Biography
May Chua is a partner in the Real Estate Practice Group of Wong & Partners. Prior to joining Wong & Partners in 2010, she worked as legal assistant in the corporate conveyancing department of another law firm. She has been recognised as a Next Generation Partner by Legal 500 Asia Pacific for Real Estate & Construction since 2023, and is ranked in Chambers Asia Pacific for the Real Estate category since 2022.
Practice Focus
May's practice is focused on advising foreign and Malaysian clients on various real estate matters, including real property acquisitions, leasing and tenancies, property development and compliance matters. She also advises on general corporate and commercial matters as well as company secretarial matters. May has undertaken numerous transactions relating to cross-border mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures in Malaysia.
Representative Legal Matters
- Acted as lead counsel to Envico Properties Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of the Valiram Group, on its acquisition of a 40% stake in The Exchange TRX mall, a 60% stake in the TRX Campus office and a 49% stake in the retail management companies, from Australian property development Lendlease Group, for a combined consideration of approximately MYR 1.2 billion. The mall and the office form part of the 17-acre TRX Lifestyle Quarter precinct, which is situated in the bigger 70-acre Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) master plan.
- Acted for the Digital Bridge Group on the acquisition of 49% of the issued ordinary shares and 100% of the irredeemable convertible preference shares in AIMS Data Centre Holding Sdn. Bhd., and the subsequent internal reorganisation undertaken post-completion.
- Advising and assisting global data centre operator on its MYR 383 million acquisition of approximately 68.457 acres of land in Johor for the development and expansion of its data centre operations.
- Advised and assisted GDS IDC Services (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, the Malaysian subsidiary of GDS Holdings (GDS), in its MYR 60 million acquisition of a lot of industrial land from Nusajaya Tech Park Sdn Bhd, a joint venture between CapitaLand and UEM Sunrise. GDS is one of China's largest carrier-neutral data center operators, and this transactions marks its first land acquisition in Malaysia to make way for the expansion of the client’s operations in Malaysia.
- Advised and assisted a global cloud-enabling service company catering to data center operators with the acquisition of lands in a Free Industrial Zone in Johor, Malaysia. The transaction is the client's first investment into Malaysia and they have invested a further MYR 90 million approximately for the construction of a facility on the lands for the purposes of its operations in Malaysia including manufacturing, warehousing and distribution.
- Advised and assisted Chenbro (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Chenbro Micom Co., Ltd on its MYR 49.2 million acquisition of Industrial Land from Senai Airport City Sdn. Bhd. in Johor Bahru within the vendor’s mixed development, Senai Airport City from Senai Airport City Sdn. Bhd. The client is one of leading companies in design and manufacturing of rackmount server and storage chassis for hyperscale data centres. Chenbro is expanding its operations by acquiring land in Johor as part of its efforts to strengthen its global manufacturing base to serve the Southeast Asia region.
- Advised Canada Pension Plan Investment Board ("CPPIB") in connection with its investment into a joint venture with the Pavilion Group for the development of a mixed used development comprising of a commercial retail mall, serviced and premier residences and corporate offices located at Pusat Bandar Damansara, Kuala Lumpur (the “Pavilion Damansara Heights development”) by way of acquisition of shares of two Malaysian entities undertaking the development of the Pavilion Damansara Heights development.
- Acted for a property development company in relation to the joint development of certain lands in Kuala Lumpur as the developer for the proposed residential and commercial development at the base consideration of MYR 111 million and with the gross development value of not less than MYR 432 million.
- Advised and assisted the Malaysian subsidiary of a leading Hong Kong-listed global paper manufacturer with multiple transactions for the acquisition of industrial lands in Selangor of approximately 240 acres for a total purchase price of approximately MYR 546 million.
- Advised a major China-based coating solutions provider, in connection with the purchase of 300 acres of freehold industrial land located in the state of Kedah (Sale Land) from Highlands & Lowlands Berhad and Sime Darby Property (Bukit Selarong) Sdn Bhd. The Sale Land is earmarked for the milestone development of the Green Paper Industry Park. The MYR 1.2 billion green project is the first of its kind in Malaysia and is slated to provide 1,300 job opportunities for its citizens.
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Malaysian Bar
- Kuala Lumpur Bar
Admissions
Malaysia (2005)
Education
University of Sheffield, UK (Degree of Law) (2003)
Certificate in Legal Practice (2004)
Languages
English
Bahasa Malaysia
Publications
Author, When does time for delivery of vacant possession of property start? The Star (Property), Oct 2019