Shook Lin & Bok (Singapore)

Banking and finance

Work highlights

Acted for Bank of China in financing the acquisition of Cogent Holdings by COSCO Shipping International, via a voluntary general offer issued pursuant to the Singapore code on take-overs and mergers.

Key clients

ING Bank, Raffles Prestige Capital

Capital markets

Work highlights

Acted for DBS Trustee, the trustee of Sasseur REIT, in relation to the IPO of Sasseur REIT on the SGX. This is the first outlet mall REIT to be listed in Asia.

Acted for Kakao Corp in relation to the listing of about 8 million global depositary shares on the SGX.

Key clients

Aspial Corporation, Maxi-Cash Financial Services Corporation, Orchid 2 Investments, Q & M Dental Group (Singapore)

Construction

Work highlights 

Advised a developer, SGX-listed real estate investment trust, on a project to develop and build a facility on industrial land which will be leased to an end-user. The property is built specifically in accordance with the detailed specifications prescribed by the in-coming tenant.

Key clients

ACL Construction (S), DIAP-SHAP, Digital Realty, Kyo Ei Denko, Unitex Engineering, VSL Singapore

Corporate and M&A

Work highlights

Advised the joint financial advisers to Nesta Investment Holdings in the takeover of Global Logistic Properties by way of a scheme of arrangement for approximately S$16 billion. This transaction is the largest-ever private equity buyout of an Asian company.

Acting as Singapore counsel to TDK Corporation in respect of the establishment of a $3 billion Singapore-based joint venture with Qualcomm to provide industry leading radio frequency front-end (RFFE) modules and RF filters for mobile devices and for other fast-growing business segments, such as drones, robotics and automotive applications.

Key clients

Citigroup Global Markets Singapore, Dormakaba International Holding, Heliconia Capital Management, Yanlord Land Group

Dispute resolution

Work highlights

Acting for one of the world leaders in marketing and communication services in an arbitration involving a dispute concerning breaches of warranty against one of the sellers under a share purchase agreement for the acquisition of the entire share capital of a Singapore company for approximately $12 million.

Key clients

Nippon Catalyst, Sinosteel Trading, Xing Bang International, WPP Singapore

Investment funds

Work highlights

Acting for Gordian Capital Singapore Private, a Singapore fund management company, on the establishment of Greater China Equity Market Neutral Fund, a Singapore unit trust fund with a targeted fund size of $1 billion. The fund was structured in collaboration with a large Chinese asset management company to invest directly in listed equity securities of companies in Greater China or in exchange traded funds or derivative instruments which are linked to such equities implemented through a model-driven individual stock long and short strategy.

Labour and employment

Work highlights

Advised the client in respect of the termination of an employee’s employment with the Singapore branch of the company.

Regulatory

Work highlights

Conducted a desk-top review of the ‘customer risk assessment methodology’ adopted by the client to evaluate the extent to which the customer risk assessment methodology is in compliance with the standards expected by Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), as set out in the MAS Notice to Capital Markets Intermediaries SFA04-N02.

Key clients

Copper Basin Capital

Restructuring and insolvency

Work highlights

Acting for a creditor and a major shareholder of the operator of one of the world's largest petrochemical plants, on the Singapore law issues in relation to the debt restructuring and receivership of one of the world’s largest petrochemical plants worth $2.4 billion.

Client feedback

“Very good during pre-trial preparations. But the firm does lacks in cross-border disputes experience.” – Dispute resolution

“Provides good value for money among its peers. Sensitive to client's needs, practical in approach and values longer term relationships.” – Capital markets

“Exemplary advice from local lawyers with international magic circle experience. Highly supportive.” – Banking and finance

"Capable of putting customer at ease at the beginning; good and clear explanation regarding various stages of the law suit and what to expect; and responsive to my inquiries and doubts.” – Labour and employment

“Exceptional client service and response time. Well versed on the latest developments in the Singapore fund management and regulatory space. Provides good industry training/briefings that benefit the industry.” – Investment funds

“One of the firm's strength is in dispute resolution, where mastery of detail is important, with practical common sense.” - Tax

“The lawyer possesses expertise in the area, especially he has ex-regulator experience. I also like his response time.” - Regulatory

“Prompt, detailed and commercial. Take care of client's interests.” – Real estate

“The law firm has the necessary experience and capabilities to carry out the assignment and the client is able to reach out of court settlement without incurring significant costs.” – Restructuring and insolvency

“Very good client service. Lawyers are readily available and do their best to accommodate requests.” – Corporate and M&A

“Overall the level of expertise was excellent. Very timely responses and questions were answered with the best interests of our business as a focus. Additional consequences and or things for us to look into were also raised which was helpful. Communication with external parties was handled by the firm and this helped achieve the positive outcome.” – Banking and finance, Regulatory