S&C’s U.S. legal practice in Australia and New Zealand covers a wide variety of capital markets transactions, corporate transactions, project financings and mergers and acquisitions. In addition, we provide advice on regulatory and corporate governance matters and also assist in the handling of litigation and investigations. For more on our Australia and New Zealand practice, click any link at the top of the right column.

Together, our Melbourne and Sydney offices serve more than 80 clients in Australia and New Zealand, which include many of the region’s major corporations, commercial banks and governmental issuers. Our client base comes from a broad variety of sectors, including resources, banking and finance, retail, telecommunications, property, insurance, industrial and commercial, energy, leisure, infrastructure, and investment and financial services.

Our Australasian practice has been recognized for our significant work in the region and we regularly advise on award-winning deals. Recent deals on which we have advised which have been recognized as deals of the year include:

Asciano

$1.0 billion debt offering, 2010
U.S. counsel to Asciano
Australian Issuer of the Year (International Bond Markets), INSTO Magazine
Offshore Public Deal of the Year, KangaNews Magazine

Carlyle and TPG – Healthscope

$2.3 billion acquisition financing, 2010
U.S. counsel to Healthscope Limited
Best Debt Finance Deal, FinanceAsia

Commonwealth Bank of Australia

A$ 2 billion equity placement to fund its acquisition of BankWest, 2008
U.S. counsel to Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Best Secondary Offering in Australia and New Zealand, FinanceAsia
Equity Market Deal of the Year, ALB Australasian Law Awards

Fortescue Metals

$2.04 billion five-year senior notes, 2010
U.S. counsel to Fortescue
Best International Bond Deal, FinanceAsia

Kirin Holdings – Lion Nathan

A$ 3.31 billion acquisition of Lion Nathan by Kirin Holdings, 2009
U.S. counsel to Kirin in respect of U.S. financing matters
M&A Deal of the Year, ALB Australasian Law Awards

Newcrest Mining– Lihir Gold

A$ 9.5 billion acquisition of Lihir, 2010
U.S. counsel to Lihir
Best M&A Deal, FinanceAsia
M&A Deal of the Year, ALB Australasian Law Awards  

PNG LNG

$18 billion LNG Project, 2009/2010
Counsel to the project company
Deal of the Year 2010, Infrastructure Journal
Project Finance Deal of the Year, ALB Australasian Law Awards
Asia Pacific Deal of the Year, PFI
Asia-Pacific Oil and Gas Deal of the Year, Project Finance
Energy Projects: Oil & Gas Team of the Year, Chambers USA Award for Excellence 2010
Deals of the Year, Asian-MENA Counsel

QR National

A$ 4.05 billion (IPO), 2010
U.S. counsel to issuer and selling shareholder
Best IPO, FinanceAsia
Australian Deal of the Year, ALB Australasian Law Awards
Equity Market Deal of the Year, ALB Australasian Law Awards

Wesfarmers Limited

A$ 2.6 billion global rights offering, 2008
U.S. counsel to ABN AMRO Equity Capital Markets Australia Limited; Deutsche Bank AG, Sydney Branch; Goldman Sachs JBWere Pty Ltd.; J.P. Morgan Australia Limited; Macquarie Capital Advisers Limited; and UBS AG, Australia Branch, as joint lead managers on U.S. law
Secondary Equity Raising of the Year, CFO Magazine