Lauren Tjia

Lauren Tjia

Corporate Lawyer — M&A & Cross-Border Transactions

10+ years across Singapore & SEA

About

Lauren Tjia is a Singapore-based corporate lawyer with over a decade of experience advising multinational corporations, financial institutions, and high-growth tech companies on complex cross-border transactions across Southeast Asia. Her practice focuses on mergers & acquisitions, venture capital, joint ventures, and regulatory compliance in the region. She has led and advised on transactions valued at over $3 billion collectively and was named one of Singapore's "30 Under 30 in Law" by Singapore Business Review in 2019. Lauren started her career at Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP before moving to Allen & Overy Singapore, where she spent 5 years sharpening her expertise in cross-border M&A and private equity. She is currently Senior Legal Counsel at Vertex Holdings, the VC arm of Temasek, where she oversees legal strategy for investments across Southeast Asia and India. She holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) from the National University of Singapore (NUS). She is admitted to the Singapore Bar and is a member of the Law Society of Singapore and the Singapore Academy of Law. 📍 Based in Singapore 🇸🇬 | Available for consulting, speaking, and advisory roles

Pendidikan: Master — NUS Law First Class Honours → Harvard LL.M. (2015)

Experience

  • Senior Legal Counsel (2021–Present) — Vertex Holdings

    2021-Present

    Lead legal for SEA & India portfolio (30+ companies). Structured and closed 20+ VC deals from $5M to $150M. Led Vertex's $200M co-investment into a Singapore AI unicorn. Built a 4-person legal team.

  • Senior Associate, M&A — Allen & Overy Singapore

    2016–2021

    Led cross-border M&A across SEA for tech, fintech, and healthcare clients. Advised on a $600M acquisition by a Nasdaq-listed tech giant. Seconded to Temasek for 8 months. Supervised 6 junior associates.

  • Rajah & Tann Singapore — Associate, Corporate

    2014-2016

    Part of the team that executed an $800M shipping conglomerate restructuring — one of Singapore's largest. Drafted 150+ commercial agreements. Regulatory compliance work for financial institutions under MAS guidelines.

  • Legal Trainee — Drew & Napier Singapore

    2013-2014

    Completed Singapore Bar training. Rotated across Corporate, Dispute Resolution, and IP. Assisted partners in trial prep, legal research, and court documents. Admitted to the Singapore Bar — 2014.

Skills

  • M&A
  • VC
  • MAS Regulatory
  • JVs
  • ESG
  • English
  • Mandarin
  • Japanese

Projects

  • $600M Southeast Asia E-Commerce Acquisition

    M&A — Cross-Border

    Nasdaq-Listed Tech Corporation (Confidential)

    Senior Associate, M&A Team

    A US-listed tech giant acquiring a leading SEA e-commerce platform across 5 countries. Required regulatory approvals from Singapore (CCCS), Indonesia (KPPU), and Vietnam. Legacy shareholder disputes in the target company plus data privacy compliance across different SEA regulatory regimes.

    Served on 6-lawyer core team at Allen & Overy. Coordinated competition filings across 3 jurisdictions. Led the data privacy workstream — mapped 5 different data protection frameworks onto the post-merger integration plan. Resolved shareholder dispute through a negotiated buyout prior to closing. Managed vendor due diligence and SEC disclosure schedules.

    Acquisition closed in 11 months — all regulatory approvals obtained. CCCS clearance without Phase 2 review, saving 3+ months. Zero data privacy incidents during integration. Client expanded SEA market share from 5% to 22% within 12 months.

    Tools: Cross-border Regulatory Filing, Data Privacy Mapping, SEC Disclosure

  • $200M AI Unicorn Co-Investment — Vertex Holdings

    Venture Capital

    Vertex Holdings

    Lead Legal Counsel

    Vertex needed to co-lead a $200M Series D into a Singapore AI unicorn alongside Sequoia and SoftBank. The startup had R&D teams across Singapore, India, and the US — creating complex IP ownership issues. Required structuring preferred share terms across 3 tiers of investors with different rights.

    Led negotiations as sole Vertex counsel, managing 4 external law firms. Structured preferred shares with liquidation preferences, anti-dilution, and board rights. Resolved multi-jurisdictional IP ownership with US and India counsel. Coordinated MAS compliance under Singapore VCC framework. Drafted and negotiated the 180-page Shareholders' Agreement.

    Deal closed in 14 weeks — 2 weeks ahead of schedule. Vertex secured 2 board seats including Audit Committee Chair. IP framework now used as template for all Vertex AI investments. Startup reached $2.5B valuation; Vertex stake now valued at $350M+.

    Tools: VCC Framework, MAS Guidelines, Multi-jurisdictional IP Structuring

  • ASEAN Law Forum 2024

    Keynote Speaker "The Future of SPAC in Southeast Asia" — presented to 500+ legal professionals.

  • Vertex x AI Unicorn — $200M Series D Closing

    Led Vertex Holdings' largest SEA tech investment alongside Sequoia & SoftBank

  • Singapore Ted Lawyer Conference

    Keyspeaker talk about Corporate Lawyer as A Strategic Partner for Company

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