The mid-year release of the Thomson Reuters league tables has confirmed HWL Ebsworth’s increased market share, with the firm having acted on the 2nd highest number of completed M&A deals in the Australian market for the first half of the year. In what is shaping up to be an interesting and challenging year, the league tables indicate that M&A volumes are at a similar level to last year, which was down from the levels seen in the years prior.
HWL Ebsworth’s Head of the Commercial Group, Jamie Restas commented that:
“While the broader market looks to be slightly softening, we are still seeing a good amount of activity, particularly between participants in the financials industry. There appears to still be a healthy appetite for investment in quality assets, real estate and other businesses. When good investment opportunities are presented, our clients are not hesitating to push forward with their deals.”
HWL Ebsworth’s position in the tables is testament of the firms continued growth and expansion in recent years, now having the largest number of partners of all Australian firms.
Jamie continued with regard to the team:
“It has been an exciting few years for our team, and the numbers really do tell the story.”
HWL Ebsworth’s ranking in the tables shows a consistent increase in the firms M&A activity. Historical results show that, across the same period, the firm ranked 30th in 2014, 11thin 2015, 3rd in 2016 and now 2nd in 2017, by number of completed M&A deals. This result follows a strong performance of advising clients on a number of high profile deals including advising Allegro Funds management on its sale of Great Southern Rail and Centuria Capital Group on it’s $217 million acquisition of 360 Capital Group’s real estate funds management platform, including stakes in two of its listed funds.
Note to Editors:
HWL Ebsworth is the largest legal partnership in Australia according to the most recent partnership surveys published by The Australian and the Australian Financial Review and is the only commercial law firm with an office in every Australian State and Territory.
The firm comprises 1,083 staff including: 220 Partners, 531 other legal staff and 332 support staff across offices in ten locations – Adelaide, Alice Springs, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Norwest (North West Sydney), Perth and Sydney.
HWL Ebsworth is an independent, nationally integrated, full service commercial law firm, providing tailored and commercially oriented legal services.
HWL Ebsworth operates a different business model to the other leading national law practices, and this allows us to offer unrivalled value for money without compromising quality and service. Our low ratio of solicitors to partners ensures that our clients receive optimal access to partner resources for all matters.
For further information, please contact:
Russell Mailler, National Marketing Manager (03) 8644 3569 or rmailler@hwle.com.au