CDL CEO ropes in legal heavyweight Davinder Singh

City Developments Limited (CDL) group chief executive Sherman Kwek has roped in Senior Counsel Davinder Singh to his team of lawyers as he faces his billionaire father Kwek Leng Beng in Singapore's biggest boardroom battle in recent years, The Straits Times understands.

- Angela Tan

The senior Mr Kwek, who is CDL executive chairman, is seeking to remove his son as CEO over an "attempted coup".

Mr Kwek, 84, has accused his son, 49, and six CDL board members of trying to take control of what was once Singapore's largest listed developer.

Mr Sherman Kwek, in turn, has denied that he tried to oust his father.

Mr Singh, who will also represent the six board members in the CEO's camp, is widely considered Singapore's foremost litigator, having acted many times for the country's then prime ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Lee Hsien Loong in various civil proceedings.

He is head of his own self-named practice — Davinder Singh Chambers — and has taken on high-profile cases during his career, including defending the two prime ministers in court hearings.