Dealmaker moves to White & Case in Melbourne

Since launching in October last year, the firm now has 17 partners in Australia

Dealmaker moves to White & Case in Melbourne

White & Case has won over another partner from an Australian rival.

Nirangjan Nagarajah has moved to the Wall Street law firm in Melbourne, expanding its global M&A practice. He was a part of Gilbert + Tobin (G+T) for the last seven years, two and a half years of which as a partner.

“Our ambition in Australia, where we have swiftly been recognized as a leading firm for infrastructure and project finance, is to advise our clients on their most important, complex, cross-border and domestic deals and disputes and ensure that we offer full service in the infrastructure sector,” said White & Case partner John Reiss, who heads the global M&A practice.

“Nirangjan’s arrival enhances the support we provide to our clients in the infrastructure sector, as well as with their corporate transactions, and enables us to deliver a leading M&A advisory capability to both our international clients pursuing investment opportunities in Australia and our Australian clients looking to grow overseas.”

Nagarajah regularly advises on billion-dollar deals in the Australian market. While he has a particular focus on listed company takeovers and schemes of arrangement, he also advises on all matters related to listed entities, including on listing rule compliance, corporate governance, capital management, and takeover defence matters.

In addition to G+T, he has also worked at King & Wood Mallesons, the Takeovers Panel, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

“Nirangjan is a highly regarded, technically excellent and commercially-minded M&A lawyer whose skill set and client relationships dovetail excitingly with our ambitions for our Australian practice,” said White & Case partner Baldwin Cheng, the regional head of the firm’s corporate, finance, and restructuring group in the Asia-Pacific region. “As well as his experience in private practice, Nirangjan will ensure that our clients also benefit from the valuable M&A regulatory perspective he brings as a former lawyer with ASIC and the Takeover Panel.”

Eric Berg, the Asia-Pacific leader at White & Case, said that the firm continues to pursue strategic growth in the region.

“Nirangjan’s arrival following the additions during 2018 of white collar partner Bingna Guo in Beijing and litigation partner Brad Strahorn in Sydney. Nirangjan joins a strong and growing team in Australia, where we have nearly 60 lawyers, including 16 partners.”

The firm also added partner Hamish Macpherson from Herbert Smith Freehills this year. The firm formally launched in Australia in March 2017.