Stanley Nguyen Senior Vice President CENTRAL GROUP

Stanley is the Head of Business Development of Central Group Vietnam and responsible for property acquisition as well as business development for Central Group in Vietnam. He closed more than US$1.5Bn investments via M&A with Central Group Vietnam, amongst others are BigC Hypermarket, Lanchi Mart, Zalora and more than US$100Mn investments in properties and land bank. Before Central Group, he was with a US$250Mn Private Equity fund based in Vietnam.

Central Group Vietnam is investing and operating a nationwide multi-format retail chain in Vietnam such as hypermakets, supermarkers, consumer electronics, fashion brands and shopping malls.

Lucien Ong Director-M&A and Corporate Development JEBSEN & JESSEN

Lucien is currently based in Singapore as the Director of M&A and Corporate Development for Jebsen & Jessen Group. In this role, Lucien supports the Executive Board in driving new business opportunities in the form of M&A and other investments, as well as spearheading Corporate Development and other aspects of the Group's 'Advance & Build' Strategy.

Prior to this current role, Lucien had a successful tenure as General Manager of JJ-LAPP (JJ subsidiary) in the Philippines from 2018 to 2021, during which he led the company in achieving the LAPP Asia Pacific Excellence Award 2019/20. Prior to joining Jebsen & Jessen, Lucien held various business development roles across South East Asia including roles with Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and U.S. State Department.

Lucien obtained his MBA from INSEAD and studied at The Wharton School. He currently serves as the Co-President of INSEAD Alumni Association in Philippines.

James Ong Head of M&A and Strategy IMC PAN ASIA ALLIANCE GROUP

 As Head of M&A and Strategy, James supports all aspects of M&A and BD – from opportunity identification to execution and post-deal integration, including sourcing, qualification, financial modelling, due diligence and closing, and business development and integration activities. James works closely with the various business group leaders and Corporate Functions and support them in their strategy. James also leads IMC Ventures, the corporate venture arm of IMC.

Prior to joining IMC, James was with YCH Group, where he spearheaded YCH’s joint ventures and M&As across the group. He also led the group’s acquisition of warehouses across Asia Pacific and managed 15 logistic assets across 7 countries. James was also the Founding Partner of Supply Chain Angels, YCH’s Corporate Venture Capital vehicle which partners with SG Innovate and National Research Foundation.

James has more than 18 years of experience across various fields including private banking, private equity, and investment banking in institutions like DBS Bank, OCBC Bank, Oppenheimer Investments, and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services. Whilst at Oppenheimer Investments, James was the Head of Asia for 5 years and was instrumental in starting and growing the business for the group in Asia. He has successfully closed Project Finance deals more than US500mn across various industries like infrastructure, consumer goods and real estate. In addition, James also ran a family office which invested in healthcare, consumer goods, aged care, engineering, renewable energy, and childcare.

James graduated with a Masters in Business Administration from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Accounting and Corporate Finance from University of Western Australia. He is also a Certified Public Accountant (Australia). James also sits on the Board of Management of SPD (Formally known as Society for Physically Disabled) and has been an independent director of Singapore Exchange listed entity.

Likha Cuevas Head of Southeast Asia MERGERMARKET

Likha has been the Head of Southeast Asia coverage for Mergermarket since July 2022 after serving as deputy bureau chief for four years. A journalist for almost two decades, she has been with Mergermarket since 2014, starting as the Philippines correspondent, covering public finance, private and public capital markets, energy, infrastructure, natural resources, and antitrust. Prior to Mergermarket, she was the assistant business editor of Interaksyon.com, which was then the online news portal of TV5 in the Philippines, and the assistant business editor of The Manila Times.

She obtained her MA in Media Studies and BS in Development Communication from the University of the Philippines.

Pankaj Kalra Senior Executive Director KOTAK MAHINDRA

Pankaj Kalra joined Kotak Investment Banking in 2013 as Senior Executive Director. In July 2021, Pankaj relocated to Kotak Mahindra UK’s Singapore Branch to lead bank wide coverage of Singapore based companies and funds, which are focused on India.  Pankaj continues to be closely involved with the Kotak Investment Bank in India, is part of the management committee and oversees coverage across infrastructure, digital and the Financial Sponsors Group. 

Pankaj joined Kotak Investment Banking from Credit Suisse Securities India where he was a Managing Director in the Investment Banking Division from 2008 to 2012. At Credit Suisse, Pankaj was responsible for origination and execution of strategic advisory and capital market transactions for clients across the energy, power, telecom and diversified industrial sectors. Prior to Credit Suisse, Pankaj spent twelve years with Merrill Lynch’s Investment Banking team across Hong Kong, Singapore, London and Mumbai.

Pankaj is a highly experienced banker and has more than 25 years of investment banking experience in India and globally, advising on M&A and capital market transactions across a wide range of industries.

Some of the significant advisory transactions he has advised on include advising GIC and Cintra on the US$700 million investment in IRB Infrastructure, advising NHAI on the inaugural INVIT of US$650 million anchored by CPPIB and OTPP, advising Tata Chemicals on the $400 million sale of the urea business to Yara, advising American Tower on the US$1 billion acquisition of VIOM Networks, advising Netmagic on sale of 74% interest to NTT Communications, advising Vedanta PLC on its US$ 6.8 billion acquisition of Cairn India, advising Cairn India on sale of a 10% interest to Petronas, advising on the US$1.8 billion merger of Reliance Industries and IPCL, and advising Imperial Energy on its US$ 2.5 billion sale to ONGC Videsh. Major capital market transactions include the US$ 2 billion IPO of Cairn India, the US$ 525 million IPO of Adani Ports, the US$ 135 million IPO of Mercator Lines Singapore, the US$ 200 million convertible bond offering for Videocon Industries, the US$ 175 million IPO of Bharti Airtel, NYSE listings for ICICI and ICICI Bank, and Singapore listings for Singapore Airport Terminal Services and SIA Engineering Company, among many others.

Pankaj is a Chartered Accountant and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Adrian Chai Director, Transaction Solutions, Asia Aon

Adrian is a senior member of Aon’s Asia transaction solutions practice, based in Singapore. Adrian has extensive experience in advising on W&I policies throughout Asia, including the successful implementation of W&I policies for several large multi-jurisdictional transactions spanning various sectors. Trained as an M&A lawyer, Adrian started his career in private practice: initially in Wong & Partners (member firm of Baker & McKenzie International), and subsequently joining Herbert Smith Freehills LLP as the first M&A associate in the then newly-opened KL office. After leaving practice and prior to joining Aon, Adrian served as Vice President in the Asia transaction liability practice of another market-leading insurance broker.