The Legal 500

Allens Arthur Robinson’s ‘brilliant’ corporate and M&A practice spans a number of sectors including financial services, health, resources, and media. The team advised a consortium led by the Goodman Group on its successful A$1.4bn acquisition of the ING Industrial Fund. M&A practice co-heads Guy Alexander and Jon Webster are recommended. Recent partner appointments include Julian Donnan, Mark Malinas and Penny Nikoloudis.

Blake Dawson is a ‘genuinely top-tier legal service provided by a team that is engaged, focused and a pleasure to deal with’. Traditionally strong in Melbourne and Perth, the firm has bolstered its Sydney team with two lateral hires: Jason Lambeth and Phil Breden from Gilbert + Tobin. The team advised BHP Billiton on its $43bn takeover bid for PotashCorp and acted for National Broadband Network (NBN) in its negotiations with Telstra in relation to the NBN project. Elspeth Arnold, Peter Stirling, the ‘up-and-coming’ Tiffany Barton, John Sartori, Mark Stanbridge and Roger Davies (‘a technically excellent lawyer with integrity’) are recommended.

Clayton Utz acted for AMP on its A$14bn acquisition of AXA Pacific Holdings and represented the Singapore Exchange on its proposed merger with ASX. The group has also played to its traditional strength in the resources sector, having acted for a number of clients including Noble Group, Barrick Gold and Fortescue Metals. Rod Halstead, Andrew Hay and John Elliot are recommended.

Freehills ‘goes the extra mile to achieve the optimum outcome’. 2010 saw the group advising AXA SA on its A$14bn joint bid with AMP to acquire AXA Asia Pacific Holdings. It also acted for CSR on its proposed demerger. Recommended among the ‘outstanding practitioners’ are: Rebecca Maslen-Stannage (‘exceptionally talented’); Tony Damian (‘emerging superstar’); Rodd Levy; John Tivey; Robert Nicholson (‘very commercial’); Philippa Stone (‘respected by clients’); and Martin Shakinovsky.

Mallesons Stephen Jaques provides ‘excellent service in terms of timeliness, quality of advice, commercial outcomes and industry knowledge’. It advised AXA APH on AMP’s A$14bn acquisition of AXA Asia Pacific Holdings. David Friedlander, Nigel Hunt and Nicholas Pappas are recommended.

Baker & McKenzie ‘acts for many of the relevant players so is aware of current market practices’. Cross-border work is a key strength for the team and clients note the benefit of using ‘a single team rather than multiple firms’, accessing the firm’s overseas resources as necessary. David Holland was a lead partner in advising New South Wales’ government on the A$5.3bn NSW electricity reform project. Richard Lustig and Steven Glanz are recommended, as is Mark McNamara, who ‘brings a huge amount of gravitas to the table’.

Corrs Chambers Westgarth has ‘outstanding turnaround and availability’ coupled with ‘good-quality work’. The ‘“go-to” lawyer on difficult M&A issues’ Braddon Jolley and ‘quality M&A lawyer’ Sandy Mak were involved in advising Foster’s Group on the A$12bn demerger of its beer and wine businesses. Teresa Handicott and the ‘technically good and client-focused’ Byron Koster are also recommended.

Gilbert + Tobin provides ‘creative commercially focused solutions’. The firm strengthened its Melbourne presence with the recruitment of Neil Pathak from Freehills. Tony Bancroft, formerly of Mallesons Stephen Jaques, is another strategic addition. Highlights included advising Blackstone on its $9.4bn acquisition of Centro Group’s US assets and platform. Andrew Bullock is ‘first class’.

Minter Ellison acted for Rio Tinto on its A$4bn takeover bid for Riversdale Mining and advised Healthscope on TPG Capital and Carlyle’s A$2.7bn takeover of the private hospital operator. The highly regarded former Supreme Court of NSW Judge (equity division) Robert Austin joined the team as a consultant in 2011.

Elizabeth Hallett and Shaun Clyne (recommended for his ‘knowledge, availability and style’) head the corporate and M&A team at Norton Rose Australia. The group advised Banpu on its A$2.5bn acquisition of Centennial Coal, and AXA SA regarding the merger of AMP and AXA APH. Anthony Latimer is highly regarded.

Since its entry into the Australian market, Allen & Overy LLP has carved a solid reputation and continues to grow, which is a necessity as it ‘can get stretched thin fairly quickly’. Dave Poddar joined the Sydney office from Mallesons Stephen Jaques, adding his expertise as a competition lawyer specialising in M&A. Other key individuals include Michael Parshall, a ‘leading M&A lawyer with an ability to solve unique issues’, and ‘the great’ Aaron Kenavan. Poddar, Parshall and Kenavan led the advice to SABMiller on its A$11.2bn proposed acquisition of Foster’s Group. Grant Koch is also recommended.

Arnold Bloch Leibler’s practice head Jonathan Wenig advised Carsales.com on ACP Magazine’s sale of a 49% equity stake in the automotive classifieds company, and advised Nufarm on the A$600m investment transaction with Sumitomo Chemical. Steven Klein left the team in 2011.

Atanaskovic Hartnell is often sought out for ‘difficult corporate negotiations which have the potential to become litigious’; it provides ‘personal, highly credentialed, professional advice’. John Atanaskovic, Tim Castle and James Wheeldon led advice to Corom regarding the proposed takeover by Peoplebank Holdings, challenging the terms of the scheme implementation agreement. Other notable individuals are Larissa Pickford and Jeremy Kriewaldt.

Clifford Chance Australia - formed by the merger with boutiques Chang, Pistilli & Simmons and Cochrane Lishman Carson Luscombe - has a ten-partner corporate and M&A practice with a ‘clear appreciation of the commercial objective’. Mark Pistilli is one of the lead partners advising Ricegrowers (SunRice) on Ebro Foods’ unsolicited A$600m bid for the company. Jason Mendens, Lance Sacks and Justin Harris are recommended.

DLA Piper Australia recently handled matters for ING Real Estate Health Fund and Super Investment Management. In addition the group advised Ebro Foods in relation to its proposed A$600m acquisition of Ricegrowers (SunRice). Practice head David Morris played a key role.

Johnson Winter & Slattery strengthened its already well-regarded team by recruiting Austin Bell, formerly of Blake Dawson, and special counsel Paul Kasmer, formerly of Freehills. Overall, the team’s work is ‘excellent and the service impeccable’, and its boutique status allows it to ‘be more responsive and nimble than the big firms’. Practice head John Keeves led advice to Dominion Mining on its A$1.6bn merger with Kingsgate Consolidated.

Geoff Musgrove and Peter Shaw head Maddocks’ corporate and M&A team. The group advised Archer Capital on its acquisition of a majority stake in Fuelfix. The team was strengthened by the arrival of former Clayton Utz partner Ron Smooker, who brings to the firm 20 years of corporate, commercial and financial experience.

‘Exemplary in all areas of service’, Gadens Lawyers offers ‘good value for money’ and is ‘very responsive to company needs’. The highly recommended Kym Livesley and Andrew Lind acted for Anchor Resources in respect of an off-market takeover bid by China Shandong Jinshunda Group through its wholly owned subsidiary Sunstar Capital. Charles Cowper heads the practice.

Henry Davis York advised Octaviar on the A$33m sale of the Sunkids childcare portfolio. Other clients include Wolseley Private Equity, Morgan Stanley and Securas Technologies. Glenn Hughes and Scott Murray are recommended.

Piper Alderman’s Simon Champion is ’exceptionally responsive with strong attention to detail’, and Simon Venus ‘gives well-informed and relevant advice’. Practice head James Dickson is also recommended. Melbourne-based Sebastian Greene was appointed partner after joining the firm from Middletons. The team acted for Beach in its A$75m acquisition of Impress Energy.

TressCox is ‘good value for money, responsive and flexible’, and has a solid reputation particularly acting for SMEs. The team acted for Firstfolio on its A$20m acquisition of the Club Financial Services Group and its off-market takeover of Xplore Capital. MDA National and Warner Music are also core clients. Practice heads Ron Heinrich and Michael Bracken are recommended. Iain Rennie recently joined from DLA Piper Australia.

Adelaide-based Kelly & Co has a well-established reputation in South Australia, and capabilities to act for local, national and international clients. It advised Japanese company Marubeni on its 40% investment in South Australian water desalination company Osmoflo. Practice head Jamie Restas is ‘outstanding in terms of knowledge, commercial approach and business acumen’.

Jones Day has ‘a lot of experience in M&A transactions with its local implications’. The firm’s international network means that it is ‘able to intervene across jurisdictions’. It advised Sumitomo Chemical on its A$600m investment in Nufarm. Adam Salter has ‘very good negotiation skills’, and Mathieu Hanaut and Adam Salter are ‘outstanding’.

McCullough Robertson has ‘a very significant market presence and good depth and breadth’ at all levels. The team has particular strengths in the energy and resources and life science sectors. The ‘proactive’ Derek Pocock advised Senex Energy on its A$78m takeover of Stuart Petroleum. Brett Heading is ‘particularly helpful and attentive’.

Middletons houses highly regarded practitioners including practice head John Mann and Murray Landis. The recently recruited Adam Levine adds to the firm’s growing West Coast presence, joining the Perth office. However, Sebastian Greene departed the team to join Piper Alderman.

HWL Ebsworth’s Andrew Bruton is commended for his ‘excellent’ corporate work in the energy and resources space, and Matthew Reynolds is ‘down to earth and offers great advice on the run’.

Holding Redlich provides an ‘overall good level of service’, and strengthened its Brisbane presence by recruiting Jeremy Prentice from Freehills. Philip Vickery is ‘always accessible and provides commercially astute advice’. The team advised Clemenger Group on Omnicom Group’s A$150m increase in shareholding in CGL, effected through a scheme of arrangement.

Hopgood Ganim Lawyers has a strong reputation in Queensland, specifically in the resources sector. Michael Hansel is advising on Arrow Energy’s A$80m acquisition of the Arrow Braemer 2 Power Station. Michele Muscillo and practice head Brian Moller are recommended.

Russell Kennedy has marked expertise in the health and medical sectors, and also recently advised GippsAero on the sales terms for worldwide distribution of aeronautical components and aircrafts. Other clients include Pasta Master Group and Riverina Oils and Bio Energy (ROBE). Practice head Rohan Harris is recommended, as is the ‘outstanding source of knowledge’ Michael Gorton.

Having branched out from its initial Adelaide operations, Thomsons Lawyers now has offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. It added new recruits Eugene Fung and James Daniel from DLA Piper Australia. Loretta Reynolds is ‘a thoroughly experienced M&A lawyer’. The group is acting for Auzex Resources in defending a hostile takeover bid.

Truman Hoyle’s four-partner team advised Knorr Bremse Australia on acquiring shares in Sigma Transit Systems. Merck Serono and Microsoft are also clients. Shane Barber heads the practice. Steven Goodman retired from the partnership in 2010 but retains a consultancy role.