Pearl Liu (retired)

Pearl Liu is a partner of Quisumbing Torres' Corporate & Commercial Practice Group.  Her career spans 34 years representing a broad spectrum of leading multinational companies in the Philippines. Pearl's practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, foreign investment structuring, joint ventures, divestitures, corporate reorganizations and real estate. She has extensive experience in the structuring, establishment and operations of corporate entities engaged in, among others, retail, outsourcing & information technology industries, real estate, energy, infrastructure, hotels, resorts and tourism.

• Assist the world's largest automotive safety supplier, with sales to all major car manufacturers in the world, in the structuring of the joint venture vehicle that will qualify to purchase two parcels of land in a special economic zone registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, and the possible registration of the vehicle with the PEZA;
• Assist the Philippine subsidiary of an American multinational engaged in engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance in the purchase of 40% of the units in a building. Conduct limited due diligence on the building, and advise client on the structuring of the development as a condominium project to qualify it to purchase 40% of the units, in light of the constitutional restriction on foreign ownership of land;
• Advise a leading Asian retailer and marketer of downstream oil and gas products in connection with the divestment of its LPG business in the Philippines, which include a LPG terminal and investment in several landholding companies. Advise on competition law issues, particularly in relation to merger control, and obtain the approval of the Philippine Competition Commission on the transaction. Prepare all the transaction documents, including the Share Sale and Purchase Agreement, the implementing  deeds and closing deliverables;
• Act as counsel for a global media holding company of a full-service media network in the acquisition of the partially-nationalized media placement business of a leading global marketing firm and advise on compliance with Anti-Dummy Law and foreign equity restrictions. Assist in the structuring and set-up of its Philippine entity, drafting of the transaction documents, and in the negotiation and implementation of the business purchase;
• Assist an American publicly-traded company that designs, manufactures, and sells analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits on the sale of its land located in a special economic zone registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, and its facility and equipment located on the land to a subsidiary of a European food ingredients company;
• Assist and advise an affiliate of a global financial institution in the sale of its shares in a real estate development company which owns a prime office building to other existing shareholders. The transaction was undertaken pursuant to the Shareholders' Agreement among the shareholders;
• Assist Indonesia's largest bread products manufacturer in the establishment of a joint venture in the Philippines with a Philippine-based food manufacturer. Assist in the drafting and negotiation of the joint venture agreement and the establishment of the joint venture company;
• Assist a large and market-ready European multinational company in the establishment of its retail operations in the Philippines. Assist in obtaining the prequalification of the client as a foreign retailer with the Philippine Board of Investments and in advising on its lease agreements with the country's largest real estate developers and mall operators.

• Competition
• M&A
• PPP/PFI
• Private equity
• Project development

• Consumer goods and services
• Gaming
• Real estate
• Tourism
• Transport

• Philippines (1983)

• American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines  
• Makati Business Club 
• International Bar Association  
• Philippines-United States Business Council

• Ateneo de Manila University (LL.B.) (1982)
• Assumption College (B.A.) (1976)