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Mohan Gopalan

Director, Corporate Restructuring & Workouts

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Practice Areas

Qualifications

  • LL.B (Hons) National University of Singapore
  • LL.M. (Banking and Finance Law), London
  • Admitted to the Singapore Bar (2011)
Overview

Mohan specialises in insolvency and debt restructuring and regularly advises debtors, creditors and insolvency office-holders on transactional and litigation aspects of insolvency and debt restructuring matters.

Mohan has been involved in several major debt restructuring transactions, including the US$2bn restructuring of PT Berlian Laju Tanker Tbk, which was named the Restructuring Deal of the Year at the IFLR Asia Awards 2016 and Insolvency Deal of the Year at the Asian Lawyer Emerging Markets Awards 2016. He has also been involved in several landmark cases concerning insolvency and debt restructuring, including Media Development Authority of Singapore v Sculptor Finance (MD) Ireland Ltd [2014] 1 SLR 733, BNY Corporate Trustee Services Ltd v Celestial Nutrifoods Ltd [2014] 4 SLR 331 and Re Pacific Andes Resources Development Ltd [2018] 5 SLR 125.    

Mohan is recognised by many leading legal ranking publications for his work in Restructuring/Insolvency. He is ranked a 'Leading Lawyer' by Chambers & Partners and a 'Next Generation Partner' by Legal 500 Asia Pacific. In addition, he is named a ‘Rising Star Partner’ by IFLR 1000 and a 'Rising Star' by Asialaw Leading Lawyers.  He was also listed in the inaugural ‘40 under 40’ list of restructuring lawyers compiled by the Global Restructuring Review in 2016, and idenfied as a 'Rising Star' in Restructuring at the 2016 IFLR Asia Awards. 

Debt restructuring matters that Mohan has been involved in include:

  1. Hin Leong Trading – Advised the informal steering committee of lenders in the insolvency of Hin Leong Trading, formerly one of Asia’s top oil traders.

  2. Pacific International Lines – Advised Heliconia Capital Management (part of Temasek Holdings) on its US$600m investment as part of the restructuring of Pacific International Lines, the largest shipping carrier in Southeast Asia and 12th largest in the world.

  3. Hyflux – Advised the Public Utilities Board and the National Environment Agency on Hyflux-related desalination and waste-to-energy plants in the context of Hyflux’s insolvency.

  4. Floatel – Advised Keppel on the restructuring of its associated company Floatel, which owns and operates floating hotels for the offshore industry.

  5. Berlian Laju Tanker – Advised the Indonesian shipping company PT Berlian Laju Tanker Tbk in a restructuring of over US$2 billion of debt, implemented using the scheme of arrangement process in Singapore as well as PKPU proceedings in Indonesia, Chapter 15 process in the United States and consensual arrangements with certain creditors. This transaction was named the Restructuring Deal of the Year at the IFLR Asia Awards 2016 and Insolvency Deal of the Year at the Asian Lawyer Emerging Markets Awards 2016.

  6. Pacific Andes – Advised the debtor companies on a US$2.5 billion worldwide restructuring involving scheme of arrangement proceedings in Singapore. This transaction was named Finance Deal of the Year (Restructuring and Insolvency) at The Asian Lawyer Asia Legal Awards 2017 and won the Asialaw Asia-Pacific Dispute Resolution Award 2017 – Matter of the Year at the Asialaw Asia-Pacific Dispute Resolution Summit 2017.

Chambers & Partners
Restructuring/Insolvency 2023 –  Leading lawyer for 6 consecutive years

"He is good in execution and delivering results."

"He is an excellent lawyer who is an important member of the team."

Mohan is noted by sources for his experience of both transactional and contentious mandates in this space. “He's a very, very good lawyer, one of the up-and coming guys in the restructuring space.”

He has a broad practice acting for a full range of clients on debt restructurings. A source praised Mohan, saying he “has done very well and is working on big deals.”

The Asia Pacific Legal 500
Restructuring & Insolvency 2023  – Next Generation Lawyer for 7 consecutive years

A “rising star with a lot of depth.”

“Highly recommended.”

A “great and highly dependable counsel” that is “technically very knowledgeable.”

“I always have been impressed with the first-rate quality of [his] work and [his] dedication to helping [his] clients work through and emerge from difficult times.”

IFLR1000: The Guide to the World’s Leading Financial Law Firms 
Restructuring and Insolvency 2022 – Rising Star Partner for 2 consecutive years, previously a Rising Star for 3 consecutive years

Asialaw Leading Lawyers
Restructuring and Insolvency 2023 – Rising Star for 4 consecutive years

Who’s Who Legal
Restructuring & Insolvency 2022 – Leading lawyer for 2 consecutive years
Southeast Asia: Restructuring & Insolvency 2022 – Recommended lawyer

Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific
Insolvency 2021 – Future Star for 3 consecutive years

IFLR Asia Future Leaders
Identified as one of the next generation influential lawyers working within corporate finance in 2021

Singapore Business Review
Singapore’s most promising legal luminaries aged 40 and under in 2017 – Listed lawyer

IFLR Asia Awards 2016
Rising Star, Restructuring 

Global Restructuring Review 
‘40 Under 40’ – Listed lawyer (2016) 

  • Member, Insolvency Practice Committee, Law Society of Singapore
  • Adjunct Assistant Professor, Legal Skills Programme, National University of Singapore Faculty of Law
  • “The Restructuring of Berlian Laju Tanker” (2016) 1 INSOL World 20
  • “Creditor Schemes of Arrangement and Dissenting Creditor Protection” (2018) 30 Singapore Academy of Law Journal 902
  • “Two things lenders should know about schemes of arrangement in Singapore” (2018) Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law 511
  • “The Moratorium under Sections 210(10) and 211B of the Companies Act” [2019] SAL Practitioner 2