Freehills was last night awarded Law Firm of the Year by INSTO magazine at the 10th annual 2008 SAAB INSTO Distinction Awards.
Hosted in the new Victor Trumper function room at the Sydney Cricket Ground, the annual awards recognise the achievements and successes of Australia’s major commercial banks, investment banks, corporates, stockbrokers, law firms and other key industry participants. Finalists were judged by INSTO magazine subscribers, industry researchers and peers.
Freehills’ Managing Partner, Mark Rigotti, said the firm was honoured to receive the award which reflects the continuous support of its clients and depth of talent of its lawyers.
“It is an honour to win this prestigious award, but it could not have been won without the immense support from our clients who provide us with the opportunities to work on leading transactions, and the dedication of our lawyers who have played key roles in some of the most important deals and transactions over the past year,” he said.
Mr Rigotti said the firm had enjoyed a busy and successful year despite the global economic crisis. He said the firm remained optimistic and well positioned to continue its commitment to delivering innovative and value-added services to its clients.
“It has been a busy year for the firm in challenging circumstances, however we remain committed to providing the highest level of service to our clients who are demanding increasingly innovative solutions,” he concluded.
Freehills was also recognised for its role as legal adviser on BUPA Australia’s A$2.4 billion merger with MBF which received the Innovative Deal of the Year award.
Background
Mergers and acquisitions league tables
The firm maintained its position as Australasia’s leading M&A legal adviser in the competitive mergers and acquisitions league tables. Freehills took the number one rank for all Australia and New Zealand categories in the 2008 Thomson Reuters M&A Legal Advisor League Tables and the firm also topped the 2008 full-year Bloomberg M&A League Tables for Australia and New Zealand, for the fifth year in a row.
FinanceAsia Awards 2008
The following deals, which involved Freehills, won in their categories at the 2008 FinanceAsia Awards:
- Best Secondary Offering (Joint Winner) – Commonwealth Bank of Australia, A$2.0 billion equity placement
- Best Project Finance Deal – NCIG coal export terminal, A$1.6 billion
- Most Innovative Deal – Gunns Limited, A$334 million equity placement
- FinanceAsia’s Deal of the Year for Malaysia for 2008 – Santos US$2.5 billion partnership with PETRONAS to develop the Gladstone LNG project.
Landmark deals 2008
Freehills acted on many of the landmark deals announced during 2008, including:
- Acting for BUPA Australia on its A$2.4 billion merger with MBF
- Advising Santos on the US$2.5 billion partnership with PETRONAS
- National Hire Group Limited’s $2.9 billion scheme of arrangement with The Carlyle Group to acquire Coates Hire Limited. We also advised The Carlyle Group in relation to its financing to acquire all of the shares of Coates Hire
- Advising Commonwealth Bank of Australia on its A$2.1 billion acquisition of BankWest.
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