WongPartnership LLP, one of the law firms in Singapore, has opened a new overseas office in Abu Dhabi making it its second Middle East branch in the flourishing Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. As one of the most prominent Asian law firms, WongPartnership has continually pursued global opportunities, firmly establishing its footprint overseas. The Abu Dhabi office is the firm’s third overseas office after its Qatar office which opened in May 2007, and shanghai office, established in 2004.

 

With over US$2 trillion worth of projects in the pipeline, the oil-rich GCC consists of some of the world’s fastest-growing economies. recognising the tremendous growth potential in this region and the affluence of Abu Dhabi, the richest city in the world, WongPartnership has established the Abu Dhabi office as the centre of its Middle East operations.

 

WongPartnership, first established in 1992, has rapidly expanded to become one of the largest law firms in Singapore, seeing a several-fold increase from 11 lawyers to over 230 lawyers within a short span of 16 years. WongPartnership has been consistently recommended by esteemed research publications and journals such as the International Financial Law Review 1000 – The Guide to the World’s Leading Financial Law Firms, Chambers Global – The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business and The Asia Pacific Legal 500 as a top Singapore law firm across all practice areas. WongPartnership has also won several awards for having been involved in the top deals in Singapore and the region, in the areas of capital markets, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), structured financing and securitisation and REITs, amongst others. In 2007, WongPartnership swept three Asian legal Business south East Asia Deals of the Year Awards, including winning the award for its involvement in the Singapore Deal of the Year.

 

WongPartnership’s establishing of multi-jurisdictional operations is a natural step given that much of its work involves a cross-border element and close to 30% of its lawyers are non-Singaporeans, including lawyers from the People’s republic of China, Malaysia, India, Brunei, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia and Lebanon.

 

Explaining WongPartnership’s strategy for its Middle East Practice, Managing Partner Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara said, “while the Singapore market is undoubtedly still a very important one for us, the legal landscape has changed significantly and we are no longer confined by national boundaries and must expand overseas to serve our clients’ needs even better and also to tap into a pool of potential clients in the Middle East for their outbound business objectives in the key markets in which we operate. whether in the Middle East or from our Singapore and China offices, we are ably positioned to assist our clients worldwide across the fields of capital markets, funds formation, M&A, real estate financing transactions and infrastructure, projects & construction work.” With its Middle East offices, WongPartnership offers legal services to both the Middle Eastern companies looking to make investments in south East Asia, China and India, and to global and regional corporations in their investments in the Middle East. Ng Eng Leng, a key senior M&A Partner, has relocated to the Abu Dhabi office to spearhead the development of the firm’s M&A and transactional platform in the Middle East, highlighting the firm’s commitment to establishing itself in the thriving Gulf states. Ziad Touma, who most recently worked at the leading UAE firm of Habib Al Mulla and is an experienced commercial and real estate lawyer has also been brought into the firm’s Middle East team, bringing on board his fluency in the Arabic, French and English languages and years of working experience in the Middle East.

 

Pooling together their experience and breadth of legal skills, the core team of Partners involved in the Middle East Practice comprises Ng Eng Leng, Ziad Touma and Carol Anne Tan in the areas of corporate and commercial transactions, M&A and real estate, and Tan Chee Meng, senior Counsel and Paul Sandosham in the area of infrastructure, projects and construction. The team is further augmented by the involvement of the firm’s founder, Wong Meng Meng, senior Counsel who has over 35 years of experience and whose principal focus is the development of the firm’s Middle East platform with the core team. Drawing from the expertise of over 230 lawyers experienced in local and cross-border work spanning Singapore, south East Asia, China, India and the Middle East, WongPartnership’s Middle East Practice is well placed to serve clients with global and regional interests, in all fields of law and across a broad range of industries.

 

Paul Sandosham, Head of WongPartnership’s Middle East Practice says, “with the opening of offices in the Middle East, WongPartnership will be on the ground in the Middle East which further strengthens our ability to assist clients from Singapore, Malaysia, China, India and the region, as they grow their business in the bustling Middle East.”