Team size: 20

Key team members: Adelyn Koh, Chloe Ng, Bryan Low, Yunyongpol Duangnak, Angelo Barcelona

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

As part of FME25, the team has been pivotal to FMC’s regional portfolio optimisation projects, actively leading and driving numerous strategic acquisitions, investments, and joint ventures, as well as divestments of existing hospital and dialysis clinic portfolios, in North Asia and other Asia Pacific regions. Challenges faced include navigating ambiguity in local regulatory environments and challenging minority shareholder relationships to obtain buy-in and cooperation. Notably, the recent completion of a clinic divestment in Greater China within a month from deal initiation to completion was a significant win for the team, earning deep appreciation from the business.

The team played a central role in the rapid regional expansion of new product lines. By collaborating cross-functionally, managing complexity, and providing swift and solution-oriented legal support, we have been instrumental in winning key customer tenders, including securing a large government account in the Philippines using creative legal reasoning. We are also closely supporting management teams in navigating regulatory issues, developing appropriate protocols, and interfacing with regulators amidst increasing regulatory oversight.

Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense?

The team has exemplified commitment to innovation and creative resource utilisation that has led to a transformation in process innovation and operational excellence, amidst an organisational drive towards cost-optimisation. By leveraging on internal IT resources, we seamlessly integrated a host of robust digitalisation solutions into the company’s operations, contributing significant value-add at little cost.

Notably, we introduced a digital contract management system which features a customised stakeholder approval workflow for contracts and other documentation with real-time updates, streamlining existing cross-functional workflows and replacing manual approval forms. This has significantly accelerated review and approval lifecycles and has not only expedited deal closures but also contributed to improved vendor relationships and enhanced bottom-line results. The automatic generation of dashboards also enables quick identification of gaps and weaknesses and facilitates regular management reporting, ensuring greater transparency and oversight.

In tandem, we established a comprehensive framework which governs all legal matters and contracting processes and features risk assessments and compliance checks at key junctures, ensuring ongoing compliance and controls. Cross-functional teams now benefit from a clear process roadmap which enhances efficiency and accelerates decision-making.

Can you sum up the team culture or ethos?

At our core, we are people connectors, serving as a bridge to connect people, ideas, and solutions. We actively foster open dialogue and strong relationships across functions and promote a culture of collaboration. We closely support each other through frequent communication and best practice-sharing and understanding each other on a professional and personal level.

We are strategic business partners, not simply legal advisors. As members of all management teams, we are deeply integrated into FMC’s management and decision-making processes and actively contribute to long-term business strategy, bringing insights to shape critical decisions and aligning legal strategies with overarching business goals. This enables us to co-create well-informed solutions which balance risk and opportunity, shape FMC’s strategic trajectory and drive real value.

We see ourselves as both guardians and enablers of success and measure our success by the positive impact that we have on the company’s growth and patient care and well-being.