Chambers Review

Provided by Chambers

Private Equity - Australia

1
Band 1

What the Team is Known For

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 focussed 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 in addition to the agribusiness, healthcare and infrastructure sectors.

Work Highlights

  • King & Wood Mallesons assisted Altium on its takeover by Renesas Electronics.

  • King & Wood Mallesons advised Blackstone on its acquisition of AirTrunk for AUD24 billion.

Strengths

Provided by Chambers

Notable Practitioners

Provided by Chambers

Stephen Minns
S
Stephen Minns
S
Senior Statespeople
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
1
David Friedlander
1
Band 1
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 very experienced and knowledgeable. In the Australian market, he is one of the leading practitioners. He helps with the tricky issues, is very client-centric and easy to deal with.

David Friedlander is a fantastic practitioner.

David Friedlander is so clever and has a very calm approach. He is very good at dialling down pressure.

Mark McNamara
1
Mark McNamara
1
Band 1
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.

Mark McNamara is regarded as one of the most exceptional private equity lawyers in Australia. We can't speak highly enough of Mark.

Mark is a very experienced private equity lawyer. He is high level enough to see the overall picture and is detailed at the same time.

Jason Watts
2
Jason Watts
2
Band 2
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 exceptional partner to our business.

Jason Watts has an intimate knowledge of our business and is a trusted partner.

Niro Ananda
2
Niro Ananda
2
Band 2
Niro Ananda, based in Sydney, acts for domestic and international private equity clients across the full range of private equity acquisitions and divestments.
Peter Stirling
2
Peter Stirling
2
Band 2

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.

We are very satisfied with Peter Stirling. He is a subject matter expert, easy to deal with and always available.

Peter Stirling is very good and has done great work for us. He is highly skilled and very attuned to assisting client and is very, very client-centric.

He is our go-to advisor on all strategically important matters. He is trusted to provide clear and thoughtful input that is relevant in our context.

Alex Elser
3
Alex Elser
3
Band 3
Alex Elser, based in Sydney, acts regularly on significant transactions for many of the most prominent Australian and international private equity houses.

Not only does Alex think about legal issues, but also issues that aren't strictly within her remit. She's very well-rounded, incredibly available and very commercial in her advice.

Alex Elser is an excellent lawyer.

Meredith Paynter
3
Meredith Paynter
3
Band 3
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.

Meredith consistently demonstrated exceptional responsiveness, clarity and professionalism. She saw the bigger picture and helped drive practical, strategic outcomes.

She is a commercially minded, pragmatic adviser. Meredith is also highly responsive and committed to achieving the best outcomes for us.

Nicola Charlston
3
Nicola Charlston
3
Band 3
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 excellent, I'm a big fan. She's super responsive and very pragmatic in the advice she provides.

Nicola is exceptional in terms of legal and interpersonal skills. She provides advice in the context of our business. She’s not hesitant to deal with delicate matters.

Nicola Charlston is highly commercial. She's firm about the important things and flexible where we don't need to fight the battle. She has been extremely reliable and delivers according to timelines.

Will Heath
4
Will Heath
4
Band 4

Will Heath is based in the Melbourne market and is reputed for his work advising ASX-listed companies on complex transactions, including takeovers and cross-border M&A.

He handles complex matters with ease, is highly commercial and always a pleasure to work with.

People like Will Heath are helping us bring regional and cross-border matters together in a seamless way.

Antonella Pacitti
6
Antonella Pacitti
6
Band 6

Antonella Pacitti's Perth-based public markets practice sees her advising on high value transactions, including acquisitions for clients in the natural resources space.

Antonella Pacitti is a very good team leader, very good at communicating with clients and coming up with practical solutions.

Antonella is an industry expert with deep technical knowledge, high accessibility and a strong team.

Anthony Boogert
U
Anthony Boogert
U
Up and Coming

Anthony Boogert is an up-and-coming partner whose portfolio of work includes advising on domestic and international sales and acquisitions for private equity firms and private equity-backed companies.

He's always highly responsive and provides clear, articulate and sensible solutions to sometimes difficult concepts.

Anthony Boogert is very, very commercial and knows the details. He’s helped us navigate some very complicated matters. He’s very, very strong.

I was impressed with his delivery and knowledge.

Ranked Lawyers at
King & Wood Mallesons

Provided by Chambers
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Band

Australia

Corporate/M&A

Stephen Minns
S
Stephen Minns
S
Senior Statespeople
David Friedlander
1
David Friedlander
1
Band 1
Jason Watts
2
Jason Watts
2
Band 2
Peter Stirling
2
Peter Stirling
2
Band 2
Meredith Paynter
3
Meredith Paynter
3
Band 3
Nicola Charlston
3
Nicola Charlston
3
Band 3
Will Heath
4
Will Heath
4
Band 4
Antonella Pacitti
6
Antonella Pacitti
6
Band 6
Private Equity

Mark McNamara
1
Mark McNamara
1
Band 1
Niro Ananda
2
Niro Ananda
2
Band 2
Alex Elser
3
Alex Elser
3
Band 3
Anthony Boogert
U
Anthony Boogert
U
Up and Coming