Clifford Chance (CC) and Latham & Watkins have taken lead roles as Tiger Airways becomes the first Asian airline to complete an initial public offering (IPO) for five years.

The IPO, reportedly the first listing of a low-cost air carrier on the Singapore Exchange, raised a total of S$248m (£109m), with the deal widely viewed as a boost for market confidence.

Latham took the lead role for the airline, with a team led by Singapore corporate head Michael Sturrock. Linklaters' Singapore ally Allen & Gledhill advised Tiger on local law matters with a team led by financial services partner Tan Tze Gay.

CC took the lead role for underwriting banks Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and DBS, advising on English and US securities laws. The magic circle firm's team was led by Singapore-based capital markets partner Joan Janssen, alongside Singapore-based US securities partner Crawford Brickley. CC's Singapore aircraft finance team, led by partner Simon Briscoe, also assisted.

CC's former Singapore joint venture firm Wong Partnership also advised the underwriters, led by the firm's equity capital markets head Raymond Tong. CC called time on the JV last year after having been awarded one of six licenses to practise local law in Singapore.

Janssen commented: "Our track record speaks for itself as we have been present in this market for a long time. This puts us in good stead to be picked as the legal adviser on major deals."

The advisory slot means that CC has advised on Asian IPOs totalling $14.6bn (£9bn) during 2009 and 2010, including the largest IPO in southeast Asia in November last year – Malaysian mobile phone operator Maxis Berhad's $3.3bn (£2bn) float on the Bursa Malaysia.