Sydney event is “once in a career” opportunity says Minter Ellison’s Bartlett
A former chairman of MinterEllison says the International Bar Association annual conference in Sydney is testament to the high regard in which Australian law firms are held.
Melbourne-based partner Peter Bartlett is treasurer of the IBA and says that having the event in Australia is a “once in a career” opportunity for the country’s legal professionals.
“It will be a long time before we again see such a gathering of the best of the best from the international legal world on our home turf,” Mr Bartlett wrote in a blog post.
The event runs all week and opened on Sunday with a keynote speech from Australia’s Attorney-General George Brandis QC. Throughout the week there are speakers and both working and social sessions.
IBA president Martin Solc says that Sydney is a perfect fit for this year’s annual conference: “The city of Sydney and its diverse inhabitants represent a dynamic and forward-looking spirit that reflects the IBA's contemporary vision as we move further into the 21st century.”
Global M&A stuttered in Q3, top legal advisers named
Global M&A activity was weaker in the third quarter of 2017 as geopolitics and technology continued to challenge clients according to Mergermarket.
Its report on the latest M&A trend shows that Q3 2017 had the lowest volume of deals Q1 2016, with just U$674 billion of deals. It also reveals a shift away from Europe to the US with half of the 10 largest deals targeting the US.
The top legal advisers globally for the first three quarters of 2017 were Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom having advised on 170 deals worth $356.4 billion.
In Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) year-to-date deals had a total value of $434.6 billion, down 7.8% from the same period of 2016. Third quarter deals totalled $172.8 million, down 10.2% from Q3 2016.
Top legal adviser in Asia Pacific for the year-to-date was King & Wood Mallesons by deal count (76) and Kirkland & Ellis by value ($40.5 billion).
Allens has again topped the Mergermarket M&A league tables for the third quarter being ranked number one for deal value in Australasia. Head of M&A Guy Alexander said:
“This is a great result and reflects the range of transactions on which we have worked during the period, including Vocus Group's response on $2.2 billion proposals from KKR and Affinity Equity Partners; Digicert's acquisition of Symantec's Website Security and PKI solutions;and Aristocrat's $634 million acquisition of Plarium.”
Promotion for Beijing asset management lawyer
Melody yang has been promoted to partner at Simmons & Simmons in Beijing.
The RPC, New York state and England & Wales qualified lawyer focuses her practice on asset management and investment funds across a wide range of clients, including international asset managers, Chinese institutional investors and Chinese fund houses.
Yang joined the international firm in 2010.
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