Professional notice
Singapore
The highly regarded competition team at ALLEN & GLEDHILL is led by partners Daren Shiau and Elsa Chen, who is also the firm’s chief economist. They are assisted by partner Scott Clements and six associates, as well as a team of economists and analysts. A fixture in the elite category, the team says it has been involved in 55 out of the 78 merger filings that have been lodged with the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS), as well as all three of the agency’s global cartel decisions and many other high-profile conduct cases.
The firm advised Temasek on the €6.9 billion sale of its real estate business Ascendas-Singbridge to CapitaLand, which closed in June 2019. Later that year, the team represented Ascott Residence Trust in its combination with Ascendas Hospitality Trust. The team also acts for CapitaLand Mall Trust Management on the proposed merger of CapitaLand Mall Trust and CapitaLand Commercial Trust, which is expected to create the third-biggest real estate investment trust in Asia-Pacific and the largest in Singapore. The deal remained pending at the time of writing. ARA Asset Management tapped the firm to advise on the Singaporean antitrust aspects of its proposed acquisition of shares in LOGOS China Investments, which the CCCS cleared unconditionally in February 2020.
The firm continues to represent Lee Say Group, one of 13 chicken suppliers hit with a €16.9 million total fine in September 2018 for allegedly fixing prices. It is the largest penalty ever imposed by the competition authority in the agricultural sector, while the €7.1 million fine levied on Lee Say was the highest among the distributors. The firm has appealed against the authority’s decision to the Competition Appeal Board.
Overview
With a long history of legal excellence stretching over 110 years, Allen & Gledhill is one of the largest law firms in South-east Asia with more than 600 lawyers practising in offices located in Singapore Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Our Competition & Antitrust Practice is the largest and most experienced dedicated practice in Singapore and South-east Asia. Uniquely, our unparalleled practice is made up of lawyers dedicated to antitrust law full-time, who have the expertise, experience, and bandwidth to handle the most complex of antitrust cases for clients. The in-house competition economics team is also the only one of its scale in region, and amongst the few law firms globally with such capabilities.
We frequently assist clients in cross-border merger assessments, gun-jumping and technical filings, and have unsurpassed experience in complex cartel and monopoly investigations. We are also regularly commissioned by governments to draft competition legislation, codes and policies, including in the aviation, energy, media, postal, telecommunications sectors and are trainers for the ASEAN Experts Group on Competition.
Our Practice is the top Singapore merger control adviser on deal flows from June 2019 to date with total combined values exceeding US$93 billion, including the sale of real estate-related business of Ascendas-Singbridge Pte. to CapitaLand Limited, the merger of CapitaLand Mall Trust and CapitaLand Commercial Trust (expected to be the third largest REIT in Asia Pacific and the largest REIT in Singapore), and the merger of Frasers Logistics & Industrial Trust and Frasers Commercial Trust.
We have advised on more than 70% of the merger control cases filed or reviewed with the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (“CCCS”) to date, and is the first and only firm to have successfully overturned a provisional infringement decision by the CCCS, in both antitrust and merger control. Our team also secured the first merger notification cleared by the CCCS based on the “failing firm defence” as well as secured the first conditional clearance by the CCCS subject to local commitments.
In addition, our Firm defended clients in antitrust investigations on the CCCS’s three global cartel decisions and a record number of dawn raids and investigations within and outside Singapore. We have also been involved in landmark antitrust hearings, including the only CCCS unilateral conduct decision, all three CCCS proposed decision to block a merger, and the first CCCS Phase 2 review.
Contact Partners
| Daren Shiau E: [email protected] | Elsa Chen E: [email protected] |
| Scott Clements E: [email protected] |
Awards and Industry Recognition:
Firm-wide
- Asian Legal Business SE Asia Law Awards 2020: SE Asia Law Firm of the Year
- Asian-mena Counsel 2019:
- Singapore Most Responsive Domestic Firm of the Year consecutively since 2010
- Voted Firm of the Year for Anti-Trust/Competition, Compliance/Regulatory, Corporate and M&A and Employment
- Chambers Asia-Pacific Awards 2020: Singapore Corporate & Finance Domestic Law Advisers
- Chambers Asia-Pacific 2020:
- Highest number of Band 1 rankings (16 practice areas)
- Largest number of Leading Lawyers among Singapore law firms (54 ranked lawyers)
- FinanceAsia Country Awards 2020: Best Law Firm in Singapore
- IFLR Asia-Pacific Awards 2020: Most Innovative National Firm of the Year (Singapore) - won this award 19 times since 2000
- IFLR1000 2021:
- Tier 1 rankings across all Singapore practice areas covered
- Highest number of ranked lawyers among Singapore law firms (22 ranked lawyers)
- The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2020:
- Highest number of Tier 1 rankings (17 practices areas)
- Largest number of leading individuals among Singapore law firms (24 leading individuals)
Competition & Antitrust
- Chambers Asia-Pacific 2020:
- Band 1 for Competition/Antitrust
- The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2020:
- Tier 1 for Antitrust and Competition