Freehills tops Thomson Financial league tables for the sixth consecutive time
03 July 2007Freehills continues to outperform the M&A legal affairs marketplace in the first half of 2007 for the sixth consecutive time with number one rankings in both announced and completed Australia and New Zealand M&A deals and the Asia-Pacific ex-Japan M&A deals according to Thomson Financial’s Australia and New Zealand M&A League Tables.
Released on 3 July, the Thomson results show that Freehills has achieved a feat which no other law firm has achieved since the inception of the league tables in 1997, by coming first for six half years in a row.
In discussing the developments during the first half of 2007, Freehills partner Rebecca Maslen-Stannage said, “while the M&A market has continued to be strong, what has made this half-year fascinating is the emergence of institutional shareholders. They have become increasingly involved in M&A deals to get the best outcome for their investors. With the millions of dollars flowing into superannuation, their influence is set to grow.
Institutions are also expecting companies to do the sort of financial engineering that private equity made its name in.”
In terms of other developments, she adds, “Timelines for transactions have become shorter, and we have worked hard to deliver high standards of service to our clients within these tighter timeframes.”
Speaking of the trends in the M&A market during the first half of 2007, Rebecca commented on the large amount of work resulting from overseas investment flowing into Australia. Private equity has continued to remain strong and there is increasing involvement from overseas investment flowing into Australia. Consolidation in mining and gaming industries stands out, and interest in the media sector has continued.
When asked how Freehills has achieved such strong results, Rebecca added, “With more than 250 M&A lawyers operating in teams throughout Australia and South-East Asia, our capacity to undertake large-scale transactions is second to none. With so many highly talented lawyers with strong deal experience, we have been able to work simultaneously on a large number of M&A deals over the past six months. The calibre of our people and our focus on achieving client outcomes together, form the cornerstones of our M&A practice.”
Landmark deals on which Freehills has acted this year included, Suncorp Metway’s $7.87 billion merger with Promina Group, Babcock & Brown/Singapore Power consortium $8 billion proposed acquisition of Alinta, MFS’ on its $1.7 billion acquisition of S8 Limited, Fairfax Media’s $9 billion merger with Rural Press, BHP Billiton completed a US$3.5 billion buy-back, and Tullow Oil’s $1.47 billion acquisition of Hardman Resources just to name a few.
For more information contact:
Public Affairs Assistant Manager
jeremy.hyman@freehills.com
+61 2 9322 4957+61 448 390 798
