Seven top firms have dominated Greater China into Australia deals in fiscal 2017, data from Mergermarket show.
And despite two downtrends in Greater China and Australia, Chinese investors poured money into Australian assets last financial year, benefiting the legal advisers that acted on the deals.
Mergermarket said that bids from Greater China in Australia increased 126% on the year to US$16.2bn in fiscal 2017. This volume, spread across 31 deals, handily beat the US$7.1bn across 25 deals in fiscal 2016.
The uptick came despite total outbound investment from Greater China dipping 17% year-on-year, and overall inbound investment into Australia dropping 23% compared to the previous period.
As a percentage of total inbound investment into Australia in the last year, Chinese capital accounted for 54.4% of total value, up from 18.5% in 2016 and 16.6% in 2015.
Investments in energy, mining, and utilities assets in Australia by Greater China investors yet again increased. Deals in this sector accounted for 83.6% of all Australian inbound investment from Greater China last financial year, compared to 52.8% in 2016 and 23.2% in 2015.
The firms that dominated the Greater China into Australia deals space last financial year are:
TOP BUY-SIDE LEGAL ADVISORS BY VOLUME
King & Wood Mallesons – US$18.4bn
Allens – US$6.7bn
MinterEllison – US$6.6bn
Baker McKenzie – US$6.5bn
Allen & Overy – US$4.3bn
TOP SELL-SIDE LEGAL ADVISORS BY VOLUME
Allens – US$14.3bn
Herbert Smith Freehills – US$5.2bn
Gilbert + Tobin – US$3.4bn
MinterEllison – US$3.2bn
King & Wood Mallesons – US$2.3bn
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