Simpson Grierson is once again the only New Zealand law firm to feature on the just released preliminary mergermarket legal advisory table for M&A transactions in Australasia.
The firm’s placing at number 12 on the table for the period 01 January 2008 – 17 December 2008, reflects a solid year of deals and asserts Simpson Grierson’s status as the leading New Zealand commercial deal maker of 2008.
Kevin Jaffe, Head of Corporate/Commercial, said “We are delighted to finish the year on such a positive note, with international recognition of the firm’s strong performance in a very competitive market.”
In a year of solid deal making, Simpson Grierson acted for the Australian owned Toll NZ on the sale of the New Zealand national rail business back to the Crown, a highly publicised transaction valued at over NZ$700 million and PH van den Brink Limited and associated entities, in relation to the sale of its poultry business Tegal Foods Limited.
The firm also acted for BG Group Plc, on the New Zealand aspects of its bid for Origin Energy (Australia), providing ground-breaking advice on Takeover Code issues and exemption applications relating to Contact Energy (the second largest listed company in New Zealand – by market capitalisation), of which Origin Energy owns 51%.
Simpson Grierson is currently acting as legal advisors on the Matariki Forests sale.
