With emphasis on quality, innovation and timeliness, we deliver highly successful outcomes in mergers and acquisitions for leading companies in Australia and around the world. We also have significant Private Equity expertise.
Independent surveys have consistently recognised our lawyers as the best M&A advisers in Australia and the Asia Pacific region. Our M&A team was named ‘Australian Deal Team of the Year’ at the 2007 ALB Australasian Law Awards. We are also ranked in the top tier for Corporate/M&A in Chambers Global 2009 (the most recent rankings) and Asia Pacific Legal 500 2009/10 Edition. APL500 also acknowledges our practice as ‘One of the clear leaders in M&A advice in Australia’.
Allens Arthur Robinson was the seventh ranked law firm in the world in the 2009 full year Thomson Reuters world-wide announced deals table – the only non-UK or US based firm named in the top 10. We were also ranked number one for announced and completed deals in Australia / New Zealand. This follows our ranking as one of the top 16 M&A law firms in the world in the 2008 Thomson Reuters world-wide completed deals table and our top-ranking for announced deals in Asia-Pacific (ex-Japan). Our leading position is due to our M&A team having played a crucial role in some of the largest and most complex deals in Australia's corporate history, including:
- advising Sanofi-Aventis Australia on the acquisition of the Ostelin brands from Reckitt Benckiser Australia;
- St.George Bank on its successful A$67 billion merger with Westpac Banking Corporation;
- Rio Tinto on its response to BHP's US$192 billion takeover approach;
- Wesfarmers on its A$20 billion acquisition of Coles;
- Cemex's successful takeover of Rinker;
- CitySpring Infrastructure Trust's winning A$1.17 billion bid for the Basslink undersea electricity transmission cable;
- the proposed A$11.1 billion takeover of Qantas by a private equity consortium;
- News Corporation's reincorporation in the United States;
- General Property Trust Management Limited's defence of separate merger and takeover proposals from Lend Lease and Stockland Property Group, and the ultimately successful internalisation of management;
- the takeover battles for Patrick Corp, Sun Retail, WMC Resources, Virgin Blue and Southcorp;
- the acquisition of Epic Energy's Dampier to Bunbury natural gas pipeline;
- the landmark A$1.4 billion sale of the Myer department store business; and
- the groundbreaking DLCs – Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Brambles/GKN and the unique unification of Brambles.
We work alongside business leaders to get the deals done, providing clear commercial solutions to complex legal problems. Specialist expertise within our firm allows us to fully service deals when negotiating related matters of taxation, financing and competition law.
Experience you can count on
Our experience spans a broad range of industries including mining, financial services, health, media and retail sectors.
Our strong and enduring relationships with leading financial advisers and regulators, including the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, the ACCC, the Takeovers Panel and the Australian Securities Exchange, enable us to play an effective part in any advisory team.
