Deal: Westpac’s motor vehicle finance and novated business Westpac Auto Business will now fall under Cerberus Capital Management. 

Value: Approximately $1 billion. 

Area: M&A, banking and finance. 

Key players: The team was made up of lawyers from across many practice areas. In M&A, partner Noah Obradovic was assisted by partner Tom Story, overseas senior practitioner Patrick McGregor, senior associate Josh Hoare, associates Jewel Zhu and Alex Selig as well as lawyer Ben Toscano. 

Within banking and finance, the M&A team was assisted by partners Renee Boundy and Benjamin Downie, senior overseas practitioner Tom Monk, senior associates Michael Gibling and Dimity Brown, associates Aaron Wong and Shehan Canagasingham, overseas practitioner Natalie Soh, legal operative Aleeza Shady, lawyer Taylor Spensieri and graduates Eric Gonzales, Jessica Shao and Angela Zhangbao. 

Across regulatory, FIRB, technology and telecommunications, employment and safety, IP, tax, competition and consumer, and disputes and investigations: 

Managing associates: Kerensa Sneyd, Amy Atashi, Dominic Anderson, Anita Thompson

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Partners: Sikeli Ratu, Joel Barrett, Adrian Chek, Jacqueline Downes, Rosannah Healy, Jenny Campbell

Senior associates: Jay Prasad, Tom Tian

Associates: Dominique Logan, James Daniel, Edward Thien, Luke Archer, Hanna Kaci

Counsel: Andrew Wong

Lawyers: Nancy Goh, Tamar Ruiz, Tiana Macleod

Law graduate: Virginia Dore

Deal significance: Angle Finance – a Cerberus Capital Management portfolio company – will acquire the automotive dealer and introducer agreements, together with wholesale dealer loans of approximately $1 billion, strategic alliance agreements with vehicle manufacturers, and novated lease origination capability and related agreements. 

Lead partner Mr Obradovic commented: “Cerberus’ acquisition is one of the largest private equity and capital market transactions in recent times. It is the largest significant transaction in our booming private equity market, and reflects the growing profile of non-bank lenders as financial service provider in Australia.”