Oon & Bazul (Oon & Bazul), one of Singapore’s largest conflict-free law firms and a leading commercial legal practice, has promoted Ng Yi Wayn to Head of the firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Practice with immediate effect.
Ng joined the firm on 15 September 2020 as a Partner of the firm’s Corporate Practice (specialising in Mergers, Acquisitions and Divestments, and Venture Capital). Her new appointment as Head of M&A will see Ng manage and lead a team of lawyers in providing comprehensive legal expertise on the full spectrum of corporate and M&A transactions, from the initial structuring and strategising stages to due diligence, documentation and negotiations, and attending to completion as well as post-completion matters.
“Yi Wayn has been with the firm for a year and has done exceedingly well in executing her duties as Corporate Partner,” states Bazul Ashhab, Managing Partner and Head of Dispute Resolution, Oon & Bazul. “The consensus between my Partners and I is that her elevation to Head of M&A is well suited and timed to drive the firm’s standing in covering both domestic and cross-border transactions across a broad range of industries, in particular, given the pent-up M&A demand stemming from last year’s Covid-19 lockdown.”
With Ng’s new appointment as Head of M&A, she anticipates building up the team’s strengths in handling complex and significant transactions for clients locally and internationally. “I thank the firm for the confidence it has placed in me with my appointment as Head of the M&A Practice,” she says. “I look forward to leading the Practice in ensuring that our clients receive the best possible advice and outcomes on their transactions.”
Ng has represented global and regional clients in various industries, including the TMC (technology, media and communications), education and healthcare sectors. She regularly advises clients on cross-border acquisitions and disposals, investments, restructurings and equity capital market transactions in Asia, Europe and the United States, and has advised on transactions of various sizes, from seed investments up to challenging and complex cross-border transactions.
In 2018, Ng was named Singapore Business Review’s ‘Singapore’s 20 Most Promising Legal Luminaries Aged 40 And Under’. The accolade was conferred based on Yi Wayn being an influential lawyer aged 40 and under. The 20 lawyers, considered luminaries at the top of their fields, were selected from hundreds of nominees specialising in a gamut of practices. Clients have praised her for her “outstanding representation”, “highly efficient support”, “outstanding communication skills” and responsiveness that were “beyond expectation”. She is also described as one who is “reliable, trustworthy and straight forward”, “honourable and knowledgeable” and “always on top of the game”.
Notable cases undertaken by Ng since joining the firm include having advised a digital-native technology service provider that accelerates growth and bolsters competitive advantage for Fortune 1000 companies in its acquisition of a global consultancy firm focused on digital commerce, and where the target’s team of more than 180 employees across the world joined the purchaser. She also advised a United Kingdom leading life science commercialisation partner in its acquisition of a premier global market access and health economics outcomes research consultancy with offices across Europe, Asia and the US, by way of a statutory merger for an undisclosed amount, to name a few.