Ng Yi Wayn

Biography

Yi Wayn is Head of the firm’s M&A Practice.

Yi Wayn is Head of the firm’s M&A Practice and specialises in Mergers, Acquisitions and Divestments (M&A) as well as Venture Capital (VC) financing transactions. She has represented global and regional clients in various industries, including the TMC (Technology, Media and Communication), Education and Healthcare sectors. She spent three years in the United Kingdom where she obtained her LLB Law Honours degree from the University of Manchester, before she was admitted and qualified as an advocate and solicitor of the Singapore Bar.

Yi Wayn regularly advises clients on cross-border acquisitions and disposals, investments, restructurings and equity capital market transactions in Asia, Europe and the United States. She advises on transactions of various sizes, from seed investments up to deals with transactional value of approximately US$300 million.

Yi Wayn is also a contributing author for the Lexis®Library’s International Corporate Procedures for Singapore (2017 to 2020) and has assisted in the National University of Singapore, Faculty of Law’s Corporate Deals programme (2018 to 2020). She has also spoken at accredited CPD workshops on “Advance Contract Law” and “Risk Mitigation and Allocation” that were attended by legal practitioners, business owners, as well as regulators.

Singapore Business Review has recognised Yi Wayn as one of Singapore’s 20 most promising legal luminaries aged 40-and-under. Clients have praised her for her “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

Acted for an award-winning sustainability solutions provider providing modular, customisable ESG risk management solutions for the financial sector, supply chains, corporate sustainability and investment communities, to secure a £2.5 million boost in funds from one of UK’s leading private equity and property manager.

Advised a business solutions provider listed on Thailand’s stock exchange in acquiring an Indonesia-based leading human resources technology provider for approximately US$60 million to become ASEAN’s biggest HR, ERP service provider.

Acted for a leading provider of high-tech manufacturing solutions for the semiconductor and electronics industry from Singapore, in its sale to a leading Marketing Expansion Service provider listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.

Acted for Indonesia’s fastest growing New Retail F&B chain, in its US$96 million Series C round, giving the company a valuation of more than US$1 billion and placing it as the first New Retail F&B unicorn from Southeast Asia.

Acted for a leading global mobile payment and mobile identity company listed on the London Stock Exchange, in its acquisition of a Estonian direct carrier billing company and its subsidiaries in a transaction valued at a maximum enterprise value of US$41 million, bringing two major platforms in the direct carrier billing market with complementary capabilities and customer bases together.

Acted for a leader in digital trust & safety products from the United States, empowering digital disruptors to Fortune 500 companies to unlock new revenue without risks, in its acquisition of a pioneer in passwordless and multi-factor authentication from the United Kingdom, for an undisclosed amount.

Acted for a New York-based venture capital firm, as the lead investor in the US$2.2 million funding round for a Philippines-based Buy Now Pay Later startup for emerging markets, and their investment as lead investor in the US$2.7 million Series A funding round for a Singapore-based supply chain e-commerce solution for maritime and offshore.

Advised a leading global childcare provider in the United Kingdom on its expansion plans and several mergers and acquisitions in the Southeast Asian region, including the auction for another global childcare provider for approximately S$35 million.

Acted for an Indonesian investor who led the funding round of approximately US$11 million for a digital talent agency group based in Singapore.

Acted for an Indonesian based boutique fitness brand known for its indoor cycling programme, in the establishment of its presence in Singapore and subsequent Pre-Series A funding of approximately US$2 million.

Advised a Japanese-based company, on a partial offer made by its controlling shareholder in Japan, under Rule 16 of the Singapore Code on Takeovers and Mergers.

Advised the largest international parcel delivery network in Europe based in France, who, together with two sovereign wealth funds, led the Series D funding round of over US$279 million for a Singapore logistics provider with presence in the Southeast Asian region and prior to that, in its strategic investment of US$75 million in the same Singapore logistics provider’s Series C funding round.

Acted for a leading provider of location-based platform services listed on the NASDAQ, on the acquisition by a Singapore-based technology company offering ride-hailing transport services, food delivery and payment solutions, of the technology underlying its platform with a license back of the platform for the continued development of the platform.

Acted for a leading life science commercialization 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.

Acted for an Indonesian entity involved in real estate development in its acquisition of 51% of an entity owning a 5-star resort in Indonesia for approximately S$25 million.