Krishna Ramachandra is head of Duane Morris & Selvam's Corporate Finance and Investment and Private Client Practice Groups. His practice expertise includes M&A and capital markets, investments funds/private equity and Islamic finance law.

Mr. Ramachandra has many years of experience in advising issuers, funds, investment banks, listed and private companies and high net worth individuals in Asia, Europe and the U.S. on a wide range of equity and debt securities issuances, compliance and regulatory matters. His extensive experience in mergers, acquisitions and take-overs, private equity participation and exit strategies has led to his being regularly cited by various publications as a leading lawyer.

He is regarded as one of the most highly recommended lawyers in the practice areas of Capital Markets and Corporate Finance by Asialaw Leading Lawyers. Chambers Asia Pacific and the Asia Pacific Legal 500 regularly refer to his creative yet practical and client-focused approach and the IFLR1000 recognises him as an expert in the area of Islamic Finance in Singapore.

Mr. Ramachandra graduated from Christ's College, Cambridge with an LL.M. in Corporate Finance on a Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer ("Freshfields") scholarship. He articled and qualified with Freshfields in London prior to relocating to Singapore with Clifford Chance. He subsequently joined Selvam LLC and is now Managing Director of Duane Morris & Selvam LLP.

Mr. Ramachandra is an Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore and a Solicitor of England and Wales. He previously sat on The Singapore Law Society's Corporate Practice Committee for Mergers & Acquisitions and Insolvency, Corporate Commercial Matters, and Listing Matters. He speaks regularly on a wide range of topics relating to M&A, corporate governance, listings, fund raising and establishment of an Asian presence at venues around the world.

Honors / Awards

• Leading lawyer (Capital Markets, Corporate Finance and Corporate Governance) - Asialaw
• Leading Individual (Corporate) - Legal 500
• Global Law Expert (Corporate Finance)
• Leading Lawyer (Corporate Finance) - IFLR

Areas of Practice

• Capital Markets
• M&A and Commercial
• Investment Funds & Private Client
• Private Equity & Venture Capital
• Islamic Finance
• Private Client

Admissions

• Singapore
• England and Wales

Education

• College of Law, London, Postgraduate Diploma
• University of Cambridge, LL.M.
• University of Leeds, LL.B. (Hons)

Other Experience

• Selvam LLC/Duane Morris & Selvam LLP
• Clifford Chance LLP
• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP

Professional Activities

• Past Member, Singapore Law Society Committee for Mergers & Acquisitions and Insolvency, Corporate Commercial Matters and Listing Matters
• Member, Singapore Institute of Directors

Representative Matters

Capital Markets (Equity and Debt)

• Advising Jefferies & Co, global coordinator, on the first dual listing of a foreign entity (Omega Navigation) on the Nasdaq and Singapore Stock Exchange valued at over US$240 million.
• Advising British and Malayan Trustees Ltd, as the trustee for Allco REIT, in relation to the initial public offering on the SGX of 321,255,000 units in Allco REIT, sponsored by the Allco Finance Group Limited of Australia
• Advising on the S$440 million listing of K-REIT Asia on the Singapore Stock Exchange by way of an introduction
• Advising DBS Bank Limited as manager, underwriter and placement agent in relation to the listing and quotation of Singapore Depository Shares, which represented equity shares in the capital of Varun Shipping Company Ltd. (India)
• Advising on the US$1.6 billion international offering of subordinate notes issued by United Overseas Bank Limited under Rule 144A/Regulation S
• Advising Yellow Pages (Singapore) Limited on their S$213 million flotation on the Singapore Stock Exchange under Rule 144A/Regulation S
• Advising the underwriters on the Macquarie International Infrastructure Fund's $460 million IPO under Rule 144A/Regulation S
• Advising Otto Marine Ltd. on their successful IPO on the Singapore Stock Exchange in November 2008
• Advising on the US$-800 million IPO of ASTRO with international offering under Rule 144A / Regulation S (Malaysia).
• Advising Kenetics Innovations Ltd. on its admission onto the Alternative Investment Market (AIM)
• Advising Creative Technology on the voluntary delisting of its shares from the NASDAQ Global Market (NASDAQ)
• Advising on the US$300 million convertible bond issued by Prime Venture (Labuan)/Genting Berhad (Malaysia)

Investment Funds / Private Equity and Islamic Finance Advisory

• Advising a global real estate company and the fund manager on the establishment of a US$200-million private equity fund in India.
• Advising Ascott Group Limited and the fund manager on the establishment of a US$500 million private equity fund (China)
• Advising a U.S. investment bank on regulatory and licensing issues in Singapore
• Advising various hedge funds on establishment and compliance issues in Singapore.
• Advising a private equity fund focused on real estate investments in Asean
• Advising a Middle Eastern fund on the setup of a sharia-compliant real estate fund.
• Advising UOB Asset Management Limited on various funds related regulatory issues involving the Monetary Authority of Singapore
• Advising on the regulatory issues and the setting up of a trading exchange dealing in sharia-compliant royalty entitlement contracts (involving MAS and SGX)

Corporate M&A / Takeovers

• Advising an Indian listed company on its takeover of a Singapore listed company
• Advising the board of Maveric Limited on its reverse takeover by private asset owners
• Advising British Telecommunications plc on the BT Wireless demerger and the subsequent listing of mmO2 on the London Stock Exchange
• Advising British Telecommunications plc on their proposed trade sale of Syntegra.
• Advising the independent directors in relation to the voluntary delisting of Cathay Organisation Holdings Ltd. pursuant to Rule 1306 of the Listing Manual
• Advising Heineken on corporate regulatory matters
• Advising Sembawang Marine on their acquisition of certain key assets

Telecommunications, Media and Technology

• Advised a Singapore company on the transfer of its 65% shareholding in a Tanzanian company which holds various telecommunication licenses to a Vietnamese state owned enterprise for US$65 million
• Advised the selling shareholder of Timeturns Holding Ltd on the sale of its wholly-owned Cambodian subsidiary Latelz Company Ltd to Axiata Group Berhad, South-east Asia's second largest mobile phone provider, for US$155 million
• Advising Maxis Communications Bhd. on telecommunication infrastructure agreements
• Advising Morgan Stanley on worldwide technology regulatory issues
• Advising Corus and Usinor on setting up a multimedia-based trading exchange in Europe
• Advising Dentsu on various sport-related commercial agreements
• Advising FIFA on the sale of the US$500 million Asian media rights for the World Cup 2010 and 2014
• Providing advice on sports and media related regulatory matters to a variety of sports and media promoters including Nimbus Communications Limited
• Advising various sport-governing bodies in respect of the exploitation of their commercial and media rights
• Advising various companies including media promoters on a variety of sponsorship, licensing and merchandising deals

Publications

• "Investing in ASEAN: What Foreign Investors Need to Know,"Investing in ASEAN, 2011

Speaking Engagements

• "A Rising Asia: Developments and Opportunities from 'on the ground' in Singapore," San Francisco, March 2011
• "Disclosure Requirements for Listed Companies," Company and Securities Law 2009 Conference, Singapore, August 17-18, 2009
• "Due Diligence 'How Tos' for Young Corporate/Commercial Practitioners," September 9, 2008
• "Setting Up New Ventures in India: India Business Insights and Economic Outlook," Singapore, April 15, 2008
• "M&A and REITS,"Asia Business Forum's REIT Conference, February 27-28, 2008
• "Listing on AIM: Undertaking AIM Listings," June 29, 2007
• Private Equity / Investment – The 2012 Sweet Spot for Global Investment: Seizing Opportunity and Mitigating Risk in Southeast Asian Markets

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