Favian Tan has more than a decade of experience working on significant M&A transactions involving private and public listed companies, REITs and Business Trusts. His main practice areas encompass share and asset acquisitions and disposals, public take-overs and privatisations, REIT mergers, joint ventures and private equity & venture capital investments, as well as advising on general corporate and commercial matters.
He actively advises on cross-border deals across the Southeast Asian region and beyond and works closely with our regional offices, including in Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines. Noteworthy public take-over transactions which he has advised on include the first competing takeover by way of a competing scheme of arrangement in Singapore and the first REIT/Trust merger in Singapore. He also routinely advises clients on joint ventures, with a recent focus on Sustainability & Technology related joint ventures.
Favian has been recognised as a Notable Practitioner in M&A by IFLR1000 2024, and a Rising Star in Corporate and M&A by asialaw 2024. He has also been highlighted as one of Asia’s 40 Under 40 Lawyers by Asian Legal Business 2022, a curated list of lawyers from varied jurisdictions based on their quality of work, recommendations from their clients and colleagues and potential for future growth. Favian was also featured in Singapore Business Review’s 2017 list of most influential lawyers aged 40 and under. Client reviews on IFLR1000 describe him as “an excellent listener and is very sharp“, and someone who “has patience and strong conflict-resolving skills” and “is able to grasp the issues very quickly and advise on what the next steps should be.”
EXPERIENCE
Mergers & Acquisitions
- Acted for PSA Marine (Pte) Ltd and its wholly-owned subsidiary, PSAM Americas Pte Ltd, in relation to the acquisition by PSAM Americas of a 45% stake in Meyer’s Tugs S.A., an entity headquartered in Panama offering towage services between the Pacific and Atlantic coast.
- Acted for Baluran Limited, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of ASM Connaught House Fund V, in its S$4.05 billion joint venture with Temasek and Keppel Corporation to acquire legacy rigs and associated receivables from Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. The asset acquisition was a key transaction connected with the landmark merger of Sembcorp Marine Ltd and Keppel O&M.
- Acted for the vendor in the sale of 100% shares of Universal Storage Pte. Ltd., the holding company of the region’s largest self-storage operator, Extra Space Asia, to a consortium comprising APG Asset Management N.V. and CapitaLand Investment Limited.
- Acted for Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd in its sale of Oakwood Worldwide, a premier global serviced apartment provider, to The Ascott Limited, a wholly-owned lodging business unit of CapitaLand Investment Limited.
- Acted for M1 Limited in relation to the S$580 million transfer of network assets from M1 Limited to M1 Network Private Limited (M1NPL) and the joint venture with Keppel DC REIT through the investment by Keppel DC REIT into M1NPL via the subscription of bonds and preference shares.
- Acted for Japfa Ltd in its disposal of 80% of its “Greenfields” dairy business, to Freshness Ltd, which is owed by affiliates of TPG and Northstar Group for an aggregate consideration of US$295 million, comprising a cash component of US$236 million and a share component comprising shares amounting to 20% of the share capital of Freshness Ltd.
- Acted as lead transaction counsel to PSA Marine in its acquisition of 100% of the stake in Tramarsa Flota S.A. and its subsidiaries from the sellers, Inversiones Piuranas S.A. and Grupo Piurano de Inversiones S.A. This deal marked PSA’s first overseas investment in Peru.
- Acted for Gaw Capital Partners on the approximately S$1.6 billion (US$1.16b) acquisition by a consortium, comprising of Gaw Capital Partners and Allianz Real Estate, of DUO Tower and DUO Galleria, a mixed-use development in Singapore, via the purchase of all the shares in Ophir-Rochor Commercial, the owner of DUO Tower and DUO Galleria.
- Acted for Gaw Capital Partners on the approximately S$1.6 billion (US$1.16b) acquisition by a consortium, comprising of Gaw Capital Partners and Allianz Real Estate, of DUO Tower and DUO Galleria, a mixed-use development in Singapore, via the purchase of all the shares in Ophir-Rochor Commercial, the owner of DUO Tower and DUO Galleria.
Public Take-overs
- Acted for Cuscaden Peak, a company formed by a consortium comprising Hotel Properties Limited, CLA Real Estate Holdings Pte Ltd and Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd, in its acquisition of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) by way of a scheme of arrangement, that valued SPH at up to approximately S$3.9 billion and the follow on chain offer for SPH-REIT. The transaction marks the first competing takeover by way of competing schemes of arrangement for a company listed on the SGX-ST.
- Acted for DBS Trustee Limited (in its capacity as trustee of Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust (MNACT)) in the S$4.2 billion merger of Mapletree Commercial Trust (MCT) and MNACT by way a trust scheme of arrangement. The acquisition marks the first REIT Merger whereby the transaction is structured with multiple scheme consideration options.
- Acted for SB REIT Management Pte. Ltd. (as manager of Soilbuild Business Space REIT) in the S$700 million acquisition of all the issued units in Soilbuild Business Space REIT by way of a trust scheme of arrangement by Clay Holdings III Limited, an entity which is indirectly owned by the Chairman of the Soilbuild Group, and Blackstone Real Estate.
- Acted for the managers of OUE Hospitality Trust on the merger of OUE Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust and OUE Hospitality Trust by way of a trust scheme of arrangement. The merger was at that time the largest merger between two real estate investment trusts/stapled trusts in Singapore. Following the completion of the merger, the S$6.8 billion enlarged REIT had become one of the largest diversified Singapore-listed REITs.
- Acted for Singapore Press Holdings Limited in its collaboration with Keppel Corporation Limited in the S$1.9 billion pre-conditional voluntary general offer by Konnectivity Pte. Ltd., a special purpose vehicle which is jointly held by Keppel and SPH, for M1 Limited.
- Acted for Viva Industrial Trust Management Pte. Ltd. (Manager of Viva Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust) and Viva Industrial Business Trust (Trustee Manager of Viva Industrial Business Trust) on the S$936.7 million merger of ESR-REIT and Viva Industrial Trust (a stapled trust comprising Viva Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust and Viva Industrial Business Trust) by way of a trust scheme of arrangement. The merger, a first in Singapore between two REITs, created Singapore’s fourth largest industrial REIT, with approximately S$3 billion in combined assets. This landmark deal won M&A Deal of the Year at the Asian Legal Business SE Asia Law Awards 2019.
Joint Ventures
Sustainability
- Acted for Singapore Exchange Limited, in its joint venture with DBS Bank Ltd, Standard Chartered PLC and Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited to establish Climate Impact X, a carbon exchange and marketplace to provide organisations with high-quality carbon credits to address hard-to-abate emissions. Climate Impact X is an initiative from Singapore’s Emerging Stronger Taskforce’s Alliance for Action on Sustainability.
- Acted for HSBC Singapore in relation to the joint venture between HSBC Singapore and Temasek Holdings, in a partnership to establish a debt financing platform dedicated to sustainable infrastructure projects with an initial focus on Southeast Asia, with an initial combined capital commitment of approximately US$150 million.
- Acted for NanoFilm Technologies International Limited in relation to its S$140 million joint venture between NanoFilm and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited to undertake the hydrogen energy and hydrogen fuel cell business.
Technology, Media & Telecommunications
- Acted for Singapore Trade Data Exchange Services (SGTraDex) in connection with the joint venture involving IMDA, PSA, Trafigura, financial institutions and other asset and carrier operators to develop a supply chain common data infrastructure platform to streamline the sharing of information and data across global supply chain ecosystem partners.
- Acted for M1 Limited in its joint venture with StarHub Mobile Pte Ltd to develop and operate the 5G network in Singapore.
- Acted for Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited in its information technology and cloud joint venture with Infosys Limited, a company listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and headquartered in India
MEMBERSHIPS / DIRECTORSHIPS
- Member, Singapore Academy of Law
- Member, Law Society of Singapore
PUBLICATIONS
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Co-Author, Singapore Chapter: Law & Practice; Trends & Developments, Technology M&A Global Practice Guide, Chambers and Partners (2022 – 2024)
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Co-Author, Singapore Chapter: Law & Practice, Corporate M&A Global Practice Guide, Chambers and Partners (2020 – 2024)
