Serene Yeo

Cross-border matters

• Advised CDH Fund V, L.P., a PRC based private equity fund, in the acquisition of a majority shareholding interest in Aver Asia Corporation Pte Ltd (with businesses in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Myanmar and Vietnam) from the founding shareholders;
• Advised CDH Fund V, L.P. and the founding shareholders in the subsequent sale of the entire shareholding interest in Aver Asia Corporation Pte Ltd to Sumitomo Corporation;
• Advised the founders/shareholders in the sale of Pharmaforte (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and Pharmaforte Singapore Pte Ltd to Advantage Partners, a Japanese-based private equity fund;
• Advised the key founders/shareholders in the sale of the Sanwa group, an industry leader offering fully-integrated manufacturing solutions for multinational customers in the automotive, energy, industrial, consumer and biomedical industries to Sunningdale Tech;
• Acted as Singapore counsel to the OMS Group, a leading telecom infrastructure company and provider of subsea cable services, in relation to the $400 million investment by KKR into the OMS Group;
• Acted as Singapore counsel to BW LPG Limited (BW LPG), the world’s leading owner and operator of LPG vessels, in its US$ 1,050 million acquisition of 12 modern Very Large Gas Carriers (VLGCs) from Avance Gas Holdings Ltd. BW LPG is associated with BW Group, a leading global maritime company involved in shipping, floating infrastructure, deepwater oil and gas production, and new sustainable technologies;
• Advised Cloud Link Solutions in its investment into Edge Centres, which is in the business of developing data centres in Asia and Australia;
• Acted as Singapore counsel to JFE Engineering Corporation, which is part of the JFE Group, in its acquisition of 66.6% of the shares in Sumitomo Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd. , a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Chemical;
• Advised be one solutions, a leading global SAP ERP integrator, in its acquisitions of (i) Inecom, a leading SAP partner in Singapore and the Southeast Asia region and (ii) Netika Business Solution Vietnam, a reference SAP and Microsoft partner;
• Acted as lead counsel to an internationally-renowned state-owned contractor in the PRC, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, in (i) its hotel development joint venture in the Maldives with one of the oldest Sri Lankan hotel operators and (ii) its joint venture in Sri Lanka in respect of a mixed development project in Colombo, Sri Lanka;
• Advised Atome Financial (Atome), which operates Asia’s largest buy now pay later (BNPL) platform, in the strategic investment by Standard Chartered into Atome including a planned US$500 million financing to support Atome’s BNPL business;
• Acted as lead counsel to Bilfinger SE, a German conglomerate, in the sale of its businesses in Asia (namely, China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam) to Archetype Construction Holding Limited; and
• Acted as Singapore counsel to PT Amman Mineral Nusa Tenggara in its acquisition of 44.3% of the shareholding interest in Macmahon Holdings Limited, a corporation listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, through the injection of assets valued at approximately US$150 million.

Domestic matters

• Acted for Excelpoint Technology Ltd. in relation to the privatisation and delisting of Excelpoint by a Singapore-incorporated subsidiary of WT Microelectronics Co., Ltd, a company listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange;
• Advised the founders of Northeast Medical Group in the sale of a controlling stake in Northeast Medical Group to Sheares Healthcare Group;
• Acted for a consortium in its acquisition of a majority shareholding interest in Singapore Medical Group Ltd, a Singapore healthcare company listed on the SGX-ST, by way of a voluntary conditional offer;
• Advised a leading China-based e-commerce seller whose shareholders comprises Alibaba Group Holding, KKR & Co and Goldman Sachs Group in its investment for a majority stake in a fresh fruits company listed on the Mainboard of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd;
• Advised a leading Asia-focused alternative investment management firm based in Singapore in its acquisition of (i) a medical waste business (ii) an infrastructure business by way of convertible and exchange loans and (iii) an interest in a fresh food processing business;
• Advised one of the largest investment companies and leading global asset manager in its subscription of shares in one of the fastest growing life insurer in Singapore; and
• Advised a Singapore-based venture firm with investments in India, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand on its collaboration with a government-linked department spearheading strategic initiatives in R&D to invest in intellectual property-based or technology-based companies in Singapore.