29 Dec 2016

Leading Corporate Real Estate Lawyer Norman Ho Joins Rajah & Tann Singapore

Leading corporate real estate lawyer Norman Ho will join Rajah & Tann Singapore as a Partner from 3 January 2017, and will help bolster the firm’s expanding corporate practice and add significant momentum to its growth strategy with a team of seven lawyers comprising himself, four partners and two associates.

Managing Partner Lee Eng Beng, SC, said: “We are delighted to have Norman and his team join us at Rajah & Tann Singapore. He is an acknowledged leader in his field, having been involved in many of the major real estate transactions in Singapore and the region in the last three decades. Norman and his team were highly sought after by several law firms but they chose us because they share our values of professional excellence, responsiveness to clients’ needs and our collegiate, team-based approach to getting the work done.”

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Ho said: “My team and I are looking forward to being part of the Rajah & Tann family whose members are not only committed to the highest professional standards but also enjoy working together. Through Rajah & Tann Asia’s regional network, we will be able to serve our clients more extensively and seamlessly.”

Mr Ho has been involved in a wide spectrum of property-related transactions, including investment sales and purchase, collective sales, and project development transactions. He has represented owners and investors in commercial, retail, residential, and resort developments in Singapore as well as United Kingdom, China, Indonesia, and Australia.

He recently acted for all the 14 investors in City Developments Limited’s third profit participation securities platform involving the high-end freehold residential development known as Nouvel 18, situated at 16 and 18 Anderson Road, which raised $977.6 million through equity injection, issuance of notes and provision of credit facilities by two local banks.

His previous projects include the development and financing of major shopping cum office projects and the acquisition of large commercial buildings in Singapore Central Business District. He acted for major developers in large residential projects such as the Marina Bay Residences as well as in the acquisition, sale, and leaseback of industrial developments involving the Housing Development Board and Jurong Town Corporation.

Mr Ho is best known for his work in collective sales in Singapore. To date, he has acted for owners of over 200 developments, and has successfully completed over 120 of such transactions, including Farrer Court, the largest enbloc sales to-date of 618 units. For his expertise, he was selected to make representations to the Parliament’s Select Committee on amendments to the Land Titles (Strata) Act in 1999, and a review of enbloc legislation in 2007.

Mr Ho has been consistently lauded by independent legal media including Chambers Asia Pacific and The Legal 500 – Asia Pacific. In its latest 2017 edition, The Legal 500 – Asia Pacific describes Mr Ho as a lawyer who “decisively navigates through real estate issues”. In its 2016 edition, Chambers Asia Pacific recognises him as a “leading authority in the Singapore en bloc market. He gains praise from market sources for his creative problem-solving abilities.”

He is also the honorary legal advisor of REDAS, the representative body for the real estate industry in Singapore for more than 15 years.

Outside of law, Mr Ho has been an active volunteer of the Bone Marrow Donor Programme (BMDP) since its inception in 1993. The Singapore-based charity saves the lives of patients suffering from blood diseases through facilitating bone marrow transplants. As the BDMP’s President, he has been instrumental in expanding the charity which now has more than 60,000 volunteer donors on its register.

The four partners in Mr Ho’s team are Chou Ching, Cindy Quek, Gazalle Mok, and Shijie Tan.

Rajah & Tann Singapore is one of the largest full-service law firms in Singapore and South East Asia, with market leading practices in dispute resolution, international arbitration, shipping, insolvency, restructuring, corporate & commercial, among others. Through Rajah & Tann Asia, it is a member of one of the largest legal networks in ASEAN with some 650 fee earners. 

About Rajah & Tann Asia – www.rajahtann.com

Rajah & Tann Asia brings together leading law firms and lawyers in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, with each offering the highest standards of service to locally-based clients while collectively having the capacity to handle the most complex regional and cross-border transactions and to provide excellent legal counsel seamlessly across the region. With around 650 fee earners, all working towards one shared goal, we are lawyers who know Asia and who give our clients home advantage.