Kenny Poon

Kenny Poon How Kun

Senior Partner

Mr. Kenny Poon is a Senior Partner and one of the 3 founding partners of the firm. He co-heads the firm’s Corporate, Commercial & Corporate Finance Practice Group and he has been recognised as a leading lawyer in the Corporate and M&A practice areas by Asialaw Profiles and recommended for Corporate and M&A, Capital Markets and Banking and Finance by the Legal 500 in 2012. Mr. Poon’s practice includes takeovers, mergers and acquisitions, foreign investments, joint ventures, corporate restructurings and initial public offerings and listings. He has experience in privatisation transactions, including selective capital reductions and scheme of arrangements. He has acted for a large number of leading companies, foreign as well as domestic and has coordinated multijurisdictional transactions through acquisitions, disposals, IPOs, joint ventures and other transactions. He has advised on aircraft financing, ship financing, technology contracts, franchising, and various commercial contracts. He has also advised foreign banks taking security in Malaysia as part of global financing transactions. He is frequently instructed to issue formal legal opinions and advise on local law and central bank requirements. In active legal practice since 1991, he has acted in a primary role for IPOs and listings of companies on stock exchanges in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and London and in various M&A transactions involving companies in the Asian region. His clients include commercial and investment banks and other financial institutions in all aspects of corporate finance transactions. As a founding partner, Mr. Poon has played a pivotal role in building and leading the firm, which has been recognised/recommended by The Legal 500, IFLR1000, Chambers and Asialaw Profiles among other accolades. Mr. Poon also co-heads the firm’s Myanmar Practice Group.

Mr. Poon is recognised as a Distinguished Practitioner for his practice in Corporate, M&A and Restructurings by asialaw Leading Lawyers (a division of Euromoney Institutional Investor). He was also recognized on Asia Business Law Journal’s A List of Malaysia’s Top 100 Lawyers in 2019 for his practice in Corporate commercial, Corporate Finance, M&A, Takeovers and Cross Border Transactions.

WORK DEPARTMENT
Corporate Commercial, Corporate Finance, IPOs, M&A, Takeovers, Cross Border Transactions

CAREER
Kenny read law in the United Kingdom and is called to the UK Bar, Malaysian Bar and Singapore Bar. He is one of 3 founding partners of the firm. His other appointments include:

  • Notary Public
  • Investigative Tribunal Panel, Advocates & Solicitors Disciplinary Board (2003 to 2012)
  • Disciplinary Committee Panel, Advocates & Solicitors Disciplinary Board (2012 to current)
  • Member, Corporate & Commercial Law Committee, Bar Council (2004 to 2018)
  • Member, Kuala Lumpur Bar Public Relations and Court Liaison Sub-Committee (2001)

LANGUAGES
English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin (spoken)

MEMBER
Member, The Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn, England and Wales
Member, Malaysian Bar
Member, Law Society of Singapore
Member, Academy of Law, Singapore

EDUCATION
LLB (Hons), University of Leeds (1989); Barrister of Gray’s Inn (1990)

LEISURE
Mr. Poon is an avid general aviation fan and he obtained his private pilot’s licence in 2004.

BANKING AND FINANCE

Within: Banking and finance

James Wong and corporate and aircraft financing expert Kenny Poon head the practice at Jeff Leong, Poon & Wong, which counts AmBank (M), BNP Paribas Malaysia, CIMB Bank and Sabah Development Bank among its longstanding clients. Bangkok Bank is a new client. The practice has experience in syndicated loans, cross-border project finance, Islamic finance and debt restructuring.

CAPITAL MARKETS

Within: Capital markets

The practice at Jeff Leong, Poon & Wong is particularly strong in equity capital markets: Jeff Leong and Kenny Poon are deeply experienced in IPOs, rights issuances and listed-company work. James Wong is especially active on the debt side, though he also assisted Linocraft Printers with its restructuring and listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s Growth Enterprise Market. Poon advised bedroom furniture exporter LY on its IPO on the Singapore Exchange.

CORPORATE AND M&A

Within: Corporate and M&A

Counting some of Malaysia’s largest companies among its clients, Jeff Leong, Poon & Wong is especially strong in the natural resources and logistics sectors. Kenny Poon advised Sime Darby Plantations on its RM107m acquisition of plantation businesses owned by some of Island & Peninsular’s subsidiaries. Jeff Leong acted for TASCO on its RM186m purchase of Gold Cold Transport, and on its RM30m purchase of MILS Cold Chain Logistics.