Valerie Ong

Valerie Ong is Dentons’ Global Capital Industry Leader. A senior partner in the Singapore corporate practice group, her portfolio covers M&A and Capital Markets. Valerie co-heads the Singapore Capital Markets practice and is the Singapore-Vietnam and Singapore-Australia relationship partner. With decades of M&A cross-border experience, she has represented clients in significant deals in Asia. Her corporate real estate experience includes representing funds, private equity firms and property developers in some of the city’s largest transactions. Chambers ranked, she serves SGX-listed companies, investment banks, Fortune 500 and government-linked firms and institutions in diverse matters, including takeovers, acquisitions and divestitures (regional and global). She has acted in over 20 Singapore Exchange listings. She advised CapitaLand Limited on its investment in the consortium in a landmark mixed development in Chongqing, China. The RMB 21.1 billion (S$4.1 billion) project at the prime 987,943 square foot site in Chao Tian Men, reported to be CapitaLand's largest development in China.

• Acting for Thomson Medical Group Limited (TMG) in the largest healthcare acquisition in South-east Asia, with the purchase of Vietnam’s biggest healthcare group, FV Hospital (which includes primary and specialist clinics), for S$517.1 million (about US$381.4 million). TMG won the bid to purchase FV Hospital from its founders, a group of French physicians led Dr Jean-Marcel Guillon, and Quadria Capital Investment (an Asia healthcare-focused private equity firm) after a competitive bidding process which started with 20 other global suitors. Dubbed the “Gleneagles Hospital of Vietnam”, FV Hospital provides full-service quality healthcare for patients in Vietnam, as well as from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.
• Acted for SGX-listed Pacific Radiance Ltd in its consensual debt restructuring with ENAV Offshore Mexico S de RL de CV (ENAV) (a Mexican offshore support vessel owner and operator) which involved inter alia the disposal of 33 vessels to ENAV in exchange for discharge of US$200 million secured indebtedness; collaboration by key management with ENAV through minority share participation; securing ship management agreements with ENAV to manage the majority of its vessels; restructuring of remaining debt obligations of about US$229 million via schemes of arrangement; consensual restructuring of the office/shipyard complex loan of about US$52 million with secured lenders; consensual restructuring of S$100 million 4.30% Notes due 2020 comprised in Series 001 (issued under the S$1 billion multicurrency debt issuance programme) via a consent solicitation exercise; issue of perpetual securities; consensual restructuring of various cross-currency swap facilities with secured lenders; and issue of warrants to shareholders and key management.
• Acted for The Ascott Limited (TAL) in the sale of shareholding and direct interest in nine properties to Ascott Residence Trust (ART) for an aggregate consideration of S$215.2 million. The properties in France, Japan, Vietnam, the US and Australia comprise (i) La Clef Tour Eiffel, a serviced residence located in France; (ii) a rental housing portfolio in Japan (located in Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo and Nagoya) comprising Marunouchi Central Heights, House Saison Shijo-Dori, S-Residence Shukugawa, SResidence Namba Viale and SResidence Gakuenzaka; (iii) Somerset Central TD Hai Phong City, a serviced residence located in Vietnam; (iii) Standard at Columbia, a student accommodation property under development located in United States of America; and (iv) Quest Cannon Hill, a serviced residence located in Australia.
• Acted for Boustead Industrial Fund in the establishment of its S$1 billion notes programme which was jointly arranged by DBS Bank and United Overseas Bank, as well as the issue of S$55 million 7% Series 001 Notes due 2031 as qualifying debt securities to investors (including an institutional real estate special purpose vehicle and subsidiaries of Metro Holdings Ltd). The Series 001 Notes were issued together with the subscription by investors for S$12.6 million of units in the Fund. The proceeds were utilized to finance the fund’s S$121 million acquisition 351 Braddell Road, a high-spec industrial building with a net lettable area of 236,864 sq ft and an existing WALE of 4.1 years.
• Acted for Malaysian state-owned oil and gas firm Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s (PETRONAS) acquisition of 100% interest in Amplus Energy Solutions Pte Ltd (known as M+) for a confidential sum. M+, with a portfolio of distributed, renewable energy assets in Asia, is one of India’s largest rooftop solar power producers. The acquisition from I Squared Capital, an independent global infrastructure investment manager, marked the oil major’s international foray into renewable energy. M+ caters to commercial and industrial customers, specialising in end-to-end solutions for rooftop and ground-mounted solar power projects. With a cumulative capacity of over 500 megawatt (MW) under operation and development, M+ serves more than 150 commercial and industrial customers at over 200 locations across India, the Middle East and South East Asia.
• Acted for joint venture, ARA Asset Management and Chelsfield, in their purchase of Manulife Centre in Bras Basah Road, a city fringe location near the Orchard corridor in Singapore. The acquisition price for the 11-storey commercial building was S$555.5 million or around S$2,305 per sq. ft. on a net lettable area of over 241,000 sq. ft.. Manulife Centre was owned by a partnership of Alpha Asia Macro Trends (AAMTF) Fund II and City Developments Ltd (CDL). AAMTF II is managed by Alpha Investment Partners, the private fund management arm of Keppel Capital Holdings, a unit of Keppel Corporation.

• Capital markets: Debt
• Capital markets: Equity
• M&A
• Financial restructuring
• Private equity

• Healthcare
• Real estate
• Investment management
• Financial services
• Industrials

• Singapore
• England & Wales

• Member, ASEAN Committee of the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce
• Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Finance, Trade and Industry Resource Panel
• Independent Director, Sarine Technologies Ltd, the first Israeli company to list on the Singapore
• Exchange Securities Trading Limited (Main Board)
• Past independent director of Chemical Industries (Far East) Limited and Sarine Technologies Ltd
• Member, Income Tax Board of Review, 2004-2013
• Past officer (membership and website) of the Closely Held and Growing Business Enterprises
• Committee of the International Bar Association

• LLM (Distinction) London School of Economics, 1991
• LLB (Hons) National University of Singapore, 1987