Singaporean firm TSMP Law Corp. has hired a director from Ince & Co's Singaporean formal law alliance partner firm to help launch a China desk.
Felicia Tan will join TSMP on Feb. 1 from Incisive Law, where she is a director and leads the firm's China group. Tan is a disputes lawyer and specializes in local and cross-border litigation and arbitration, particularly commercial, employment and insolvency disputes.
Tan joined Incisive Law in 2016 after six-and-a-half years at leading Singaporean firm Allen & Gledhill, where she was most recently a senior associate. She was also in-house at state-owned Singaporean industrial landlord JTC Corp. as senior legal counsel, advising on government projects, policies and contentious matters involving contract law and divestment.
Tan will co-lead the firm's China desk with three partners: joint managing partner Stefanie Yuen Thio and partner Chee Chin Wi, both on the corporate practice side, and partner Kelvin Koh on disputes. Four additional lawyers will also be part of the China desk.
"With the adoption of the Belt and Road Initiative by the Chinese government and the internationalization of Chinese companies, TSMP is well-positioned to share its Singapore onshore legal expertise in complex transactions and disputes with Chinese clients seeking to expand their businesses beyond the domestic market," Koh said.
In 2017, TSMP advised HNA Holding Group Co. Ltd., the Hong Kong-listed unit of Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co. Ltd., on a $1 billion takeover of Singapore-listed logistics and warehousing company CWT Ltd. In 2016, the firm advised Singapore-listed global rubber trader Halcyon Agri Corp. Ltd. on its $328 million sale to Chinese state-owned chemical and rubber manufacturer Sinochem International (Overseas) Pte. Ltd.
TSMP also hired June Ho earlier this month as a partner focusing on banking and finance, corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions. Ho was until 2017 a director at Norwegian firm Wikborg Rein's Singapore office, where she made partner in 2009. Previously, Ho practiced at Allen & Overy, Linklaters and top Singaporean firm Drew & Napier.
Tan's impending departure from Incisive Law comes as Ince & Co's international offices, including Singapore, were excluded from Gordon Dadds' acquisition of the U.K. firm earlier this month. Gordon Dadds, now called Ince Gordon Dadds, explained the firm was not able to reach agreements with the international offices and obtain local regulatory approvals ahead of the Dec. 31 target date for the merger. Instead, the firm will enter into new network arrangements with the international offices, which will continue to trade as Ince & Co.
Ince & Co's Singapore office managing partner John Simpson is leaving the firm for Stephenson Harwood in May of this year, following former finance head Martin Brown, who made the same move in November.