Mergers & Acquisitions

Drawing value from every player

Expertise

Our team has significant M&A experience, including takeovers (friendly and hostile), private company M&A, contested bids and tender processes, ‘distressed M&A’ and business restructuring.
 
Many of our lawyers are experts in particular industry sectors including financial services, private equity, telecommunications, healthcare and aged care, energy, forestry, dairy, construction, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, food and beverage, aviation, infrastructure and private equity.

Experience

Our experience includes advising:

• QIC on its acquisition of a 50% interest in Vector's New Zealand and Australian metering business, valuing Vector metering at $2.51b.
• Pacific Equity Partners on its sale of Evolution Healthcare to QIC.
• Tilt Renewables on its NZ$3.24 billion takeover by way of scheme of arrangement.
• Fonterra on its sale of its China farms, which consisted of two significant offshore transactions totalling $555 million.
• Fonterra on its $633 million sale of a 50% share in DFE Pharma to CVC. 
• Trade Me on its takeover by UK private equity firm Apax Partners by way of scheme of arrangement for $2.6 billion.
• Carlyle Group on its US$717 million acquisition of Accolade Wines.
• Riverside on its acquisition of the Hiway Group.
• Samling Group on the sale of Hikurangi Forest Farms, which owns 35,000 ha of forestry in Gisborne.
• Advent International on its acquisition, through its portfolio company Industria Chimica Emiliana, of New Zealand Pharmaceuticals.
• Pencarrow Private Equity on its minority investment in "The Collective" (Epicurean Dairy Holdings Limited).
• Advent International on its $1.05 billion acquisition of Nuplex Industries by way of a scheme of arrangement (M&A Deal of the Year and New Zealand Deal of the Year, 2017 New Zealand Law Awards).
• Fisher Funds on its $310 million purchase of Kiwi Wealth.
• Pacific Equity Partners on its sale of Patties Foods to PAG, and the sale of UP Education.
• On the sale of Trustpower's retail business to Mercury Energy.
• Nintex on its acquisition of process management software company Promapp.
• Pacific Equity Partners on its acquisition of Evolution Healthcare.
• intelliHUB on its acquisition of the Metrix metering business from Mercury Energy (intelliHUB is a Pacific Equity Partners portfolio entity).
• Pacific Equity Partners on its sale of Manuka Health New Zealand (and on its earlier acquisition of MHNZ).
• The founder on the sale of International Volunteer HQ to Mercury Capital.
• The shareholders of Waipapa Pine Limited on the sale of Waipapa Pine and Renewable Wood Fuels to Fletcher Building.
• Fidelity Life, New Zealand’s largest NZ-owned life insurer, on the New Zealand Superannuation Fund's $100 million cornerstone investment.
• Inspired Education on its acquisition of the ACG schools business from Pacific Equity Partners.
• CPE Capital (formerly CHAMP Private Equity) on several key acquisitions and investments.
• PaySauce on its acquisition by Energy Mad Limited and subsequent reverse listing on the NZX.
• Bounty Fresh on its $430 million takeover of Tegel.
• Manuka Health New Zealand Limited on its acquisition of Neuseelandhaus GmbH, a German based distributor.
• Pacific Equity Partners on its acquisition of the APAC business of Horizon Global. 
• Primavera Capital and Shanghai Pharma on their consortium acquisition (via a scheme of arrangement) of Vitaco Holdings.
• Lion on its acquisitions of Havana Coffee, and Panhead, Harringtons and Emerson's craft breweries. 
• Fairfax on its proposed merger with NZME.
• Dell on the New Zealand aspects of its acquisition of EMC.
• Meridian Energy and Genesis Energy on its participation in the Mixed Ownership Programme.
• Newmont Mining Corporation on its US$101 million divestment of the Waihi Gold Mine to OceanaGold.
• Telecom (now Spark) on the demerger of Telecom into two separate entities, and on Telecom and Chorus’ involvement in the Government’s Ultra-Fast Broadband initiative.