileen Yeoh advised Petronas’s Pengerang Power on a RM3 billion 1.22 gigawatt (GW) power plant. The team assisted on many agreements including the power purchase agreement and engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning contract. A client respects Yeoh’s “sense of control of the whole process”.

Christopher & Lee Ong enters the tables for its steady performance in patent and trade mark disputes, in addition to copyright. “Excellent work at reasonable costs,” notes a peer, “I am impressed that explanations of cases and situations are provided timely and comprehensively.” Sri Sarguna Raj leads the IP, gaming and sports group. The same peer praises Kim Poh Ng for “his email communications [with] explanations of cases [which] are well sorted out and easy to understand”.

Christopher & Lee Ong remains a highly recommended practice for its quality coverage across IT, telecommunications and media sectors. Intan Haryati and “very responsive with his work” Deepak Pillai, practice leader, advised a Malaysian construction and engineering company on its IT corporate services and systems software. Pillai, who “understands the industry and technicalities well which saves time and makes communication easier as he could speak the language” according to a client, is assisting a trade association on issues about privacy, data protection and information management.

Led by Yew Chen Kuok and Yee Ming Yau, Christopher & Lee Ong’s team has been involved in minority investments and major buyouts. Christopher Lee assisted a private equity firm investing in South and Southeast Asia during its equity stake acquisition of a target. Lee also advised Creador, a Malaysian private equity firm, on its equity stake sale of GHL Systems to Actis Stark.

Christopher & Lee Ong’s “service was outstanding and exceeded our expectations”, remarks a client. Christopher Lee, one of the team leaders, is advising a public transport company on a heavy rail transport project. Another leader Eileen Yeoh, commended by a client for “knowledge, experience, and sound advice”, is advising on a transit hub project. Siaw Wan Lim left the team in January 2017.

Christopher & Lee Ong excels in maritime and shipping matters across specialities, including corporate, finance and disputes. Leading lawyer Chee Kwan Ong, practice leader, represented Jatim Perkasa Lines before the Malaysian Admiralty Court in a case about a vessel’s owner. In particular, the matter involved the difference between certificates by a bareboat charter registry as opposed to one by an ownership registry. Jainil Bhandari, a leading lawyer, is another notable partner.