Matthew Nelson
Matthew Nelson is a corporate and private equity Partner specialising in mergers and acquisitions and complex corporate transactions. He leads HWLE’s private equity practice and is a Practice Group Head in our National Corporate & Commercial Group, which is one of the largest corporate and commercial practice groups in Australia.
Matthew regularly advises on sale processes, share purchase agreements, joint ventures, shareholder agreements, Australian foreign investment rules, warranty and indemnity insurance, corporate restructures and general corporate and commercial matters.
Matthew has a prolific record in completing over 200 M&A transactions over the past decade in a career spanning practice in London, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. He is one of Australia’s most active M&A advisers and regularly advises boards, investors and organisations on strategic matters of significance.
Matthew’s clients describe him as “a strategic thinker and effective negotiator”, “highly responsive” and “technically excellent and commercially pragmatic”. Prior to joining HWL Ebsworth, Matthew practised at global magic circle and silver circle firms.
Experience
Matthew’s recent experience includes:
- 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;
- Summit Partners: Legal adviser to US private equity heavyweight, Summit Partners, on multiple investments in Australia;
- a.k.a. Brands: Advised NYSE-listed, a.k.a. Brands (NYSE: AKA), on all of its investments in Australia (including the acquisition of Culture Kings, which was one of the largest private equity backed deals of 2021 in Australia) and the Australian aspects of its subsequent $2 billion listing on the New York Stock Exchange;
- Nomura: Advised major Japanese institution, Nomura, on its $300 million acquisition of a global IT services company from Australian private equity firm, The Growth Fund;
- Prysm Capital: Advised US private equity fund, Prysm Capital, on its $255 million investment in Australian unicorn Pet Circle;
- Nature’s Care: Advised on the trade sale of Nature’s Care, a leading vitamin and supplements business, to a Chinese private equity consortium by way of competitive sale process. The deal was one of the largest private equity transactions in Australia in 2018 and earned his team a nomination in the finals of the Australian Law Awards 2018; and
- Quantum Funds: Advised a George Soros led hedge fund on its proposed acquisition of the largest independent fuel retailer in Australia for $800 million.