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Bell Gully at top of the legal league tables

Thursday, 21 July 2016, 11:12 am
Press Release: Bell Gully

Robust M&A activity pushes Bell Gully to the top of the legal league tables

WEDNESDAY 20 JULY 2016

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Key roles in major transactions have cemented Bell Gully's position as New Zealand's market leader for mergers and acquisitions.

International legal league tables released in July name Bell Gully as the highest-ranked New Zealand law firm in Australasia based on deals announced in the first half of 2016. Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters and Mergermarket all rank Bell Gully among the top ten Australian and New Zealand law firms, and it is the only New Zealand firm to break into this top tier in any of the three league tables.

Bloomberg ranked Bell Gully in seventh place by Australian and New Zealand deals announced, Mergermarket ranked the firm in eighth place and Thomson Reuters placed Bell Gully tenth. Each credited the firm with involvement in transactions valued at over US$3.6 billion (NZ$5 billion).

“It has been an active year for us, with a number of longstanding clients, and new clients, engaging Bell Gully to assist them with mergers and acquisitions,” said Bell Gully Chair Chris Gordon. Despite disruptions to global markets, Chris anticipates that activity in New Zealand will remain reasonably robust in the second half of 2016. “We are seeing well-run companies with strong balance sheets and a desire to grow through acquisition,” he said.

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The firm is advising on a number of major transactions announced in the first half of the year, including advising Nuplex Industries on a proposal from Allnex Belgium, Fletcher Building on its acquisition of Higgins construction company, Fastway on its sale to Dubai-based logistics firm Aramex and Macpac shareholders on the sale of the company to Australian private equity fund CHAMP Ventures.

In a strong start to the second half of the year, Bell Gully is also advising Vodafone Group plc and Vodafone New Zealand on the NZ$3.4 billion merger of Vodafone NZ with NZX and ASX-listed Sky Network Television Limited, announced in June.

Globally, mergers and acquisitions activity was down in the first half of the year, with Mergermarket partly attributing that to uncertainty caused by the UK’s referendum on European Union membership and the US elections.

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