Benjamin joined Drew & Napier’s Banking & Finance team in 2016 and has experience in advising financial institutions, corporates and individuals on a range of local and cross-border banking and finance transactions.
Specifically, Benjamin has advised on a range of financing matters including high value bilateral and syndicated loans, security arrangements, the establishment and listing of debt securities on the SGX and other general corporate matters.
Further, Benjamin has also acted as secondary counsel to both borrowers and lenders across a multitude of jurisdictions including UK, Hong Kong, Russia, Luxembourg, PRC, India, US, France, Canada, Australia and other ASEAN countries
In recent years, Benjamin has also been involved in a number of large scale high profile restructuring matters where he supported the distressed financing aspects of the same.
Benjamin’s notable transactions/matters include the following:
- Acted as lender’s counsel in the restructuring of and investment into Pacific International Lines, which is Singapore’s largest container shipping line and the 12th largest in the world. The lender is linked to one of Singapore’s sovereign wealth funds.
- Acted for a majority state owned bank of a major European country as Singapore counsel in connection with the grant of various foreign law governed loan facilities amounting to more than US$1,000,000,000 to a Singapore incorporated borrower to fund the costs relating to the borrower’s construction of oil and gas field developments and infrastructure in the Central Asian region.
- Acted for a mainboard-listed oil & gas company on multiple financing aspects of a complex restructuring matter. The financing aspects of the deal involved i) the entering into of a US$87,000,000 loan agreement with securities across 7 jurisdictions which was reported in the Business Times in April 2020, ii) the amendment of an existing revolving credit facility with the company’s key lender and iii) a consent solicitation exercise engaging noteholders for the amendment of terms of certain publicly traded debt securities of the company.
- Acted for certain local and BVI incorporated borrowers along with a major Singapore bank in a 2 stage high value facility matter which involved bridging facilities as well as a transferable syndicated loan exceeding S$600,000,000. The purpose of the transaction was for the ultimate beneficial owners of the BVI borrowers to take over a prominent chain of hotels owned by the local borrowers across Singapore.
- Part of a team of Singapore lawyers representing the government of a Southeast Asian country on a multitude of issues relating to contracts and matters between its state-owned petroleum company and a global oil and gas conglomerate.