Ashurst attracts new Australian M&A head from G+T

Ashurst has attracted a new M&A head (Australia) in Gilbert + Tobin’s (G+T) Neil Pathak.

Pathak previously co-led G+T’s corporate/M&A practice. He commences with Ashurst as a senior partner on 1 July.

“Neil has a stellar reputation in the market developed through advising on some of the most significant corporate transactions in the country for more than two decades. His arrival at Ashurst is a sign of our growing Australian corporate team”, said John Brewster and Anton Harris, co-heads of corporate transactions (Australia).

They confirmed that as head of M&A, Pathak will work together with them to extend Ashurst’s offering to listed corporates and private equity clients.

“Ashurst has identified a number of practice areas that we will target for further investment by 2027 as part of our firm-wide global strategy. This includes building on our corporate team's strong public M&A and private capital offering to meet growing client demand”, Ashurst global CEO Paul Jenkins explained.

For more than 25 years, Pathak has been involved with major public M&A and private equity deals. He concentrates on listed company takeovers, cross-border acquisitions, private equity transactions and corporate governance.

He is on the Takeovers Panel, and was also on the board of partners at G+T. He has worked across London  and Australia.

Pathak will be joined by fellow G+T alum Susannah Macknay, who started with Ashurst yesterday as a partner. Macknay focuses on private equity and cross-border M&A deals; she also brings considerable experience from over 10 years spent with Slaughter and May’s London office.

Pathak and Macknay will be operating from the firm’s Melbourne office.