Private Equity

HWL Ebsworth’s private equity team has extensive experience advising both Australian and international private equity sponsors across the full investment lifecycle – from fund formation, tax structuring and capital raising, through to growth equity, buyouts, minority investments, bolt-on and platform acquisitions, leveraged financing, take-private transactions, and ultimately to exit via IPO or trade sale.

We advise on dozens of sponsor-led investments each year, regularly acting for private equity firms, founders, management teams, and portfolio companies across a broad range of industries. This diverse, multi-perspective exposure gives us a unique and practical understanding of key deal drivers – and enables us to deliver commercially astute advice that anticipates the needs of all stakeholders in a transaction.

Our practice is led by Matthew Nelson, a market-leading private equity lawyer who has advised on more than 250 M&A and PE transactions. Matthew is widely regarded as a trusted adviser to sponsors, founders and investors alike. He is supported by a national team of specialists in M&A, banking and finance, tax, competition, employment, intellectual property, real estate, funds, and equity capital markets. Together, we deliver seamlessly integrated, strategic advice with a relentless focus on achieving successful outcomes for our clients.

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Private Equity

Our experience

  • Private equity funds Advised on tens of billions of dollars of private equity transactions acting for domestic and global funds, founders and portfolio companies. Some of these transactions are among the largest and most complex private treaty M&A deals in the years they were completed. This includes transactions involving Culture Kings, Princess Polly, Petal & Pup, Quay Australia, Royans Group, iM3, Bova Aus, RM Williams, Optus Insurance, Envizi, Greenergy, Global IT Factory and many others.
  • Summit Partners Advised US private equity heavyweight, Summit Partners, on all of its investments and disposals in Australia with an aggregate transaction value in excess of $2 billion.
  • Pacific Equity Partners Advised PEP-backed, ATOM Group, on a series of bolt-on acquisitions.
  • Prysm Capital Advised US PE fund as lead investor on its $350 million investment in Pet Circle alongside TDM Growth Partners and AirTree Ventures.
  • Genstar Capital Advised growth equity fund, Genstar Capital, on its majority investment in the world’s leading tech protection company, Likewize, alongside the SoftBank Vision Fund.
  • Nomura Advised Nomura on its acquisition of Planit Testing The Growth Fund by way of competitive auction process.
  • MBB Group Advised on the sale of MBB Group to Seidler Equity Australia.
  • Herron Todd White Advising on the sale of 100% of its shares in the Herron Todd White group of companies to Quadrant Private Equity.
  • Allegro Funds Management in relation to the acquisition of Great Southern Rail from UK listed Serco and subsequent disposal to Quadrant Private Equity for $110 million.