Monica YIP is the Head of the Corporate Group which predominantly encompasses the Mergers and Acquisitions Practice, the Corporate Real Estate Practice and the Antitrust & Competition Practice. She is also the Head of the Corporate Real Estate Practice with experience in real estate work spanning more than 30 years. Her practice areas include property and property-related corporate transactions and investment work, acquisitions, disposals, securitisations, management and leasing of commercial, industrial and residential properties, property advisory work, property development and finance work, government land sales.

Monica graduated from the National University of Singapore and is admitted to the Singapore Bar.

Significant transactions that Monica has been involved in include advising / acting for the following:

  • The successful tenderers and approved developer in the financing of their acquisition of a Hillview Rise residential site through a government land sale with a top bid of S$460 million. The acquisition was made under a dual-envelope system whereby tenderers were required to submit concept proposals as part of the tender.
  • A wholly owned subsidiary of a multi-national conglomerate in connection with the restructuring of a lease of a large piece of land in Tuas, Singapore. This was carried out in conjunction with its acquisition of 100% of the shareholding of the parent company of the lessee of the land for an enterprise value of US$771 million. 
  • The purchaser on the sale and purchase and other related transactions involving one of world's largest aromatics facilities located in Singapore. The aromatics facilities acquired by the purchaser is one of the largest in the world. In addition, the vendor entity was insolvent and was placed in receivership at the time the acquisition was completed. The transaction involved, inter alia, transferring title and rights to the lands on which the facilities are located. In addition to the sale and purchase agreement, a full suite of agreements including the service corridor and tolling agreements had to be reviewed, amended and negotiated in order to ensure the continued operation of the facilities.
  • The Singapore subsidiary of a global research-based biopharmaceutical company in its acquisition by its wholly-owned subsidiary of a site in Singapore's Tuas Biomedical Park, being a portion of larger site of land with existing plant, to further develop the site and establish a S$400 million bulk biologics manufacturing facility, a first in Asia.
  • A joint venture between 2 global real estate investment companies in the acquisition, build-to-suit redevelopment and leaseback of an industrial property in Singapore. The redevelopment of the property involved developing a new purpose-built sustainable five-storey best-in-class warehouse on the site (incorporating a rooftop solar facility) to replace the existing one-storey building. Bespoke terms and conditions had to be crafted in the agreement for sale and purchase to take into account issues arising from the proposed redevelopment. 
  • The operator of an offshore petroleum services base in respect of leases from Jurong Town Corporation and Singapore Land Authority of various pieces of land (the "Base") and the redevelopment and lease of various parts of the Base. The Base is a one-stop resource centre for oil field services, project logistics, equipment and supplies and has undergone redevelopment to cater to specific demands of the offshore oil and gas industry.

Related Practices

  • Corporate Real Estate
  • Real Estate Investment Trusts
  • Chambers Global Practice Guides - Real Estate - Singapore Chapter, 2017 – 2023 editions.
  • The Legal 500: Real Estate Country Comparative Guide, 2022 – 2023 editions.

Monica is recognised as a leading real estate practitioner by Chambers Asia-Pacific – Asia-Pacific’s Leading Lawyers for Business since 2009. She is also recognised for her real estate work in The Legal 500: Asia Pacific – The Client's Guide to the Asia Pacific Legal Profession and is listed in Best Lawyers since 2014 as a leading lawyer for Real Estate Law.

In Chambers Asia-Pacific she has been pointed out as a "very experienced real estate lawyer" and that "she knows how regulators would approach matters". She has also been highlighted as having "deep knowledge of the workings of the industry", allowing her to provide "legally sound, clear and practical advice". Clients have also given feedback to Chambers Asia-Pacific that she "was good at outlining risks and coming up with solutions", "provides clear and detailed advice," while being "always calm and collected."