Our Work

2008

CPPIB takeover offer for Auckland International Airport
Bell Gully advised Canada Pension Plan Investment Board on its partial takeover offer for, and proposed amalgamation with, Auckland International Airport Limited. While this deal did not complete, it remains one of the biggest takeover offers in New Zealand corporate history.

Auckland Regional Holdings' redevelopment of the Wynyard Precinct
Bell Gully is acting for Auckland Regional Holdings, the asset-owning statutory arm of Auckland Regional Council, on the redevelopment of Wynyard Precinct on Auckland's waterfront. The multi-billion-dollar project involves a redevelopment of over 18 hectares of Auckland prime waterfront land and won the Property and Construction Deal of the Year at the ALB Australasian Law Awards 2008.

CKI's purchase of Vector's Wellington assets
Bell Gully acted as New Zealand counsel to Cheung Kong Infrastructure (CKI), the largest listed infrastructure company in Hong Kong, in its successful bid to purchase Vector's Wellington electricity network.

AMP Capital Investors purchase and sale of units to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority
Advised AMP Capital Investors (New Zealand) Limited on the purchase of 50% of the manager of AMP NZ Office Trust and units in AMP NZ Office Trust, and the subsequent sale of 50% of the manager and the sale of 19.9% of the units in AMP NZ Office Trust to entities associated with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

ABB's electronics industry acquisition
Bell Gully advised international power and automation technology group ABB on its acquisition of the business assets of New Zealand company Vectek Electronics. Vectek has developed technology to improve the quality of the power supply in industrial installations and will operate as part of ABB's Automation Products division.

ABN AMRO Capital Advisory (Australia)
Advising investment bank ABN AMRO on its proposed purchase of a 36% stake in the property arm of the McConnell Group, McConnell Property.

2007

Fletcher Building's acquisition of Formica
Bell Gully advised New Zealand building products manufacturer Fletcher Building on the acquisition of US-based Formica Inc. Bell Gully advised on all aspects of the transaction which resulted in the creation of the largest global manufacturer of decorative surfaces and high-pressure laminates in the world. The transaction was named New Zealand Deal of the Year at the ALB Australasian Law Awards 2008.

Ironbridge takeover of CanWest Mediaworks
Advised Ironbridge Capital, a leading independent Australasian private equity group, on its takeover of all the shares and options in New Zealand media company CanWest MediaWorks. Ironbridge's offer to acquire all of the shares in MediaWorks followed a highly contested bidding process for CanWest's 70% stake.

Xero initial public offering
Bell Gully advised New Zealand web-based accounting software firm Xero on its initial public offering and successful float on the New Zealand Stock Exchange, the first ever listing in New Zealand of an early stage technology company.

Opus initial public offering
Bell Gully advised Opus International Consultants Limited on its initial public share offering and listing on the NZSX in October 2007. Opus is a leading international multidisciplinary infrastructure consultancy and the largest professional consultancy in New Zealand.

Datasquirt initial public offering
Bell Gully advised contact centre software company Datasquirt on the New Zealand aspects of its Australian IPO and ASX listing which raised A$7.2 million (NZ$8.4 million) to fund its international expansion plans.

T3 Sale
Bell Gully acted as New Zealand counsel to the Commonwealth of Australia and to Telstra Corporation on the A$15.5 billion sale of the third tranche of the Australian Government’s stake in Telstra, in which it reduced its stake from 51.8% to 17% of Telstra.

Contact Energy's acquisition of Rockgas
Bell Gully advised Contact Energy on its acquisition of the Rockgas LPG business, providing Contact Energy with a unique platform to supply not only electricity and reticulated natural gas, but LPG for those homes and businesses which are not connected to gas networks or wish to use LPG to manage peak energy demands.

Rakon Limited purchase of C-MAC MicroTechnology's Frequency Control Products division
Bell Gully advised New Zealand technology company Rakon on the acquisition of the Frequency Control Products division of C-MAC MicroTechnology of France. The acquisition was funded by a NZ$60 million equity placement to institutional and habitual investors.

2006

Carter Holt Harvey's sale of its forestry business to Hancock Natural Resources Group
Bell Gully advised Carter Holt Harvey, a New Zealand-based forest products company and also New Zealand's largest forest owner, on the sale of its forestry business comprising substantially all of its forestry interests including approximately 260,000 hectares of freehold and non-freehold forestry estate, to US-based forestry manager Hancock Natural Resource Group Inc. for in excess of NZ$1.5 billion. This was one of the biggest and most complex forestry and property sales in New Zealand's history.

Carter Holt Harvey takeover by Rank Group
Bell Gully advised Carter Holt Harvey on the NZ$514 million second takeover offer for the forest products company by Rank Group. We had earlier separately advised Rank Group on funding and aspects of the acquisition of International Paper's 50.5% shareholding in Carter Holt Harvey and related issues in connection with Rank Group’s successful first takeover in 2005, which gave it control of the forest products company. It was the first time in New Zealand that a second takeover offer was launched immediately following the closing of the first. The success of the second takeover offer allowed Rank Group to delist Carter Holt Harvey, then one of New Zealand’s largest listed companies.

Rank takeover of Burns Philp
Bell Gully advised Rank Group on the New Zealand law aspects of its A$1.3 billion takeover of the remaining 42% of food company Burns, Philp & Company Limited it did not already own. After three extensions of the offer deadline, the successful takeover saw Rank Group privatise Burns Philp, which it had first invested in in 1997.

Waste Management merger with Transpacific Industries Group
Bell Gully advised Waste Management on its merger with Australia's Transpacific Industries Group, which saw Waste Management amalgamate into a New Zealand subsidiary of Transpacific. Waste Management shareholders received an amalgamation payment plus a dividend payment amounting in total to NZ$903 million. The transaction required approvals from Waste Management shareholders and the approval of the Overseas Investment Office. This ground-breaking transaction is the only cash amalgamation involving a public company that has ever occurred in New Zealand.

Contact Energy merger with Origin Energy
Bell Gully advised Contact Energy, New Zealand's second largest listed company, on a potential A$8 billion merger (which ultimately did not proceed) with Origin Energy to create Australasia's largest integrated energy company.

Rakon initial public offering
Bell Gully advised Rakon, a world leading high performance quartz crystal components manufacturer, on its very successful initial public offering and listing on the NZX. The team advised Rakon and its selling shareholder on a wide range of sale and listing options for the company, which has developed what it believes to be the world's smallest GPS radio frequency receiver module.