News
Bell Gully wins deal team and deal of year awards
Bell Gully has been named a winner in two categories at the ALB Australasian Law Awards announced in Sydney on April 6.
The New Zealand Deal Team of the Year award went to Bell Gully for its corporate/M&A work and the firm was also a joint winner in the New Zealand Deal of the Year category for its leading role in the Independent Newpapers Limited – Sky Network TV merger.
The ALB awards recognise the key transactions in Australia and New Zealand in 2005 and the legal excellence among the firms that advised on them.
The finalists in each deal category were assessed against criteria including deal value, complexity, innovative deal structure, timeframe for completion and significance to the market. Finalists in each firm or team category were recognised for their outstanding client service as well as their ability to combine rigorous analysis with astute judgment to give clients a competitive edge.
The Deal Team of the Year award recognises Bell Gully's work on many major corporate transactions in 2005, including the INL-Sky deal, Goodman Fielder Initial Public Offering, Woolworths' (Australia) acquisition of Foodland Associated Limited's New Zealand supermarket business and Rank Group’s sale of New Zealand Dairy Foods assets to Fonterra and its purchase of Meadow Fresh NZ Limited from Fonterra.
In the New Zealand Deal of the Year. Bell Gully advised INL on its merger with Sky TV, a complex transaction with a total value of NZ$3.27 billion. Bell Gully partner Andrew Brown led the team, which also included partners Peter Castle and Jill Mallon and solicitors Charlotte Hedley and Jenny Ryan.
Other firms named as joint winners of this award were Buddle Findlay, Allens Arthur Robinson, Chapman Tripp, Linklaters, Sullivan & Cromwell, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, as well as Lindsay McKay QC.
Andrew Brown says he is delighted the team received recognition for the great work they did on what was one of New Zealand's largest and most novel and complex deals last year.
For more information, please contact:
Josephine Gallagher
Communications Manager
64 9 916 8664 or 021 190 3185
