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.

Rodyk & Davidson’s M&A team “go the extra mile”, says one client. “We were short on resources, and it seconded someone to us,” says the client.

Clients speak highly of the team’s ability to manage relationships. “Good relationship management is all about understanding client-business relations,” says one. “They [the lawyers] meet us regularly to have an exchange of views over tea or lunch.”

This year, a firm team led by department co-head S Sivanesan assisted nine sellers, including venture capital firms Sofinnova Partners and Walden International, on a cross border M&A involving the sale of all their shares in Sprice Pte Ltd to Travelport (Bermuda).

Practice co-head Gerald Singham is another notable contributor in this space.

Clients laud the responsiveness and sound business acumen of Rodyk & Davidson’s lawyers, and the firm’s real estate practice is no exception.

With expertise in a comprehensive offering of real property related services, including legal, planning and regulatory issues relating to mixed development, and residential and industrial projects, the practice maintains a respectable profile in the space.

Acting on a diverse range of property transactions, the team has distinguished itself in high value, complex collective sale projects. In one recent highlight, the firm advised the owners of Farrer Court in the sale of the 618 unit residential development for a record S$1.3 billion. The sale to Morganite, which is a consortium comprising CapitaLand, Hotel Properties and Wachovia Development, remains the largest sale of its kind.

Maureen Ann, Lee Liat Yeang and Norman Ho are key contacts in the department.

Asked to sum up the service provided by Rodyk & Davidson’s dispute resolution team, one client says: “Good rates, good advice, commercially sound, very helpful”.

It has been a good year for the firm. The 60-member team has handled a consistent volume of significant disputes in the corporate and commercial sectors, resulting in a well deserved move up the rankings to tier two.

Following a flurry of departures last year, the firm successfully bounced back by instigating a hiring spree that saw four new associates and two new partners, Mar Seow Hwei and Chan Chin Ling, join this year.

Among a series of notable mandates, banking and finance litigation head Herman Jeremiah is leading a team of advisers to ABN AMRO (now RBS Bank) in a US$10 million claim in the Singapore Courts against collateral manager CWT Commodities (SEA) for breach of contract and misrepresentation. The case has highlighted significant issues relating to the implied duty owed by the collateral manager to notify the bank when there was no movement of the goods.

In another matter, partner Rodney Keong is acting for oil and gas engineering contractor Transerve in prosecuting a High Court claim against Global Process Systems, and defending a counterclaim arising from the design, fabrication, procurement and installation of main elements of an Oil Rig. Lawrence Teh and Edric Pan have also been particularly active in the sector.

Under the leadership of respected IP specialist Lee Ai Ming, Rodyk & Davidson’s IP and technology practice has amassed extensive experience in e-commerce, data privacy, cybersquatting, as well as computer and internet matters. With a particular focus on patent litigation, the group boasts a technical team of patent engineers as well as up to 20 litigators and IP and IT specialists.

In one noteworthy case this year, Lee and Low Chai Chong advised Asahi Glass in a patent infringement action brought by Hoya. This landmark case was the first such case to involve a selection patent. It was also the first case involving two Japanese companies litigating in Singapore.

Peers recommend Gilbert Leong for his IT expertise and Yew Woon Choi for his franchising and licensing experience.

It has been a good year for Rodyk & Davidson’s information technology, media and telecommunications groups, with the firm continuing to build up a respected expertise in resolving legal and regulatory issues in the market. This has prompted a move up in the rankings to tier two.

Peers recommend the team for its integrated problem solving approach and well honed knowledge of technology.

In the IT space, the firm advises on documentation involving complex institution specific information systems, the establishment of data centres and backup sites, and handling agreements relating to disaster recovery, software licensing as well as hardware procurement, among others. The firm’s media practice provides regulatory advice and assists clients on structuring, negotiating and drafting documentation involving media and entertainment law. In telecommunications, clients praise the firm’s strong understanding of regulatory and licensing issues as well as its ability to tackle the commercial and technical challenges in this sector.

Senior partner Gilbert Leong is respected for his long standing experience in the market, while Lee Ai Ming and Yew Woon Chooi are well regarded contributors in the IT sector.