Brian Chia

Brian focuses on mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, and corporate restructurings and reorganisations across key sectors such as financial services, consumer goods and retail, and manufacturing. He has represented a large number of leading multinationals, foreign as well as domestic, on both inward and outward bound transactions and has coordinated multijurisdictional transactions through mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and other strategic alliances.

Brian also advises on antitrust, unfair competition, anti-dumping, sale of goods, consumer protection, export control, and product liability issues. He also assists clients in technology and knowhow, distributorships, franchising and licensing, product registration, advertising and media law and computer contracts.

• Advised AIA Group Limited in relation to the USD1.8 billion acquisition of ING Groep N.V's Malaysian insurance and takaful business and on the merger between AIA Malaysia’s and ING Malaysia’s life insurance and takaful businesses under Part XI of the Insurance Act. The acquisition will combine ING’s Malaysian operations and AIA’s existing Malaysian business, previously the third and fourth largest in Malaysia respectively, to create the largest life insurance firm in the country. This transaction was awarded SE Asia M&A Deal of the Year 2013 by Asian Legal Business.
• Advised KV Asia Capital, a private equity firm focused on investments into South East Asia, in connection with its acquisition, through its subsidiary Peta Sejahtera Sdn. Bhd., of a controlling interest in TF Value-Mart Sdn. Bhd., a leading hypermarket chain in Malaysia. TF Value-Mart is in the grocery retail business, operating 18 hypermarkets across five states in Malaysia.
• Represented Generali Asia N.V. (Generali) on its MYR355.8 million acquisition of 49 percent of the issued and paid-up share capital of Multi-Purpose Insurans Bhd (MPIB) from Multi-Purpose Capital Holdings Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of MPHB Capital Berhad. This acquisition represents Generali's maiden entrance into the Malaysian insurance industry, placing itself among the top 10 property and casualty insurers in the country.
• Advised Hewlett Packard Multimedia Sdn. Bhd., Hewlett Packard (M) Sdn. Bhd. and Hewlett Packard Corporation (M) Sdn. Bhd. (all indirectly wholly owned subsidiaries of Hewlett-Packard Company — HP), in connection with the separation of its printing and personal systems business (Inc. Business) in Malaysia to HP PPS Multimedia Sdn. Bhd., HP PPS Sales Sdn. Bhd. and HP PPS Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. respectively. This is part of HP’s worldwide strategy to separate their group into one comprising of their enterprise technology infrastructure, software and services business, and one that will comprise of HP’s Inc Business. The separation involved over 600 Baker McKenzie lawyers across the world.
• Advised Multi-Color Corporation (MCC) in connection with its takeover via a voluntary general offer, by way of its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary MCC LABL2 Netherlands B.V., of Super Enterprise Holdings Berhad (SEHB). MCC had subsequently obtained more than 90 percent of the voting shares of SEHB for a purchase consideration of MYR3.80 per share or MYR158.37 million. SEHB was successfully delisted from the official list of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad on 18 September 2015.

• Middle Temple Inn of Court

• Singapore