Asialaw Profiles
The Guide to the legal markets of the Asia-Pacific

Rodyk & Davidson

Headed up by partners Doreen Sim and Tan Joo Thye, Rodyk & Davidson keeps a respectable practice in the banking and finance space.

In a highlight deal on the banking side this year, corporate partner Valerie Ong and real estate lawyer Lee Ho Wah advised Overseas Union Enterprise in respect of a S$750 million transferable term loan facility with an embedded debt security conversion option.

RHT Law

RHT Law is a new firm founded this year by former KhattarWong managing partner Tan Chong Huat and senior partners Rajah Menon and Hee Theng Fong. Amita Dutt, the head of KhattarWong’s finance and real estate practice, is one of 24 KhattarWong partners who have joined RHT Law. Seven equity partners have also left for RHT Law, decimating KhattarWong’s respected capital markets practice and introducing a new player in the competitive Singapore market.

Straits Law Practice

Straits Law Practice has extensive experience in project financing for power plant, mining and other major infrastructural projects. The firm regularly acts for lenders, borrowers and project sponsors, advising on every aspect involved in securing and managing a project finance transaction.

Clients benefit from the group’s ability to identify and resolve issues that could potentially delay or break deals. M Rajaram is a key contact.

TSMP Law Corporation

TSMP Law Corporation’s banking and finance team had a very active year, with the strongest activity in real estate and asset financing.

In one highlight, the firm, led by director Jennifer Chia, advised Singapore listed Low Keng Huat (Singapore) in its purchase of land from the Housing & Development Board under HDB’s Design, Build & Sell Scheme (DBSS) for public sector housing. As part of the S$155 million purchase, the firm also assisted the LKHS group in its financing for the project with a major local bank.

Clients describe TSMP Law Corporation’s M&A team as “highly professional yet very personal”.

In one noteworthy deal this year, joint managing partner and transactional head Stefanie Yuen Thio advised on the S$170m acquisition of a custom-built state-of-the-art data centre for Digital Realty Trust, a specialised data centre REIT listed in the US. The transaction involved many complex areas of insolvency and receivership law, and cross border financing elements.

Clients praised Thio’s ability to be “extremely responsive, knowledgeable and efficient, both in terms of turnaround time and value for money.”

TSMP’s construction and real estate lawyers are well regarded for their ability to add value. One client describes the team as “very competent and committed to clients’ interests”. Another praises the construction, engineering and projects’ practice for its efficiency and focus, saying “the lawyers there offer clients more than they are paid for”.

The construction team is active in both transactional and dispute resolution work, especially in relation to oil and gas projects. A recent highlight in the transactional space saw executive director, Derek Loh advising an oil and gas contractor in their tender for an oilfield project in Egypt.

On the real estate side, the firm counts a number of Singapore’s influential developers among its clients. Recent transactions include the en bloc purchase of Dragon Mansion and the en bloc purchase of 6 Jalan Ampas. The firm is also representing the developers in the Pinnacle Collection condominium sale on Singapore’s Sentosa Island.

Clients speak highly of executive director and real estate specialist Bee Lain Tan, describing her as someone who “will go beyond the call of duty to serve your best interests”.

Bee Lian’s approach is highly professional and yet very personal, adds another. “As her client, you will always have that peace of mind.”

TSMP keeps a reputable disputes resolution practice. This year, executive director Derek Loh led a team acting for a specialist features and displays contractor in various disputes amounting to US$25 million relating to the Universal Studios Resorts World Sentosa project. Director Melvin Chan also successfully acted in an adjudication claim for the principal structural works subcontractor for the Marina Bay Sands Resorts against the main contractor, SsangYong. The Adjudication Award was appealed by Ssangyong and the High Court dismissed Ssangyong’s appeal.

TSMP’s energy and power practice continues to impress. Clients particularly value the team’s ability to revert with constructive suggestions in relatively short timeframes.

“[Joint managing director] Stefanie Yuen Thio was very hands on advising on the various aspects of the transaction, providing valuable legal advice that was both commercial and fair for both parties,” says one client.

Among a raft of significant mandates this year, executive director Derek Loh assisted an oil and gas contractor in its tender for an oilfield project in Egypt. The transaction arose at the time of the unrest in Egypt as a result of which a consideration of Force Majeure, ultra vires and contracting party concerns had to be addressed.

Loh also acted for a specialist contractor in its tender for a natural gas project in Papua New Guinea.

In the regulatory space, director Ian Lim is advising a major international chemical corporation on safety, regulatory and preventive matters following routing on the subway system in the vicinity of its production plant.

In the shipping and international trade space, TSMP is involved in various charterparty claims. These include the recovery for a shipping group of unpaid charter hire and damages exceeding US$90 million, advising creditors of Korea Line in relation to the charter of various ships, and the recovery of demurrage for PetroChina. The firm is also acting on a cargo contamination dispute involving an international sale of goods transaction with a petrochemical plant that is subject to arbitration.

Executive director Collin Seah and director Ian Lim are notable contacts at the firm.