The Singapore office of Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy has advised on the financing for the largest leveraged buyout in Singapore to date.

Partner David Zemans led the US firm's team advising lender DBS Bank as mandated lead arranger of a US$130m loan to JP Morgan Partners Asia. The loan enabled the private equity arm of JP Morgan Chase to provide acquisition financing for its purchase of a 51% stake in Singapore-based hard disk drive parts maker Metalform.

Metalform and company founders Anthony and George Ser were advised by Macquarie Securities Asia and assisted by KPMG Transaction Services.

Zemans advised DBS in negotiating and structuring the loan, which was governed by English law. He said: "The speed and expertise involved in executing the loan were critical to the success of the deal. A niche company in the hard disk drive sector, Metalform has longstanding client relationships. Going forward we expect LBO activity to increase in Singapore and throughout Asia."

Precision engineering firm Metalform was established more than 25 years ago and manufactures hard disk drive parts. The company operates out of three facilities in Singapore with more than 1,300 employees.

JP Morgan Partners Asia formed a joint venture with the company's founders Anthony and George Ser. Under the terms of the transaction, they will retain a 49% stake in the company.