Julian Kwek

Practice Areas

Julian co-heads Drew & Napier's Indonesia Desk and Corporate Restructuring & Workouts Practice. He focuses on cross-border mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, private equity, debt workouts, and corporate restructuring.

In Indonesia, Julian advises foreign investors and Indonesian groups divesting equity or entering into joint ventures with foreign investors. He also advises high net-worth individuals and families in Indonesia particularly after the Tax Amnesty in Indonesia and the adoption of Automatic Exchange of Information pursuant to Common Reporting Standard.

Career

LL.B. (Hons), University of Wales College of Cardiff; Called to Bar of England & Wales, Middle Temple; Admitted to the Singapore Bar

Julian has been covering Indonesia since 2000, and he has been involved in many mining projects in Indonesia.

On the debt workouts and corporate restructuring front, Julian and his team have advised on most of the largest workouts in Indonesia and also on most of the defaults involving PRC companies listed in Singapore.

Over many years, Julian has developed close working relationships with several State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) in the People’s Republic of China. He has advised many PRC SOE and PRC private enterprises over the last 20 years and some of them on a retainer basis.

Personal

Julian speaks and writes Mandarin and is conversant in Bahasa Indonesia.

Professional Memberships

Member, Law Society of Singapore; Member, Singapore Academy of Law; Member, The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple; Honorary Secretary, Workforce Advancement Federation

Experience

Indonesia Country Coverage

Julian and his team have handled many high profile matters. Below are some examples.

1. Advised Resources Prima Group Ltd, a Catalist listed company on issues relating to its coal concession held through PT Rinjani Kartanegara and the subsequent potential RTO of another coal concession and another nickel concession

2. Advised CVC on the restructuring of its investment, through Asia Color Company Limited, in PT Matahari Department Store Tbk (Matahari) with PT Multipolar Tbk and PT Matahari Pacific, and the subsequent public offering of a 40% stake in Matahari that raised approximately US$1.36 billion

3. Advised Metro Holdings Limited in its S$200 million joint venture with PT. Trans Corpora in the development, marketing and sales of five 32-storey residential towers in Bekasi, Jakarta Indonesia; as well as its S$150 million joint venture with PT. Trans Corpora in the development, marketing and sales of various residential towers in Bintaro, Jakarta Indonesia

Corporate Restructuring & Workout Matters

Julian and his team have worked on many matters that are Indonesia and China-centric. In some of these matters they:

1. Advised on the US$14 billion debt workout and corporate restructuring of the Asia Pulp & Paper group of companies (APP Group). The APP Group is one of the largest pulp and paper manufacturers in the world. Its primary operating companies are based in China and Indonesia, and it has more than 250 subsidiaries worldwide. The APP Group’s debt securities are registered primarily with the New York SEC and its equity securities are quoted on the Singapore, Jakarta, and Surabaya exchanges.

2. Advised PT Berlian Laju Tanker Tbk, an Indonesian company listed on both the Singapore and Jakarta Stock Exchanges in its US$2.6 billion restructuring exercise. This deal has been awarded Asian-MENA Counsel: Deals of the Year – Honourable Mention and IFLR Asia Awards 2016: Restructuring Deal of the Year.