HWL Ebsworth has topped the Australian league tables for advising on the highest number of equity and equity related deals in 2020, according to Refinitiv and Bloomberg’s end of year Global Capital Markets Legal Reviews. The first place ranking marks the second year running that HWL Ebsworth has topped the ECM league tables for deal count.
Advising on over 100 deals, including 10 IPOs, to raise more than $1.7 billion in equity, the corporate team’s strong performance has been bolstered by a flurry of capital raisings in the second half of 2020 from WA based energy and resources clients, and has resulted in an increase in the firm’s overall market share. The largest capital raisings included: Ingenia Communities’ $175 million placement and share purchase plan; Centuria Industrial REIT’s fully underwritten $130 placement; Bellevue Gold’s $135 million placement and share purchase plan; and Chalice Gold Mines’ $110 million placement and share purchase plan.
The firm also ranked seventh Australia wide for volume of mid-market M&A deals (up to USD500 million) according to Refinitiv’s 2020 Global Mid-Market M&A Legal Review. The corporate team advised on 46 eligible deals valued at $1.6 billion, including: Centuria Capital’s $417 million acquisition of the Telstra Data Centre in Clayton, Victoria – the largest individual industrial asset deal to be completed in Australia; Dacian Gold’s $285 million agreement with NTM Gold Limited to acquire 100% of the shares in NTM; Shanghai Stock Exchange listed Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining’s USD105 million acquisition of the Bibiani Gold Mine in Ghana from Resolute Mining; and Vault Intelligence’s $60 million entry into a scheme implementation deed with Damstra Holdings.
HWL Ebsworth’s Head of the Corporate and Commercial Group, Jamie Restas commented that: “The results are a testament to the hard work put in by our ECM and M&A teams over many years to grow the practice to this size, with the end goal be the clear market leader in the mid-market space.”
Jamie continued with regard to the team:
“2020 was a busy year for our ECM and M&A teams – in trying conditions, the numbers speak for themselves. Importantly, following a strong start to the year, we anticipate further growth in 2021 as the Australian and global economies continues to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and market confidence returns.”
Note to Editors:
HWL Ebsworth is the largest legal partnership in Australia according to the most recent partnership surveys published by the Australian Financial Review.
The firm comprises 1,365 staff including 256 Partners, 777 other legal staff and 332 support staff across offices in nine locations – Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Melbourne, Hobart, 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, Chief Strategy Officer (03) 8644 3569 or rmailler@hwle.com.au