What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

As part of the company’s business realignment exercise, the legal team at Omesti Berhad was recently (as of August, 2022) transferred to Microlink Solutions Berhad (a former subsidiary of Omesti Berhad). For the past year or so, some significant matters that the team and I have been a part of include the following:

While Malaysia was under its 3rd Movement Control Order as a result of the pandemic, the OMESTI Group, being primarily involved in the technology sector, embarked on a bold new venture and branched into the healthcare sector, in line with the drive to leverage its technology expertise but also to capture the opportunities in this fast-growing area. As a result, the legal team at OMESTI had to very quickly adapt and develop a detailed understanding of healthcare related licenses and agreements. This included specific agreements and documentation with regards to rolling out the private Covid-19 vaccination programme in Malaysia as well as the licensing and sale of Covid-19 self-test kits. Under my close supervision and guidance, the legal team successfully put in place all relevant agreements within a short span of time which resulted in the successful acquisition of a healthcare company as well as the execution of crucial healthcare related contracts. My team and I once again demonstrated our flexibility and willingness to rise to a challenge and contributed significantly to the rapid mobilisation of this new venture.

Due to the various initiatives that the Group embarked on in the past year and a half, including but not limited to the expansion into the healthcare sector, the Group undertook a few corporate exercises to raise funds. I was an integral part of the committee tasked to lead these exercises. From detailed due diligence to strategising and working with various internal and external stakeholders, my team and I contributed significantly to the success of these exercises. The Group managed to raise approximately RM150m as a result of these fund-raising exercises.

In general, what would you like to see change about the external law firms you use?

It would be wonderful to see a better understanding of my organisation’s business which can sometimes be quite technical, especially when it involves a dispute over a complex project.

External lawyers should also be willing to assist to answer ad-hoc queries about certain areas of law or an issue we might be facing which might not necessarily lead to engagement of the law firm’s services – but what matters is positioning yourself as someone who is willing to look at the big picture and value the potential business opportunity or the business that has already been given by the client all this while. It is good to know that an external lawyer is willing to have a casual conversation or answer a query and not insist that only written advice or opinion can be given.