Private Equity

King & Wood Mallesons acts for a substantial proportion of Australia's leading ASX-listed companies and major international players on commercially significant transactions. Asia-headquartered and substantially focused on the region, it offers a particularly powerful capability for China-related transactions as well as for broader global deals. The team regularly acts on complex sponsor-led private equity transactions and has a wealth of experience on the full investment life-cycle, including acquisition finance, securities, tax and funds. Its versatile range embraces strengths in the energy, resources and financial services spaces and in the agribusiness, healthcare and infrastructure sectors. Notable clients include Westpac, Beach Energy and Louis Dreyfus.

"Their partners show a good understanding of the portfolio companies we acquire and the potential issues we may face during the life of our investments."

"It is a highly detailed and structured team with a very strong capability to handle complex matters."

"They showed strong responsiveness and worked around the clock to support the deal."

King & Wood Mallesons advised Newmont on its acquisition of Newcrest Mining by scheme of arrangement.

Stephen Minns, based in Melbourne, assists clients on a broad range of mandates including both public M&A transactions and general corporate and board-related advice.

David Friedlander is a leading Sydney-based corporate practitioner who advises clients across a broad range of mandates including takeover bids, securities offerings and shareholder activism issues. "David is a giant of the profession – the best lawyer in Australia. He is highly commercial and user-friendly."

Mark McNamara leads the private equity team from the Sydney office and acts personally for a prestigious roster of private equity clients on a variety of M&A transactions, including both leveraged and managed buyouts. "He is an absolute rock star, bringing his vast experience to every transaction and helping move deals across the finish line with his commercial awareness and strong negotiation skills." "He is an exceptionally detailed and commercial operator with a great commercial acumen and a highly experienced team." "Mark McNamara is well regarded across the market, which gives his perspectives and input a very strong weight, which can sometimes be the tipping point of a negotiation."

Jason Watts offers a wealth of market experience, embracing, among other matters, public M&A, takeovers and corporate governance issues. He is based in King & Wood Mallesons' Sydney office. "Jason Watts is an exceptionally good M&A lawyer – very responsive, measured, calm and adept at finding solutions rather than problems. He knows how to drive a deal forward."

Peter Stirling advises extensively on both transactional and corporate governance mandates and frequently assists clients from the energy, natural resources and financial services sectors.He is based in Melbourne. "He is easy to deal with and has strong technical expertise."

Alex Elser, based in Sydney, acts regularly on significant transactions for many of the most prominent Australian and international private equity houses. "Alex is high calibre and technically exceptional."

Lee Horan is a leading member of the King & Wood Mallesons private equity team in Sydney and offers over 20 years' experience of acting in the space for leading national and international private equity houses. "He is a very well-respected senior partner who can be relied upon to provide a nuanced and different voice to the usual M&A discussions on transactions." "Lee has the ability to cut through all the information, identify the key risks and provide solutions to manage those risks." "Lee Horan is a senior M&A partner who is highly commercial and energetic, and is capable of driving outcomes even in very tense situations."

Meredith Paynter is based in Sydney and maintains, in addition to a broad range of corporate and M&A capabilities, a close focus on transactions in the food and agribusiness sectors, including takeovers, joint venture investments and schemes of arrangement. "I was very impressed with Meredith’s advice and leadership throughout the transaction."

Nicola Charlston is held in high esteem for her work on various M&A transactions, as well as corporate governance and restructuring advice. She regularly acts on healthcare sector deals. "Nicola is an excellent lawyer. She is very commercial, easy to get along with and produces high-quality work." "Nicola Charlston is very commercial and a practical lawyer who is always available to assist."

Roger Davies is based in Perth and is highly experienced in the handling of significant domestic and cross-jurisdictional M&A transactions, particularly those involving major players in Australia's resources sector. "You can always count on Roger for exceptional service and sound, pragmatic legal advice."