Norma Margarita (Norge) B. Patacsil is a founding partner at C&G Law handling both corporate/commercial and litigation matters. Norge started her legal career at SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan. She was a senior associate there from February 2004 until C&G Law was formed in February 2007.

Her work in the corporate and commercial fields have earned her citations in the 2008, 2009 and 2018 editions of Chambers Asia Pacific.

Norge advises on share and property acquisitions and foreign and local investments, including joint ventures. She also conducts due diligence and other activities in connection with such acquisitions and investments. She is a ranked lawyer (Band 3) for Corporate M&A in the Chambers Asia Pacific 2018 edition. According to the latter: “Clients praise the quality of her advice, appreciating that she does not ‘just provide dry legal advice, but takes into consideration practical concerns as well.’”

Norge also advises on competition law concerns and assists clients with filings and appearances before competition law authorities. Her efforts have led to C&G Law’s practice being recommended in 2016 by Asialaw Profiles for Competition & Antitrust.

Experience

Examples of Norge’s work include:

• Since 2011, advising a Philippine affiliate of a global leader in building materials in competition law, anti-bribery and corruption, and various corporate matters. Norge has conducted training sessions for its employees on those matters. Norge also led the C&G Law teams that in 2012, 2015, and 2016 conducted an audit/review of the company’s compliance with Philippine competition law and international best practices as regards to competition law.
• C&G Law assisted Ayala Land, Inc. and Royal Asia Land, Inc. in notifying the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) of their proposed joint venture for the development of a 936-hectare property in Cavite, Philippines and in obtaining PCC approval for the transaction.
• Advised leading Swedish conglomerate Altor and its Scandinavian counsel Mannheimer Swartling on a merger filing with the PCC. Clearance for the transaction was obtained.
• Assisted a leading online fashion retailer on its successful merger filing with the PCC relating to a joint venture.
• Confirmed with the PCC the non-coverage, from the PCC’s mandatory filing requirements, of a merger of related entities.
• Assists a multinational client in an ongoing PCC investigation.
• Acted for Cargill Philippines in its investment/joint venture with Jollibee Foods Corporation relating to a poultry production and related facilities, as well as a landholding company. Currently serves as corporate secretary of the joint venture companies.
• Advised Holcim Philippines, Inc. in relation to the shareholders agreement governing Holcim Mining and Development Corporation (HMDC, a mining and landholding corporation), where the other parties are the Holcim Philippines, Inc. Retirement Fund, HMDC, and Holcim Philippines Manufacturing Corporation.
• Advised a leading building materials multinational company on Philippine competition law in relation to its global merger with another building materials company.
• Advised Midea, a leading global appliance manufacturer, in its joint venture/shareholders agreement with the Concepcion group (a Philippine pioneer in appliance manufacturing).
• Advised a Japanese company, and conducted legal due diligence for it, in its investment in a Philippine food distribution company. The team conducted due diligence, prepared acquisition/transaction documents, and closed the transaction.
• Assisting a Bangkok-based company in the legal due diligence and acquisition of an advertising entity. The team conducted due diligence and prepared acquisition/ transaction documents.
• Advised Baiyin International Investment Ltd (BII) in its US$20 million loan to Ipilan Nickel Corporation (INC). BII is a subsidiary of a Chinese state-owned company, Baiyin Nonferrous Group Co. Ltd, and INC is an affiliate of the publicly-listed mining holdings company Global Ferronickel Holdings, Inc.
• Acting for a Philippine investor in its acquisition of shares/further investment, and joint venture with a Singapore renewable energy company, in a solar energy company based in central Luzon.
• Worked on the Light Rail Transit Line 2 Operation and Maintenance Project and Davao Sasa Modernization Project since 2015, both of which are public-private partnership (PPP) projects, as counsel to the Government grantors’ transaction advisors.
• Assisted Aboitiz One in acquiring Scanasia, the Philippines’ leading importer of premium dairy products.
• Assisted a Japanese entity in the legal due diligence towards the acquisition of a business process outsourcing company.
• Assisted a Japanese entity in the legal due diligence towards the acquisition of a cable and wiring company.
• Represented the Project Quest group in their acquisition of EIB Savings Bank, Inc. (now named Sun Savings Bank, Inc.) and acted as the bank’s corporate secretary.
• Led the C&G Law due diligence team for, the proposed acquisition of the Philippines’ largest food conglomerate.
• Advising a Norwegian international subsea operating company in its Philippine investments relating to its agreement with a leading oil and gas company.

On the litigation side, Norge has handled and tried a broad range of cases involving anti-graft and corrupt practices and plunder criminal charges, agrarian reform, contract disputes, corporate restructuring and rehabilitation, debt recovery, infrastructure and engineering disputes, intra-corporate controversies, local-government imposed taxes, mining and real property claims, product liability, public utilities and tort. She also has experience in international and domestic arbitration dealing with intra-corporate, commercial and construction disputes, including those conducted under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce, the UNCITRAL, and the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission.

Examples of Norge’s work include:

• Regularly assisting a leading Japanese-owned independent power producer in proceedings before the Philippines’ Energy Regulatory Commission and other bodies and on various contractual and regulatory issues.
• Acting for hydro-power companies in proceedings before the Supreme Court, where various cause-oriented groups and lawmakers have challenged the validity of certain laws and regulations relating to (a) the automatic adjustment mechanism for collecting electricity generation charges, (b) offering generation capacity to the electricity spot market, (c) the gross pool concept adopted by the electricity spot market, (d) the characterisation of generation companies as non-public utilities, (e) cross-ownership restrictions in the power sector, and (f) alleged anti-competitive behaviour.
• Advising the Philippine subsidiary of an Australian mining company since 2008 on various regulatory, right-of-way, and litigation concerns relating to is mining contract with the Philippine Government.

Norge was an instructor at the College of Law of the University of the Philippines, where she taught Sales and Transportation Law.

Directorships/Other Corporate Positions

• Currently a director at the company behind Zalora Philippines.
• Currently a director and the Corporate Secretary of two Philippine affiliates of Stellar, a leading Australian contact center solutions provider.
• Currently a director of three Philippine affiliates of the Menarini group, a leading Italian pharmaceutical company.
• Currently the acting Corporate Secretary of a Philippine affiliate of Sanofi, a leading French pharmaceutical company.
• Was the Corporate Secretary from 2010 to 2012 of Sun Savings Bank, a Philippine savings bank. Currently the Corporate Secretary of three other Philippine corporations.
• Currently the Resident Agent of the Philippine Branch office of DOF Subsea Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd.
• Currently the Resident Agent of the Philippine branch office of Solarwinds Software Asia Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based information technology/software company.

Publications

• “Philippines: Overview” for the Asia-Pacific Antitrust Review, published by Global Competition Review (2014, 2015, and 2016 editions)
• “Philippines: Capital Restructuring” for the International Financial Law Review (December 2012).