Department:
Corporate
Contact:
phoneIcon+65 65574606
emailIconjoelteo@leenlee.com.sg

TEO Joel Zhu-En

Joel Teo is a Partner in the Corporate Department, specialising in private wealth, equity capital markets, corporate and M&A transactions, investment funds and private equity. He joined Lee & Lee in 2006.

Joel graduated with a LLB (Hons) degree from the National University of Singapore in 2005 and was called to the Singapore Bar in 2006. He also holds two masters’ degrees: LLM (Merit) (specialisation in Corporate/Commercial Law) from the University of London (Queen Mary) in 2009, and MBA (specialisation in Finance) from the National University of Singapore in 2013, for which he won the Inchcape Berhard Book Prize for Corporate Strategy.

In relation to private wealth, he has qualified as a Member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (which is the global trust and estate society headquartered in London) and has qualified as a Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP). He has graduated with a STEP Diploma and won the STEP Excellence Awards 2023 for achieving the highest pass with distinction in the STEP Advanced Certificate in Trusts Law & Practice in the 2023 academic year.

In 2023, he was invited by the NUS Business School to share on family office setup and strategy with the Chinese EMBA Programme students.  He has also previously taught business law to students at the Singapore Institute of Management and trained directors at the Singapore Institute of Directors.

He is active in the Private Equity and Venture Capital sector. He is the legal adviser to NUS Angel Ventures, the NUS Private Equity Society and Protégé Ventures.  He was the legal adviser to the National Research Foundation in respect of their entire portfolio of a few hundred startups in Singapore when they ran the Technology Incubation Scheme.  He has also from time to time advised NUS Enterprise, SUTD and SMU in relation to incubation activities for their startups.

Notable transactions that he has been involved in:

Private Wealth Work

  • Acted for a Registered Fund Management Company to set up a VCC Sub-Fund for a family office for a resident Indian family with the intention that the assets under management by the family office will manage in excess of USD 1 billion;
  • Acted for several different Singapore fund managers with capital markets services licences for Fund Management to set up VCC Umbrella funds and sub-funds for their offshore clients;
  • Acted for families looking to set up single family offices in Singapore and multi family offices;
  • Acted for applicants in relation to the Global Investor Programme;
  • Acted for applicants looking to upgrade their Employment Passes to Permanent Applications.

Equity Capital Markets

  • Acted as Underwriter’s Counsel for the listing of OUE C-REIT on the SGX with a portfolio value of S$1.6 billion;
  • Acted as Issue Manager’s and Placement Agents’ Counsel in relation to the listing of YKGI Limited on the Catalist board of the SGX. YKGI Limited is engaged in F&B operations, food court management and franchising and sub-franchising. YKGI Limited owns and/or operates 8 F&B brands, including Yew Kee Duck Rice and Victoria Bakery, through 73 food outlets and 4 food courts across Singapore. YKGI Limited is also the exclusive franchisee of CHICHA San Chen tea shops in Singapore;
  • Acted as Issuer’s Counsel to Pteris Global Limited for a proposed S$126 million reverse takeover transaction of assets of a PRC state-owned enterprise;
  • Acted as Vendors’ Counsel for a proposed S$160 million reverse takeover exercise of a PRC gold mining company by Europtronic Group Limited;
  • Acted as Issuer’s Counsel to Sincap Group Limited, a China-focused mining and trading company in relation to its IPO on the SGX;
  • Acted as Issuer’s Counsel to Harrys Holdings Limited, in relation to its IPO on the SGX;
  • Acted as Issuer’s Counsel for a PRC water treatment company for a proposed IPO on the SGX;
  • Advised Vestpa plc (now known as China Food Company plc), a London AIM-listed company, in its GBP 26.7 million acquisition of Full Fortune Holdings Pte Ltd, a Singapore investment holding company with PRC subsidiaries involved in the animal feed and condiments business, for cash and shares, resulting in the reverse takeover (RTO) and re-admission to AIM of Vestpa plc;
  • Advised Bio-Treat Technology Limited in relation to: (a) a S$39,689,458 rights issue; (b) debt settlement scheme involving its international convertible bondholders by way of a reduced debt amount and the issuance of warrants; (c) a placement of HK$250 million to a new subscriber by way of issuance of shares, convertible notes and warrants; and (d) a partial debt for equity swap in relation to the then secured creditor of the company by way of issuance of shares, convertible notes and warrants.

Private Equity and Venture Capital

  • Advised the National Research Foundation (Prime Minister’s Office) in relation to its venture capital funding schemes and investments in its few hundred portfolio of startup companies in Singapore;
  • Acted for Goldman Sachs Real Estate Private Equity in relation to the acquisition and divestment of its Singapore real estate investment portfolio building assets;
  • Advised GE Energy Financial Services in relation to its investment into Renewable Energy Trust Asia, the first Asia-pacific renewable energy trust (structured as a private business trust) with a target AUM of S$380 million;
  • Advised Singapore private equity funds and venture capital funds in relation to fund incorporation, regulatory compliance and mergers and acquisitions;
  • Advised Vertex Ventures South Asia in relation to their Series A investments into Grabtaxi;
  • Advised NUS Enterprise in relation to their investments into several of their incubated startups and have looked at follow on funding and other related investments for them;
  • Advised AJ Capital Asset Management Pte. Ltd. (which is a family office in Singapore of Abhinav Jhunjhunwala, which holds a registered fund management licence in Singapore) together with a private equity firm to invest into Symbo Platform holdings (which was founded and run by Abhinav Jhunjhunwala);
  • Advised Vertex Ventures South Asia in relation to their Series A investments into Grabtaxi;
  • Advised NUS Enterprise in relation to their investments into several of their incubated startups and have looked at follow on funding and other related investments for them;
  • Advised GD 1 Fund II L.P. in relation to its series seed investments in start-ups in Singapore, including but not limited to, LetsCargo Pte. Ltd., TopAdmit Holdings Pte. Ltd., and Writepath Pte. Ltd.

Startups

  • Advised RWDC Industries in relation to its targeted US$150 million Series B stapled funding round, where following the fulfilment of certain conditions precedent, RWDC Industries will become the next unicorn company in Singapore;
  • Advised Grabtaxi (the leading Taxi Booking Application in South East Asia) in relation to its restructuring exercise and fund raising in Series B;
  • Advised STO Express Co., Ltd. in relation to their global acquisitions;
  • Advised Tookitaki Holding Pte. Ltd., an artificial intelligence company which is engaged in the business of predictive analytics solutions to the banking and financial services industry, in connection with its Series A2 funding round;
  • Advised Zimplistic Pte. Ltd., a Singapore prata hardware startup which designs automatic flatbread making machines, in connection with its Series B funding round;
  • Advised Propzy Inc in their USD25 million Series A funding round;
  • Advised Rate Pte. Ltd. in their USD 2 million funding round;
  • Advised Celligenics Pte. Ltd. in their S$5.6 million Series A funding round;
  • Advised LivinWall Pte. Ltd. (which sells the Gush brand of paint) in their US$5,000,000 Series A funding round;
  • Advised Sealed Network Pte. Ltd. in relation to their US$2 million pre-series A funding round;
  • Advised Wholeselect Technology Pte. Ltd. in relation to their US$1.1 million Series Seed A and Series Seed B funding round for both offshore and onshore funding (PRC).

Mergers and Acquisitions

  • Advised a Singapore brokerage for the acquisition and divestment of distressed debt;
  • Advised a Singapore property owner/developer for a S$35 million complex real estate development structure;
  • Advised a Middle Eastern Investor for its divestment of its existing stake in a niche Singapore based property developer.

Regulatory & Compliance

  • Advised Great Eastern Insurance in relation to its capital adequacy requirements under the Insurance Act and made representations to the Monetary Authority of Singapore on their behalf.

Publications

  • Author, “Singapore Legal History of Water: The Municipal and the Singapore Story, Past Present and Future” (2004) 24 Singapore Law Review.22
    [This paper was presented at The Inaugural Singapore Law Review Symposium “The Singapore-Malaysia Relationship: The Future Roles of International Law”.]
  • Author, “A Legal History of Water: Encounters with Singapore Legal History– Essays in Memory of Geoffrey Wilson Bartholomew” a publication of the Singapore Journal of Legal Studies.
    Author, “Manipulating Corporate Nationality for Shareholder Protection under International Investment Treaties: The International Law on Foreign Investment” (Singapore: National University of Singapore, 2004)
  • Author, “IRAS and the Right to a Refund of Overpaid Taxes, The Tax Payer Strikes Back: The Law of Taxation” (Singapore: National University of Singapore, 2004)
  • Author, “Case Study on IBM, Riding the Megatrend of Sustainability” (Singapore Business Federation 2011) Author, “Singapore-Domiciled Private Equity Funds and Taming the Chinese Dragon”, the Journal of Private Equity (Fall 2012, Vol 15)
  • Author, “3 Areas of Growth in Investment Banking in Singapore”, the Asian Banking and Finance Portal, 14 May 2013
  • Author, “Creating value in Asian private equity transactions in 2013”, the Asian Banking and Finance Portal, 3 June 2013

Memberships

  • Member, the Law Society of Singapore (Member of the Publication Committee and Tax & Trust Committees for 2023)
  • Member, Singapore Academy of Law
  • Member, Society of Trusts and Estate Practitioners (STEP), TEP
  • Member, Zhang Clan (Executive Committee Member) and Head of the Scholarship and Bursary Sub-Committee
  • Member, the Singapore Institute of Directors (Member of Corporate Relations Sub-Committee)
  • Member, The London Club (Singapore), (Honorary Secretary) – The registered society of the University of London Alumni in Singapore
  • Member, Board of Directors, Singapore Chinese High School
  • Member, Hwa Chong Alumni Association and Head of the Finance and Entrepreneurship Sub-Committee
  • Member, Hwa Chong Junior College Alumni Association
  • Member, Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and committee member of the Youth Business & Sustainability Committee
  • Member, Singapore China Business Association
  • Member, Singapore China Friendship Association