Bell Gully is top New Zealand firm in Thomson M&A legal league tables 2003

Bell Gully advised on the greatest value of completed M&A deals in 2003 of any New Zealand law firm, according to Thomson Financial's Australasian M&A legal league tables.

The firm ranked ninth for completed deals with any Australian or New Zealand involvement, the only New Zealand firm listed in this table.

Bell Gully's ranking was awarded for 12 completed transactions over US$30 million, which together were worth US$7.562 billion (NZ$11.090 billion).

These results include Bell Gully's work on the second-largest deal in Australasia last year - advising ANZ Banking Group (New Zealand) Limited and its parent group on the acquisition of The National Bank of New Zealand Limited.

"Our people worked on a number of significant deals in New Zealand and Australia last year and this result reflects and rewards their hard work," said Brynn Gilbertson, who leads Bell Gully's Corporate/Commercial department.

M&A transactions picked up significantly in the second half of 2003 and we expect that level of activity to continue into 2004."

Thomson Financial compiles details of all deals worth over US$30 million and publishes these rankings twice each year. Further information is available at its website, www.thomson.com/league.

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