Foreign direct investment
Telecoms
Advising the BW Group in obtaining regulatory clearance from (i) the Overseas Investment Office in New Zealand, (ii) the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board in Australia, and (ii) the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States in its acquisition of shares of Hawaiki Submarine Cable and International Connectivity Services.
Digital media
Advising Swiss-headquartered digital media group, Ringier AG on its internal restructuring involving IM Ringier Company Limited, a Myanmar Investment Commission-approved company, to ensure compliance with the Myanmar Investment Law 2016.
Professional services
Advising Kroll in obtaining regulatory clearance from the Cayman Islands regulatory authorities in its acquisition of Borrelli Walsh, a leading specialist restructuring, corporate recovery, insolvency and forensic accounting firm.
More: Foreign direct investment
Public and private M&A
Tom advises clients on a broad spectrum of M&A transactions, including public takeover offers and private company asset or share deals, often with complex crossborder elements. Key transactions include:
Engie (formerly GDF Suez)
Advising on its acquisition of Keppel FMO in Singapore and Qatar, and various other corporate matters.
Triple P Capital
Advising Triple P Capital on its acquisition of Contemi Solutions and its controlling stake investment into The Praxis Company.
Ernst & Young
Advising Adelphi Digital Consulting Group, an award winning digital consultancy in Australia and Singapore, on its sale to Ernst & Young.
IntriCon Corporation
Advising IntriCon Corporation on its acquisition of Emerald Medical Services. IntriCon is a NASDAQ-listed US medical device business, and Emerald is a Singapore-based manufacturer of cost-effective complex catheters, with an international distribution network.
Duff & Phelps
Advising Duff & Phelps on its acquisition of RP Digital Secuirty, a Singapore-headquartered company specialising in computer forensic investigations, digital security and eDiscovery across Asia.
Duff & Phelps
Advising Duff & Phelps on its acquisition of Zolfo Cooper Asia, an independent provider of restructuring, financial and corporate advisory solutions.
Tech Mahindra
Advising Indian IT services firm Tech Mahindra Ltd. on its US$95 million acquisition of Born Group Pte. Ltd, a New York-based marketing and media solutions agency.
Axiata Group
Advising Axiata Group on the Myanmar aspects of the proposed US$13 billion merger of Axiata’s telecommunications tower business, edotco, and Telenor’s mobile network operations, which transaction was aborted.
Axiata
Advising Axiata, in the acquisition of an 80% stake in Mekong Tower Company in Laos.
Hawksford
Advising Hawksford on its acquisition of the People & Projects Ltd (P&P) in Singapore, Hong Kong and the PRC.
Campana Group
Advising Campana Group, a well known regional broadband subsea capacity provider, on a US$80 million investment round led by Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
Credit Card Compare Australia
Advising Credit Card Compare Australia on its acquisition of 90% of Singapore based ecommerce and personal financial comparison company Finty Pte. Ltd.
Quantum Pacific Shipping
Advising Quantum Pacific Shipping on a share disposal to Norway’s Ocean Yield ASA to establish a joint venture for the construction and operation of six mega container vessels, with an aggregate value of US$1 billion.
Duff & Phelps
Advising Duff & Phelps, a global valuation and corporate finance adviser, on its acquisition of Quantera Global Asia Holding, an AsiaPacific transfer pricing advisory firm affiliated with Quantera Global.
Escape Hunt plc
Advising the Escape Hunt Group a Thailand headquartered provider of live 'escape the room' gaming experiences, on its reverse takeover of Dorcaster plc, a related equity placing and the re-admission of Dorcaster plc as Escape Hunt plc on AIM.
Myanmar Investments International Limited
Advising Myanmar Investments International LImited, a Myanmar focused investment company quoted on the AIM market of London Stock Exchange plc and backed by Hong Kong and New York based special situations fund LIM Advisors, on a series of investment alongside TPG Capital, one of the largest private equity houses in the world, in Apollo Towers Holdings Limited.
Digicel Group
Advising Digicel Group on regional aspects of its US$221 million disposal to Axiata of Digicel Myanmar Tower Company ('M&A Mid Sized Deal of the Year 2016' by Asian Legal Business and ‘M&A deal of the year: TMT’ by Asian Lawyer Emerging Markets Awards 2016).
McGraw Hill Financial, Inc.
Advising NYSE quoted McGraw Hill Financial, Inc. on its acquisition of the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC), a conference for leaders in the oil and gas industry in Asia, based in Singapore.
Corporation Service Company
Advising Corporation Service Company on its acquisition of Koehler Group, an international accounting and management consulting firm with operations in Asia and also on its acquisition of the IP Mirror group, a leading provider of corporate domain name registration and online brand protection services across Asia.
POSH
Advising a leading offshore marine services provider in Singapore, on its acquisition from Eide Marine of the semisubmersible, XANADU.
Zurich Insurance Group
Advising on its acquisition of a 100% foreign interest in Malaysian insurer MAA Holdings Berhad and various related companies.
BAA
Advising on the £16.4 billion hostile takeover by Grupo Ferrovial SA and a competing bid from a Goldman Sachs led consortium.
British American Tobacco
Advising on its M&A in the UK, Scandinavia, Turkey, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, China, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Myanmar and the Philippines.
Diageo
Advising on the buyout of its local partner in the Philippines.
An international investment bank
Advising on its role as independent financial adviser for the purposes of the Takeover Code in Singapore, in the context of Heineken's takeover of Fraser & Neave.
Sime Darby Plantation
Advising in Malaysia on various transactions, including its acquisition with SP Setia of Battersea Power Station.
Gazpromneft
Advising on its acquisition of Sibir Energy and related global settlement arrangements.
Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation
Advising on its £584 million takeover of Central African Mining & Exploration Company.
General Mills
Advising General Mills on the restructuring of its Häagen-Dazs business in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
More: Public and private M&A
Private equity and venture capital
Tom has advised several international venture capital and private equity houses as well as management teams and corporates transacting with venture capital/private equity houses and their investee companies. Key transactions include:
LIM Advisors
Advising a Hong Kong based hedge fund, on various matters including its minority co-investment with CVCI Private Equity and Thai Strategic Capital Management in Wuttisak Clinic Inter Group Company Limited, a leading skincare clinic chain operator in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Triple P Capital
Advising Triple P Capital on its acquisition of Contemi Solutions and its controlling stake investment into The Praxis Company.
Myanmar Investments International Limited
Advising Myanmar Investment International Limited, a Myanmar focused investment company quoted on the AIM market of London Stock Exchange plc and backed by Hong Kong and New York based special situations fund LIM Advisors, on a series of investments alongside TPG Capital, one of the largest private equity houses in the world, in Apollo Towers Holdings Limited.
Joint ventures
Tom has extensive experience in advising on joint ventures, whether it concerns their formation, termination, the exit or entry of a party or the transfer of stakes between the existing parties. Key transactions include:
Engie (formerly GDF Suez)
Advising on its complex district cooling joint venture arrangements in the Philippines.
IM Skaugen
Advising on its ship management joint venture arrangements with OSM Services, and aborted arrangements with another proposed ship management joint venture partner.
Assetz Group
Advising on its high profile Bangalore based real estate joint venture with Avenue Venture Partners Private Equity.
Clermont Group (formerly The Chandler Corporation)
Advising on complex pharmaceutical and healthcare joint ventures in India, Bangladesh, United States, Pakistan, Kenya, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Data protection and information
AxiomSL
Advising AxiomSL, an international provider of regulatory reporting, risk, and data management solutions, on a range of data protection issues associated with its various services agreements.
AET Tankers
Advising AET Tankers, a global leader in petroleum logistics solutions on a range of data protection issues in the region.
Corporation Services Company
Advising US-based Corporation Services Company on its acquisition of IP Mirror group, a domain name registration business headquartered in Singapore with operations across, among others, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and the UK.
Corporation Services Company
Advising on global data transfer requirements in 13 jurisdictions, including Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong and Australia.
Various corporations including Mediacorp, Hawksford, Kuok Group, General Mills
Advising on data protection and data sharing/transfer.
Equity capital markets
Tom advises clients on all forms of equity capital markets transactions, having worked on a number of high profile IPO and secondary issuances for issuer, NOMAD/Sponsor and underwriting banks. Key transactions include:
Dart Energy
Advising on its regional corporate restructuring and proposed IPO on the Main Board of the Singapore Stock Exchange.
Lonmin
Advising on its BEE transaction with Shanduka Resources and related £160 million placing of shares.
Tele Atlas N.V.
Advising on its Euronext Amsterdam IPO, raising in gross €134 million.
Shanks Group
Advising on its £71 million main market rights issue in the UK.
British American Tobacco
Advising on its dual listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.MITIE Group
Advising on its main market rights issue in the UK.
Churchill Mining
Advising on its US$23.2 million AIM placing.
San Leon Energy
Advising on its €60 million AIM placing.
Merrill Lynch International
Advising on Renewable Energy Generation Limited's £46 million AIM placing.
Escape Hunt plc
Advising the Escape Hung Group, a Thailand-headquartered provider of live 'escape the room' gaming experiences, on its reverse takeover of Dorcaster plc, a related equity placing and the re-admission of Dorcaster plc as Escape Hunt plc on AIM.