Allens named Private Equity Legal Adviser of the Year

Allens has been named Private Equity Legal Adviser of the year in the Mergermarket Australia M&A Awards 2020.

The win caps off a momentous year for the private equity team at Allens, which has advised on a number of the largest and most high-profile private equity transactions in the Australian market.

These include, among others:

• advising Cerberus on the acquisition of Westpac's Strategic Alliances business;
• advising Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) on the acquisition of the Australian and New Zealand operations of educational resources business, Modern Star;
• advising KKR on the acquisition of Arnott's from Campbell, valued at approximately $3.4 billion;
• advising PEP on its acquisition of Auto Pacific;
• advising TA Associates on the acquisition of Honan Insurance Group; and
• advising Advent International on the acquisition of Transaction Services Group and subsequent bolt-on acquisition of My Xplor.

The firm also advised on two transactions recognised in the Mergermarket awards: Consumer M&A Deal of the Year - Bellamy's Australia/China Mengniu Dairy (in which Allens advised Bellamy's Australia); and Private Equity Deal of the Year - PEP/Zenith Energy (in which Allens advised Zenith Energy).

'We are honoured to have been entrusted by our clients to work alongside them on their most important transactions, particularly during such challenging times,' said co-head of private equity, Tom Story.

'Despite the ongoing uncertainty, we believe there are opportunities for PE managers to adapt and respond to what's ahead,' said co-head of private equity, Mark Malinas.

'Deals have been inked during COVID-19 and there will be more to come.'

Allens announced an expanded private equity team in July, with three of the firm's 15 new partners focusing on the private equity market and a further four regularly advising private equity sponsor clients.

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