A question was posed on a M&A transaction I was working on. Can the sale and purchase agreement be completed soon after the legal due diligence on the target company is completed? The short answer is “It depends”. There are things which are within lawyers’ control such as when draft …

Today’s post is on conversion features of preference shares. Preference shares may be converted to ordinary shares if the terms of preference shares provide for conversion. When drafting conversion rights of preference shares, consider setting out the following: 1. Whether the company or the preference shareholders have the right to …

For related party transactions, public companies which are listed on Bursa Malaysia are required to do various disclosure and seek shareholders’ approval. For those who have the experience of decoding the definition of “related party transaction” in the Listing Requirements, the term may seem like pieces of jigsaw puzzle to …

This month marks the 13th year of my admission to the Malaysian Bar. On paper, my journey has been rather linear. However, it was a journey I almost didn’t take. My journey brought me from a small town to the capital of Malaysia for my A-levels, to Sheffield, UK for …

What are salient terms of contracts? Corporate lawyers spend a lot of time summarising salient terms from contracts into legal due diligence reports. Disclosure of salient terms of certain contracts is required in prospectus and circulars to shareholders of public listed companies for certain corporate exercises. When deciding whether certain …

”Some leaders push innovation by being good at the big picture. Others do so by mastering details. Jobs did both, relentlessly.” That was how Walter Isaacson described Steve Jobs in the biography on Steve Jobs. Most of us are good at either looking at the big picture or paying attention …

Plan ahead. For transactions which fall within the ambit of the Prospectus Guidelines (e.g., IPO and rights issue) or the Listing Requirements (e.g., certain Chapter 10 transactions), consents from third parties may be required. For example, for a rights issue, consents from banks may be required for issuance of new …

In the book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, Stephen Covey described the frantic sense of loss he felt when the things were not in order. He had a number of papers laid out, chapter by chapter, on a table in a room when suddenly, the breeze picked up …

When drafting an agreement, obligation should not be imposed on anyone who is not a party to the agreement. For example, in a share sale and purchase agreement, obligation should not be imposed on a company secretary (who is not a party to the SPA) to provide directors’ resolution of …

In M&A transactions, whenever the issue of limitation of liability is raised, I know I would be in for a lengthy negotiation. A seller would typically want to limit the seller’s liability under the sale and purchase agreement. However, the parties may decide not to include limitation of liability clause …