Rebecca Maslen-Stannage’s career-defining success in completing the Centro Properties Group restructuring deal ensured she took out theJLegal Dealmaker of the Year Award at this year’s Lawyers Weekly Australian Law Awards, proudly sponsored by List A Barristers.

The Freehills M&A partner pipped her colleague Tony Damian to the post, as well as Clayton Utz’s national ECM group head Stuart Byrne, King & Wood Mallesons private equity practice leader Yuen-Yee Cho and M&A partner David Eliakim, and Baker & McKenzie’s infrastructure and energy trade sales partner Michael Kunstler.

Maslen-Stannage (pictured left) worked for four years with Centro to achieve a solvent outcome and open a new chapter for the group and its many stakeholders. As lead deal lawyer across the several international and Australian firms involved, Maslen-Stannage was the architect of the deal structure, which withstood five rounds of attack through litigation and was valued at over $16 billion in total.

The former group CEO and managing director of Centro Properties Limited said he doubted whether the wider Centro Group would have achieved the ultimately successful group-wide restructuring without her contribution.

“In my 30-plus years in business I have never come across an entity that was remotely as complex as the Centro Group,” said Robert Tsenin.

“Despite [Rebecca’s] 24/7 workload (quite literally) she was always accessible, measured and unflappable.”

In the 2011/12 financial year, Maslen-Stannage also acted for Trade Me Limited on its dual ASX/NZSX IPO (the largest ASX listing of 2011) and the $130 million Bank of Bendigo and Adelaide purchase of Bank of Cyprus Australia.

“When you get on one of those deals where you get dramas and developments every day you become unflappable if you don’t start that way," said Maslen-Stannage, at the awards.

At the same time, Maslen-Stannage served as an elected member of the Freehills Board, contributed to ASIC policy debate as a member of the Law Council Corporations Committee and contributor of submissions on behalf of that body, and lectured at Sydney University.

She accepted the Dealmaker of the Year award from Jlegal managing director Joseph Germano (pictured right)