Singapore maritime law firm Oon & Bazul has taken on two new partners specialising in mergers and acquisitions, and restructuring and insolvency.
Partners in the practice said it was due to a significant increase of work volume in these areas since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Joining are Keith Han as partner of the firm’s restructuring and insolvency practice, and Ng Yi Wayn as partner of the firm’s corporate practice, which handles M&A work.
Han spent seven years at what was described as a "magic circle firm" in Singapore. This is an informal description for what are generally regarded as the five leading UK-headquartered international law firms.
In the Singapore context, Han said, “my experience has included me working for one of the leading law firms in Singapore and internationally for around seven years”.
Han’s LinkedIn profile indicates that those seven years were spent at Clifford Chance Asia (Cavenagh Law).
Prior to that, he worked as a justices’ law clerk and assistant registrar of the Supreme Court of Singapore.
“Working for a magic circle firm has brought me a wealth of experience and given me an international perspective in approaching the disputes and restructurings I am involved in; all of which has prepared me well for my current role as partner of restructuring and insolvency at Oon & Bazul,” he told TradeWinds.
“I have serviced clients including leading multinational corporates, financial institutions as well as ultra-high net worth individuals, on complex cross-border and high-value disputes and restructuring.”
Ng joins Oon & Bazul after eight years at RHTLaw Asia, where she regularly advised clients on domestic and cross-border acquisitions, as well as the disposal of shares and assets, divestitures, takeovers and mergers, corporate and commercial contracts, corporate restructuring exercises and equity capital market transactions across the globe.
She has advised on transactions from seed investments up to deals with transactional values of $300m. Across industries, she has represented global and regional clients in technology, media and communications, education and healthcare.
“Despite the global slowdown in M&A, I believe the coronavirus crisis will create viable opportunities for dealmakers in the coming months, as cash-starved companies seek to weather the storm,” Ng said.
Newcomers to shipping
The new hires may not have had direct shipping experience, but managing partner Bazul Ashhab said they are “integral to the firm and their respective areas of expertise will certainly play pivotal roles when I ... undertake instructions in the realm of shipping matters.
“Yi Wayn’s and Keith’s hire reflects our firm’s ambition to strengthen our bandwidth and continue to secure talent when it becomes available.
“Yi Wayn will value-add across the corporate and M&A space when shipping companies require assistance in their business operations matters, or should they wish to acquire or sell assets. Keith’s practice expertise will also help me in shipping matters, particularly when shipping companies are considering restructuring.”
Han and Ng have hit the ground running, according to the firm’s existing partners.
Shipping partner Kelly Yap said the firm has seen a significant increase in shipping work since the pandemic outbreak. That this work includes disputes, debt recovery, insolvency and restructuring comes as no surprise, given the collapse of several major Singaporean commodity traders and their associated shipping companies.
“I have also seen companies who are actively seeking good buying opportunities in this depressed market,” said Yap, who added that Ng and Han’s joining the firm “could not have been more timely”.
Founded in 2002, Oon & Bazul describes itself as “Singapore’s largest conflict-free law firm and leading commercial legal practice”.
The firm has a multilingual team of more than 60 lawyers and 120 staff.
Its strategy is to collaborate with what it described as “the best lawyers” throughout Asia, without exclusive tie-ups, to ensure that regional clients are served by the “best suited professionals in their respective fields of expertise”.
While shipping is described as its “bread and butter”, other areas of practice include company law, international trade, banking, trade finance, shareholder disputes, insurance, insolvency and breach of fiduciary duties of agents and directors.
