Smitha MENON

Matters of significance in which Smitha has been involved in include acting/advising for the following:

• The Kingdom of Lesotho in an investment treaty arbitration for expropriation of diamond mining leases and in an application to set aside an investment treaty award finding the State liable for denial of justice in relation to its role in the shuttering of the Southern African Development Community Tribunal.
• The former majority shareholders of ISE-listed pharmaceutical company Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd in challenging an arbitration award for sums in excess of S$700 million which included the first successful ad hoc admission of Indian Senior Counsel for the purposes of the Singapore court proceedings: Re Harish Salve and another [2018] SGCA 06.
• JP Morgan Partners Asia Pte Ltd in a shareholders' dispute arising from a US$260 million leveraged buy-out of a technology company, Metalform Asia Pte Ltd, which resulted in arbitration and litigation proceedings before tribunals and courts in Singapore, Mauritius and the Privy Council.
• Hyflux Ltd in its US$2.3 billion debt restructuring; EMAS Chiyoda Subsea Limited and its subsidiaries on their cross-border restructuring of debt in excess of S$1 billion, the MEO Group on its financial restructuring of liabilities in excess of S$500 million, the ad hoc committee of holders of notes issued by Noble Group Limited on the US$3.5 billion financial restructuring of the Noble Group and the ad hoc group of holders of convertible bonds issued by a subsidiary of IDX-listed PT Bumi Resource S Tbk.
• The liquidators of Obike Asia Pte. Ltd, the receivers of Airtrust (Singapore) Pte. Ltd, Lanco Resources International Pte. Ltd. and Amtek Global Technologies Pte. Ltd, the judicial managers of Singapore-listed Technics Oil & Gas Limited and the Trustees of notes issued by Ezion Holdings Ltd, Pacific Radiance Limited, Marco Polo Marine Ltd, Videocon Industries Limited, FRN I.M. Skaugen SE, Falcon Energy Group and Jasper Explorer Plc.
• EFG Bank AG, Singapore Branch in the scheme of transfer of the private banking, treasury and wealth management business of BSI Bank Limited to EFG and the liquidation of BSI Bank in Singapore as a result of the revocation by the Monetary Authority of Singapore of its banking license.

Related Practices

• India
• International Arbitration
• Restructuring & Insolvency
• Special Situations Advisory