Clarence’s area of practice covers mergers & acquisitions, private equity and venture capital work. He also acts for corporate and individual clients in commercial disputes, arbitrations, insolvency and bankruptcy matters. Clarence’s clientele ranges from listed companies, SMEs,  start-ups and individuals in a myriad of industries such as energy, technology, manufacturing, hospitality, FinTech and MICE.

Prior to joining the firm, Clarence practised in mergers & acquisitions, funds, tax and private client departments of two of the “Big Four” Singapore law firms. He then worked as an in-house counsel at a Temasek Holdings portfolio company, and a leading property developer listed on the mainboard of the SGX-ST.

Not content to just being a legal practitioner, Clarence has training in accounting and finance, which enables him to add value in various aspects of commercial transactions. His in-house experience also allows him to provide commercially orientated insights from a business owner perspective as opposed to just the black letter law.

Clarence is an advocate for healthy aging and regularly engages in pro bono work to contribute back to the community.

Some of the notable matters that Clarence has been involved in include:

Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity and Venture Capital

• Advised clients and led the negotiations for a pre-seed, seed, series A and series B funding rounds and deal structuring.
• Acted for start-ups in the clean energy industry in pre-seed and seed equity funding rounds.
• Acted for purchaser in its S$5 million acquisition of an MICE company whose operating headquarters was in Singapore.
• Advised the acquisition of the Singapore operations of a media company based in India.
• Involved in the divestment of a major hospitality asset in China by a Singaporean holding company.
• Acted for a client and led in a Singapore-Vietnam joint venture relating to renewable assets, and trading of related environmental attributes.
• Acted for a venture capital fund that invested in solar power assets in the region.
• Advised clients on engineering, procurement & construction contracts for the development of renewable energy assets.
• Involved in the divestment of a stake in a Singapore holding company that had infrastructure and transport operations in Indonesia.
• Involved in a private equity fund’s S$70 million acquisition of a shipping and offshore support company.
• Involved in a property fund’s S$950 million divestment of a major mall and office in Singapore.
• Acted in an insurer’s S$5 million purchase of assets in a competitor via business transfer.
• Assisted a private equity fund’s US$80 million acquisition of an oil exploration company.
• Advised a multinational call centre company in its S$20 million acquisition of competitor headquartered in Singapore with subsidiaries in Malaysia and Indonesia.
• Involved in a private equity fund’s S$10 million Series B equity investment into a chain of pre-school centres.
• Involved in a company’s S$600 million acquisition of a competitor in the oil & gas industry.
• Involved in a Singapore government linked company’s acquisition of an Indonesia media communications company.
• Assisted a private equity fund in its acquisition of multiple residential assets in Sentosa Cove.
• Participated in a real estate developer’s reverse takeover of a company listed on the SGX-ST.
• Advised clients for group restructurings of Singapore-headquartered companies.

Corporate, Commercial Disputes, Arbitration and Insolvency

• Acted for confidential clients in institutional and ad-hoc arbitrations involving disputes pertaining to investment funding obligations, shareholders’ rights, and directors’ duties.
• Acted for various creditors in both contested and uncontested winding-up applications of Singapore incorporated companies.
• Acted for companies in scheme of arrangements applications and related matters.
• Acted for individuals under various regimes relating to personal bankruptcy such as voluntary arrangements.
• Advised clients on business establishment and key operating risk issues such as Directors’ duties in Singapore.
• Assisted clients in structuring, formation, taxation and regulation of investment funds and investment advisory matters.
• Advised on employment law issues for key management personnel in merger & acquisitions, investment transactions.
• Acted for clients in the implementation of management and employee incentive schemes such as ESOPs.
• Assisted a major 5-star hotel operator in multiple hotel management transactions located across the region.
• Advised hotel operator on legal issues arising from its operations, procurement activities and marketing partnerships with banks, travel industry partners and aggregators.
• Acted for clients entering into trade event partnerships opposite industry associations and trade fair organisers such as Deutsch Messe.
• Led in the preparation and documentation to establish top tier industry events such as the FinTech industry.
• Advised Singapore based corporates on Singapore Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) and privacy issues.
• Acted for clients to establish their in-house legal department, preparation of contract management processes and contract templates such as tender documentation, master framework agreements, sales & purchase agreements and employment contracts.
• Acted and conducted training for the implementation of policies & best practices such as a group-wide Code of Business Conduct for listed companies, anti-bribery / anti-corruption policies, and data protection policies pursuant to the Singapore PDPA and EU GDPR.

Tax and Private Client

• Acted for private clients and charities in setting up, family offices, express private trusts and charitable trusts.
• Advised corporates on the tax treatment of employment benefits for Singapore based employees.
• Advised on stamp duty relief for amalgamation of companies and asset transfers for a large corporate client who was restructuring.
• Acted for private clients in setting up Wills and power of attorneys, for their personal affairs and assets many of whom possess asses in multiple jurisdictions.
• Acted for private clients with stamp duty adjudication and advance ruling applications made to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS)

White Collar Crime

• Acted for individuals in various criminal matters involving white collar criminal offences such as corporate fraud, corruption, breach of fiduciary duties and misconduct investigations.

Memberships / University:

• Member – Law Society of Singapore
• Member – Singapore Academy of Law
• Singapore Management University, Yong Pung How School of Law
• London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Diploma in Accounting

Articles Written:

• Singapore Country Guide for Evaluating Country Risk For Global Investments 2022 – First Law International