Singapore, 1 April 2016 (Friday) – A team of six Singapore Management University (SMU) students achieved their first-ever podium placing at the sixth Asia-Pacific Merger & Acquisition (M&A) Moot Competition held in Taiwan on 25 March 2016.  This year’s contest featured 12 top universities in the Mandarin-speaking world in Asia.  The competition was conducted entirely in the Chinese language and involved written submissions and oral presentations.

The SMU team emerged the third Overall Best M&A Deal Team in a tie with Peking University; they were placed behind National Taiwan University (first prize) and Tsinghua University (second prize).  The SMU team also received the Best M&A Proposal (Written) award.  Additionally, judges also accorded Singaporean undergraduates Liu Xuanyi and Saravanan Rathakrishnan with the Best Individual Performance award and Best Team Member award respectively for their excellent showing within their team.

This is SMU’s second attempt in the competition.  The 12 participating teams this year represented: Peking University, Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Renmin University, Nanjing University, Xiamen University, National Taiwan University, National Taipei University, National Chengchi University, Hong Kong University, National University of Singapore and SMU.

The six-member SMU team comprised four Singaporeans undergraduates, including a non-Chinese student, and two law postgraduate students who are Chinese nationals.  The members were: Liu Xuanyi (year 5, double degree LLB & BBM, Singaporean), Saravanan Rathakrishnan (year 3, double degree LLB & BBM, Singaporean), Teoh Ye Oon (year 2, LLB, Singaporean), Kara Quek (year 2, LLB, Singaporean), Qi Wei (LLM) and Zheng Liming (LLM).

The main challenge that the team faced was language proficiency, which they worked very hard in the month leading up to the competition to improve.  As the competition tested the students’ knowledge and skills in both law and commerce, Saravanan and Xuanyi contributed their business expertise (being double degree students).  Although Saravanan does not speak nor understand Chinese, he memorised his lines in Mandarin and did the opening introduction on behalf of his team.  As negotiations with the opposing team were in Mandarin, the SMU team had to simultaneously translate the discussion into English for Saravanan to contribute to the team’s internal discussions effectively.  While initially challenging, they rose to the occasion and became more comfortable with the language as the competition progressed.

[Photo: Team leader, Liu Xuanyi, making his presentation to the judging panel at the 6^th Asia-Pacific Merger & Acquisition (M&A) Moot Competition held at the National Taipei University on 25 March 2016.]

On the team’s achievements, team leader Xuanyi said, “The win was an unexpected surprise for us, given that this is the first time SMU School of Law has been placed in the top three for a Chinese language competition and that this was only SMU’s second try.  We saw this Asia-Pacific competition as a good platform for us to hone our M&A skills and interact with our counterparts in the Greater China region.  We worked really hard as a team to improve our written and spoken Mandarin, and are delighted that all our hard work paid off.”

“We also walked away with the confidence that we will be able to succeed in jobs requiring the use of both English and Business Mandarin, which is increasingly common given the size of bilateral trade between Singapore and China.  We also learnt to appreciate the cultural differences in terms of communication between Singapore and counterparts in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.  For example, while it is commonplace in Singapore to be direct in the way we communicate, we learnt to be sensitive with our choice of Mandarin phrases during negotiation so as to maintain a cordial and polite atmosphere.

Overall, this achievement tells us that Singaporeans and SMU students can succeed, even when the language medium is Mandarin, as long as we believe in ourselves and work hard,” he added.

SMU Assistant Professor of Law Christopher Chen who mentored the team said, “Language issue aside, this competition is challenging as it requires the students to consider beyond laws and contracts.  They need to think like a businessman, develop a business deal from scratch, and consider all factors ranging from business and finance, to law and tax.  More interestingly, the competition requires them to develop a reasonable proposal with the aim of reaching a deal, rather than to knock down an opponent.  This calls for skills as well as a different mindset.  I believe this experience will be very beneficial in their future legal careers.”

About the competition format

The SMU team was drawn to represent Wangfujing, a giant Chinese department store operator, against the team from Xiamen University, which represented New World Department Store China, a listed company in Hong Kong which belonged to the New World and Chow Tai Fook group.

Both teams would first prepare a letter of intent (on proposed merger, takeover, joint venture or other forms of collaboration) and then negotiate with the opposing team over the internet and in person. With or without a deal, each team has to present their proposed deal (and revised deal(s)) to the ‘Board of Directors’ – a panel of judges consisting of professionals and businessmen on the final day of the competition.  The letters of intent were reviewed by a separate set of judges who are all currently practising accountants or lawyers consulting on M&A deals.

The SMU team advised the ‘Board of Directors’ not to accept the final offer put on the table by the opposing team after conducting a cost-benefit analysis, and taking into account three main considerations: (1) present industry environment and company’s strategic direction, (2) synergistic value creation from the proposed deal, and (3) financial factors and risk management.

This analysis was well-received by the judges, and SMU became the only team to emerge in the top three without concluding a deal, finishing as second runner-up in the Best M&A Deal Team award.

About the competition

The competition was first established out of a collaboration among academics in China and Taiwan specialising in corporate law, securities regulations and M&A.  The objective of the competition is to help students learn different aspects of making a deal by simulating a real-life M&A deal through the drafting of letters of intent (signaling a deal structure and valuation), negotiation and presentation to the board of directors (the judging panel).

The competition, which began with only three teams in 2011, has grown to 12 teams in 2016.  Participating universities include top universities in China, Hong Kong SAR, Taiwan and Singapore.  Although the competition was organised through a network of law faculties, team members may come from other disciplines (such as business, finance or accountancy).

[Featured photo: (L-R) Liu Xuanyi, Qi Wei, Zheng Liming, Teoh Ye Oon, Kara Quek and Saravanan Rathakrishnan.]