Arfat Selvam is managing partner of Duane Morris' Singapore office. Ms. Selvam practices in the area of corporate law. She was admitted as an Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore in 1969.
Ms. Selvam has over forty years' experience in corporate finance having been at the forefront of the development of the financial services market in Singapore. Her wide array of experience includes mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructures, takeovers, funds raising in the capital markets, privatisations, financial services, cross border investments, financial services and international joint ventures.
Ms. Selvam handled the acquisition of POSB by DBS as well as the merger of Keppel Bank with OCBC. She also handled the initial public offerings of SIA, NOL and Creative Technology.
Ms. Selvam has been closely involved in the legal changes driving the legal financial services sectors in Singapore. She was a member of the Company Law Reform Committee, which made major recommendations affecting the companies and securities laws in Singapore. Ms. Selvam is regularly cited in various legal publications as one of Singapore's top corporate finance lawyers.
Ms. Selvam is also involved in the legal services for Islamic banking and finance in Singapore. In 2005, she launched a regional grouping for Islamic financing, called the Asian Islamic Finance Alliance (AIFA), a strategic alliance with tie-ups with other law firms in Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, providing advice and support for the structuring of syariah-compliant financial products and in the funding of mergers, acquisitions and infrastructure transactions.
Ms. Selvam was president of The Law Society of Singapore in 2003 and a former Director of the Stock Exchange of Singapore Limited. She was also a member of the Senate of the Academy of Law, the Board of Legal Education, and was formerly on the Board of the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA).
Ms. Selvam is a Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Directors. She is also a Director of CapitaLand Limited (www.capitaland.com.sg) and Singapore Health Services Pte Ltd (www.singhealth.com.sg).
Representative Matters
ˇ Advising Keppel Tatlee Bank Ltd on the acquisition of Allied Irish Bank plc's private banking and treasury business.
ˇ Advising the minority shareholders of SNP Corporation Ltd in connection with the unconditional cash offers by Singapore Technologies Group to acquire all the issued ordinary shares of S$0.50 each.
ˇ Advising Keppel FELS Energy and Infrastructure Ltd on the takeover offer to acquire all the issued ordinary shares of $0.50 each in the capital of Singapore Petroleum Company Ltd.
ˇ Acting as seller's counsel in multijurisdictional acquisition of Business Trends group of companies by U.S.-listed Kelly Services, Inc., through a combination of shares and assets valued at US$17 million.
ˇ Advising South East Asia Venture Investment NV on leveraged buyout, valued at S$112 million, of a multijurisdictional group with its head office in Singapore, including security arrangements for the financing of the acquisition.
ˇ Advising Development Bank of Singapore Ltd on the proposed reorganization of the share capital of the Insurance Corporation of Singapore Ltd for the purpose of restructuring ICS as a wholly owned subsidiary of DBS Group Holdings Ltd.
ˇ Advising in the S$15.9-million acquisition of 60-million shares in listed company, IMM Multi-Enterprise Ltd, representing 75 percent of the issued share capital of IME by Greenall Investments Pte Ltd. Resulted in a takeover offer for all the shares in IME by Greenall and the acquisition of the Cathay group of companies by IME for cash consideration of approximately S$13.1 million.
ˇ S$54.3-million transaction involving the acquisition by SNP Corporation Ltd of a listed company, Pan Pacific Public Company, Ltd, by way of a share-exchange arrangement, resulting in PPP becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of SNP.
ˇ US$80-million acquisition by Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation Ltd of 20 percent of the issued share capital of Computer Generated Solutions Inc., a Delaware corporation, satisfied by the issue of 75-million new shares of S$0.20 each in Keppel T&T.
ˇ S$265-million transaction involving the sale by Keppel Corporation Ltd of wholly owned subsidiary engaged in ship-repair and ship-building businesses to Hitachi Zosen Singapore Ltd, satisfied by issue of new shares in Hitachi Zosen to Keppel Corporation. Resulted in takeover of Hitachi Zosen by Keppel Corporation.
ˇ S$409.9-million transaction involving the acquisition of listed company, Keppel FELS Energy & Infrastructure Ltd, by Keppel Corporation Ltd by way of a scheme of arrangement.
ˇ Advising Keppel TatLee Bank in the restructure of Keppel TatLee Bank Ltd through the creation of a financial holding company, Keppel Capital Holdings Ltd, pursuant to a scheme of arrangement, and the transfer of nonbanking financial institutions to Keppel Capital Holdings Ltd.
ˇ Advising DBS Bank in its S$1.6-billion acquisition of POSBank from the Ministry of Finance.
ˇ Advising Keppel Capital Holdings Ltd in the S$1.85-billion takeover offer by Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Ltd for all its issued shares and outstanding listed warrants.
Honors and Awards
ˇ Shortlisted for "Managing Partner of the Year" award in the ALB Southeast Asia Law Awards 2012
ˇ Named to Asian Legal Business Hot 100, 2011