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LW 2011 Law Awards Finalists: Dealmaker of the Year
Lawyers Weekly called for nominations from partners/principals for the Deal Maker of the Year Award,
Lawyers Weekly called for nominations from partners/principals for the Deal Maker of the Year Award, recognising the completion of one or multiple deals and transactions over the last twelve months. Nominees will be judged on how they handled challenges that emerged in completing transactions and deals, the creativity and excellence needed, and the significance of getting it/them completed.
Criteria
- Brief CV of entrant nominee;
- Introduction to deal(s) or transactions(s) completed by the dealmaker, including name, value (if disclosed) and key players (including any opposing firms);
- Outline of the deal(s) or transaction(s) in terms of legal complexity, key challenges to completion, any significant hurdles, and how the dealmaker involved more junior staff members in the process.
The competition was fierce in the Deal Maker of the Year Award category.
In 2010, the M&A market reached heights not seen since before the GFC in 2007. According to Thomson Reuters, the value of M&A deals in Australia increased from $69 billion in 2009 to $165 billion in 2010. The first half of 2011 has seen a continuation of that trend, with M&A and capital markets lawyers shifting from one boardroom table to another as the deals continue to flow.
| Garry Besson, partner, Gilbert + Tobin Garry Besson, a partner at Gilbert + Tobin, established the firm's M&A group in 1996 with Gary Lawler. During the 2010-11 financial year, Besson advised on a number of multi-billion dollar transactions, including acting for Shell Energy Holdings Australia Limited on the $US3.3 billion partial sale to Woodside Petroleum Limited, and for Riverside Mining in its recommended $4 billion bid by Rio Tinto.
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| Stuart Byrne, national head of equity capital markets, Clayton Utz Stuart Byrne is the head of the national equity capital markets team at Clayton Utz. That team has had a role on all the major IPOs over the last couple of years, with Byrne the lead partner on many of those capital raisings. One particular deal of note was the Origin Energy $2.3 billion entitlement offer, where Byrne, in conjunction with Origin and Merrill Lynch, developed a new capital raising structure, the "PAITREO". |
| Jeff Clark, partner, Mallesons Stephen Jaques Jeff Clark has been a partner at Mallesons Stephen Jaques for 15 years. His nomination as a finalist comes on the back of deals including being the lead partner advising the financiers on the $2.3 billion sale of the Port of Brisbane, and acting for TRUenergy on its $1.6 billion acquisition of Energy Australia.
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| Yuen-Yee Cho, partner, Mallesons Stephen Jaques Yuen-Yee Cho, abanking and finance partner at Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Cho has acted on some of the biggest transactions of the last 12 months, including advising the five lead banks that provided Origin Energy with $4.2 billion to assist with acquisitions, and acting for Sydney Airport on its $3.16 billion refinancing.
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| Tony Damian, partner, Freehills The reigning 2010 Lawyers Weekly Deal Maker Tony Damian is looking to emulate last year's achievement. He has been at the centre of some of Australia's biggest deals over the last 12 months, including advising on Santos Limited's $1.3 billion sale to Total and KOGAS as part of the $17 billion Gladstone LNG Project, Eldorado Gold's $3.5 billion takeover approach to Andean Resources, and now Peabody's significant bid for Macarthur Coal.
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| Philippa Stone, partner, Freehills The 2010-11 financial year has seen Freehills partner, Philippa Stone, advise on a multitude of deals, including Prime Infrastructure's $2.5 billion merger with Brookfield Infrastructure and CSR's $1.75 billion sale of its sugar division to Wilmar.
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| The 2011 Dealmaker of the Year Award is proudly sponsored by Project Futures. |
For full details of the finalists in each category, click on the links below.
• Dolman In-House Lawyer or Team Award
• Phoenix Managing Partner of the Year
• Project Futures Dealmaker of the Year
• The College of Law Law Student of the Year
• Toll Practice Manager of the Year
• Philips Box-Breaker of the Year
• LexisNexis Talent Manager of the Year
Stay tuned to find out who the winners are - to be announced at a cocktail party held at the Sydney Opera House on Thursday, August 4, 2011.
