Corporate and Commercial
Edwin Lim
The real point of difference that Ed brings to his clients and their businesses is his ability to really understand the nature of their technology environment, their purpose, and their ideal outcome. In recent Chambers editions, it is quoted “Edwin Lim attracts praise for a variety of enviable qualities, interviewees variously identifying him as “strong on technology”, “warm and approachable, with an easy confidence and commercial wisdom” and “a fabulous and talented lawyer who negotiates on pragmatic business principles, not ego or emotion”.
Ed is one of the rare lawyers who is in the unique position of having a tertiary under and post-graduate degree in the design and development of Information Systems. Highly experienced both legally and technically to advise on business technology issues, he offers experience in advising any organisation dealing with technology matters, whether large enterprises developing major systems or start-ups establishing themselves in the market. With over 25 years’ experience in the TMT field, Ed is constantly in demand to assist current and new clients in deals of all sizes for commercial and corporate matters. He is involved in various transactions, including large scale technology implementation, IP commercialisation, cyber-risk (including ISO27001 and ISMS), corporate structuring, shareholder arrangements, capital raising and M&A.
Other legal directories have placed Ed in top bands. For example, Ed is ranked in: Who’s Who Legal – Data-IT 2023; Global Leader (Recommended) & Data 2022 Australia/NZ Leader (Recommended); Doyles Guide – TMT (NZ) 2020 – Pre-eminent lawyer; Legal 500 – TMT (2023) – Leading Individual.
Simon Martin
Simon has been immersed in the Tech Media and IP sector since 1990. His expertise lies in guiding companies within these industries as they navigate the challenges of business operation growth and advancing their purpose. His deep involvement in the sector allows him to understand the current issues but also allows him to comprehend the core functions of these businesses, the challenges they encounter, and the expectations of their stakeholders. This knowledge enables him to support his clients and work with them to build deals that meet their specific needs most effectively.
Simon adopts a holistic approach to his work, appreciating both the broader perspective and finer details. His portfolio includes facilitating joint ventures based around new IP and/or technology, commercialising technology, media, and data, managing technology and media business acquisitions, and overseeing telecommunications transactions. Being a founding partner of Hudson Gavin Martin, has given Simon a unique perspective. Setting up and running his own business means that he has in-depth understanding of the obstacles business owners and executives face. He understands only too well the need to transform challenges into opportunities.
Anchali Anandanayagam
Anchali is an expert in all legal aspects of tech, media and telecommunications (TMT). Over the last 20+ years Anchali has advised both public and private sector customers and their suppliers alike on corporate and commercial transactions where TMT assets and infrastructure are at the core. Notably, Anchali has significant expertise and experience in privacy and data protection, biometrics and emerging technology procurement and implementation, and content development and commercialisation.
Anchali has received global recognition for her work and expertise from internationally renowned legal directories, Chambers & Partners, Legal 500 and Media Law International. Her open and measured approach means that she is often sought out by clients to work on complex transactions and to represent them in difficult negotiations. She is noted as being not only “an experienced lawyer with amazing technical skills,” but also “a relationship builder who can deal with people at all levels both within and between organisations”. They go on to say: “There’s a real benefit having her on our side”.
Tuned into this industry with her proactive external interests and board memberships, Anchali has a comprehensive understanding of the market and can therefore respond to her clients’ needs from an informed position.
Tim Mahood
Tim is a prominent commercial litigator with more than two decades of experience advising clients on Tech, Media, and IP disputes. He navigates issues crucial to their business strategies, operations, and transformative projects with expertise and insight.
In addition to being a highly sought-after litigator, Tim's clients frequently turn to him for counsel on a range of Tech, Media, and IP matters. These include privacy and confidentiality issues, data advisory, media law (covering defamation and broadcasting standards complaints), passing off, and consumer law (especially under the Fair Trading Act and Australian Commercial Law).
Tim has significant experience in trans-Tasman commercial litigation and Tech, Media, and IP sectors, mainly within senior courts and arbitral bodies. He is a qualified practitioner in both New Zealand and Australia. Tim previously attained a ranking in Chambers during his tenure as a partner at Griffith Hack in Sydney, achieving a Band 3 status in IP within two years of relocating from New Zealand to Australia.
Chambers recognises Tim as a Band 3 lawyer for Intellectual Property. Legal 500 recognises Tim as a ‘Leading Partner’ in IP, and Tim’s clients say “Tim Mahood is an outstanding litigator. Pragmatic, solution-focused and highly skilled. Top of his field.” and “He strikes an excellent balance between commercial viability and legal robustness. He thinks through all the angles, but isn't afraid to land on an opinion or think outside the square to get to the outcome we're seeking”. Tim is ranked as Silver in WTR 1000 for litigation and enforcement. Doyle’s Guide recommends Tim as a TMT lawyer, and ranks Tim as a leading lawyer for Intellectual Property, he is also recognised in Best Lawyers.
Atypically for a litigator, Tim brings substantial practical commercial expertise, having served as General Counsel of NIWA for six years, a prominent environmental research organisation in Australasia. This background underscores his focus on aligning clients' commercial strategies, considering dispute resolution tactics merely as one means to achieve favourable commercial results. Tim is one of the rare lawyers in the field who has technical qualifications, holding an undergraduate science degree and being a registered patent attorney.
Andrew Dentice
Specialising in technology, data and commercial law, Andrew works with all sizes of clients (challengers and incumbents, customers and providers) at the cutting-edge of innovation. He is an expert in technology transactions, data protection and commercialisation, and regulatory issues applying to technology products and services. With technology developing faster than traditional legal frameworks, clients turn to Andrew for his specialist expertise in areas like fintech, AI crypto assets, SaaS and platform business models. Andrew relishes situations where complex regulation meets new technology and working with clients to navigate a way through those challenges.
Andrew regularly on data protection matters – including data breach responses, data privacy advisory projects and data protection and commercialisation issues in the context of technology transactions.
Andrew is recognised as a Next Generation Partner in TMT by Legal500, where he has been praised as “a standout commercial lawyer with exceptional market knowledge”. Since his return to New Zealand in 2017, he has solidified his position as a leading authority in fintech, collaborating with banks and fintech firms on diverse initiatives ranging from open banking agreements to the rollout of crypto and payment products. Andrew also advises on regulatory challenges faced by fintech providers in New Zealand.
Beyond fintech, his practice extends to advising clients across various sectors on technology transactions, IP, data privacy, data breach/cyber security matters, commercialisation, and regulatory compliance.
Before joining HGM in 2017, Andrew spent 6 years practising in the UK, including 4 with Barclays Bank. Before that, he spent 6 years in the Government team at Bell Gully in Wellington, focused on public sector procurement and public law matters.
Sarah Weersing
Sarah is a corporate and commercial lawyer who combines legal expertise with practical business acumen and global experience. She is passionate about helping her clients meet their strategic and financial objectives via M&A transactions, minority or majority investments or divestments, capital raising, joint ventures or other commercial transactions. Sarah has broad experience advising businesses of all sizes, private and publicly listed, domestic and multi-national, on transactional as well as corporate governance/compliance matters.
In her 20+ year career prior to joining HGM, Sarah has split her practice between multi-national law firms and senior in-house leadership roles. Her prior roles include: Associate General Counsel for BDO USA (the US member of the world’s 5th largest accounting firm), where she led the corporate and commercial legal team; Managing Director for Accenture (NYSE: ACN), leading the global M&A legal team for one of the world’s largest and most acquisitive technology and professional services companies; Special Counsel (Corporate team) with EY Law Limited (New Zealand); and Associate (Corporate & Securities group) with DLA Piper (USA).
Sarah is a dual qualified lawyer, with admissions to the bar in both the USA (State of Illinois) and New Zealand, and she earned a Masters in Business Administration in addition to her law degree. Her dual qualification, global transactional experience and MBA degree provide her with the skills and insight to provide practical advice and valuable insights for both domestic and offshore clients.
Rachel Moylan
Rachel is a senior technology and commercial lawyer with a focus on procurement matters. Prior to joining in 2022, Rachel spent over 10 years in the United Arab Emirates working in house, including for telecommunications and technology companies and for international law firms.
Rachel was the primary technology lawyer at the UAE’s first challenger telecoms provider and was responsible for providing legal support to facilitate the roll out of telecoms networks and the purchase of mobile infrastructure from several key multinational network vendors. She also held a senior role with an Abu Dhabi based technology supplier (at that time a joint venture between an Abu Dhabi state owned investment fund and a multinational information technology company) which was operating the region’s first tier 4 data centre and providing cloud based and other technology services to regional clients. In her roles at international law firms in the UAE, Rachel assisted international and regional clients by providing legal support for all their technology requirements, including software development, licensing and implementation and support services projects across multiple jurisdictions.
Since returning to New Zealand and starting at HGM in 2022, Rachel has continued to support customers and suppliers by helping to resolve complex legal issues to successfully complete the purchase and delivery of technology products and services for businesses operating within and outside of the technology sector.
Calvin Luo
Calvin specialises in corporate law and advises on transactions such as business sales and acquisitions, corporate restructures, capital raisings, joint ventures, shareholder agreements and employee share schemes.
He has extensive experience in private equity and venture capital mergers and acquisitions and has acted on sale and purchase transactions of businesses ranging from SMEs to large multinational corporates. Recent transactions he has been involved in include the sale of the OnSend courier business to Freightways and the acquisition of FitSW, a fitness SaaS platform based in the US, by MacroActive.
Calvin has worked with start-ups of all stages, from advising founders on how to structure a proposed venture to assisting with external capital raises with institutional investors. His experience in having acted company-side and investor-side on capital raises of all sizes give him insight into what parties look for and common pitfalls, which enables him to help his clients achieve better outcomes and complete the transaction more efficiently.
Calvin is passionate about gaming and emerging technologies such as blockchain and AI. He has advised both in relation to traditional games media through his work for Legend Story Studios and Geo AR Games, and in relation to more nascent sectors of the industry such as web3 gaming. Calvin is a presenter at the New Zealand Game Developers Conference.
Deals
- Advised employee experience startup Excellent on a capital raise with investments by Blackbird New Zealand, Icehouse Ventures and K One W One, with a view to ‘productising’ a services business through technology.
- Advised Tether on multiple rounds of capital raising including investments by New Zealand Growth Capital Partners Limited and Aspire NZ Seed Fund, as well as a recent raise through the Snowball Effect platform.
- Advised a large listed building and infrastructure company on the potential acquisition of intellectual property in a barrier system.
- Advised on and negotiating the purchase by Microsoft Corporation of Greenbutton, the cloud-based high-performance computing business.
- Provided strategic advice to NZ-based software and technology businesses on their corporate and IP ownership structure and commercial terms of service in preparation for overseas expansion.
- Assisted a large energy infrastructure supplier on joint ventures with Amazon and Google to develop tools for internal use and to commercialise.
Team Services
Our expertise
Hudson Gavin Martin is a leading corporate and commercial law firm specialising in technology, media, and IP. Our experience is broad, deep, and closely connected to the industries we serve. Businesses establishing a presence in New Zealand come to us for our market insight, while many long-term clients rely on us for their ongoing commercial, operational, and governance needs with some relationships spanning more than 20 years.
Point of difference
Our focus on technology, media, and IP gives us a unique edge. We bring specialist knowledge to capital raising, joint ventures, employee share schemes, acquisitions, and asset transactions, ensuring clients achieve the most advantageous outcomes. As New Zealand’s largest legal team dedicated to these sectors, we offer unmatched expertise in navigating the commercial opportunities and challenges that shape business today.
Clients and community
We represent a wide spectrum of clients; from start-ups and SMEs to multinational businesses. Many industries now rely heavily on technology, and we are often engaged on matters that influence how entire sectors evolve. This experience, in turn, deepens our knowledge and attracts more businesses seeking practical, industry-informed advice.
Industry sector expertise
We live and breathe the industries we advise. Our lawyers serve as board members, advisors, and active contributors to organisations including NZTech (the technology sector’s peak body), Screen Music and Sound Guild of NZ, NZ Game Developers Association, NZ EdTech Council, Women in Film and Television, FinTechNZ, Digital Health Association, Telecommunication Carriers Forum, Health Navigator, TUANZ, InternetNZ, the Numbering Administrator, and the Law Association’s Technology Law Committee. Our team is regularly invited to contribute to industry events, conferences, and forums.
Client testimonials
Blind Low Vision
HGM is strong in their telecom industry expertise. More importantly, HGM is unique in its enthusiasm for serving and educating the client. The firm assisted this client with legal compliance in expanding its communications network to Auckland, New Zealand.
Ben Marris
As the founder of a growing mid-sized business, I can’t say enough good things about Hudson Gavin Martin. They really get how to make deals happen, cutting through the noise to get contracts signed and sealed with terms that work for us. Their sharp business sense and years of experience give us a real edge, whether we’re negotiating with suppliers or closing big partnerships.
Awards and Recognition
Lawyer Network Annual Awards
Commercial Law Firm of the Year 2025
Lawyer Network Annual Awards
Boutique Commercial Law Firm of the Year 2025