Clifford Chance

Nine international and interstate law firms have entered the WA market in the past two-and-a-half years and more are likely to follow. The industry is still debating what it really means.

AUSTRALIAN law firm Allens Arthur Robinson has added to the extraordinary variety in the Australian legal sector by finding a new way to come together with its international partner.

The corporate advisory market is in the doldrums as global forces restrain players.

Global chemical manufacturer Rockwood Holdings is set to acquire a 49 per cent stake in Perth-based Talison Lithium, just less than a year after its proposed $700 million takeover bid for the miner collapsed.

International law firm Clifford Chance has appointed Paul Lingard as a partner in its Perth office.Mr Lingard was a partner at King and Wood Mallesons for four years until 2014 after joining the firm in 2002.

SPECIAL REPORT: A complementary skill set and vast experience put CCI’s leadership team on the right track.

Clifford Chance has promoted Philip Sealey to partner in the finance division of its Perth office.Mr Sealey joined the law firm in 2006 and has also worked in its Frankfurt and Paris offices.

SPECIAL REPORT: Law firms are having to adapt as more businesses build in-house legal teams and squeeze billing rates.

Law firm Clifford Chance has lost the two partners who established the forerunner to its Perth office, after Michael Lishman accepted an offer to join corporate advisory firm Gresham Partners. His move follows the retirement of Ian Cochrane at the end of last year.

Woodside Petroleum has substantially reshaped its project portfolio after buying a minority interest in Chevron’s half-built Wheatstone LNG plant, postponing its planned Browse LNG project and acquiring a stake in a Canadian LNG development.

Clifford Chance, Ashurst and Gilbert + Tobin have been ranked as the top law firms in the Business News 2014 corporate finance league table, but for very different reasons.

Law firms Clifford Chance and Lavan Legal have announced new appointments, with Paul Vinci taking the helm as managing partner and Jon Carson as senior partner of Clifford’s Perth office.

Most of the big law firms in Perth have shrunk in size over the past year, with Ashurst experiencing the biggest drop in staff, while only a couple of smaller firms have achieved significant growth, research by Business News has found.

Programmed Maintenance Services’ six-month pursuit of its larger competitor, Skilled Group, has paid off, with the Melbourne-based company backing a $424 million takeover offer.

Upwards of 130 corporate finance transactions worth more than $11 billion were announced in WA in the June quarter, but most notable was a handful of landmark M&A deals.

Former corporate lawyer Ian Cochrane has joined the board of Ausdrill as deputy chairman, adding to a suite of board positions on the private companies of some of Perth’s wealthiest families.

SPECIAL REPORT: Local firms Azure Capital and Hartleys punched above their weight in 2015 in what was a lucrative year for a handful of top corporate advisers in WA. Click through to see which corporate advisers, lawyers and brokers managed 470 M&A and capital raising deals.

This month's Subscriber News features: McIntosh & Son, Pulse Property Solutions, Nilsen WA, Clifford Chance, SwanCare Group and Support Corp.

Plymouth Minerals has appointed John Sanders as technical manager and Robert Jewson as its business development manager.

Chartered accounting and advisory firm PKF Lawler has appointed Nikki Shen as a partner in its audit and assurance team. Ms Shen previously served as audit director for William Buck, where she worked for eight years. Prior to that she was audit manager in Moore Stephens’ Singapore office.

A national tourism business backed by Quadrant Private Equity has acquired Rottnest Express, one week after a food services business also backed by Quadrant announced plans to buy family-owned Sealanes.

Donald Trump’s surprise victory in the US election two weeks ago is already having ramifications for world trade, with his confirmation today he will withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership likely to spark a recalibration of plans among nations in the region.

Three leading professionals have joined forces to take control of the Peppermint Grove branch of the Liberal Party, which is influential in the preselection process for Colin Barnett’s state seat of Cottesloe.

SPECIAL REPORT: Investment bank Gresham Partners and law firm King & Wood Mallesons were the top advisers on mergers and acquisitions in WA in 2016.

SPECIAL REPORT: The shake-out in Perth’s legal services market is producing some surprising winners and losers, with one of the best performers being a firm many had expected to wither.

Junior explorer AVZ Minerals has become subject to Supreme Court action after a Mauritius-based private resources investment firm claimed ownership of a lithium deposit in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which AVZ said last month it would be acquiring a major stake in.

SPECIAL REPORT: The mergers and acquisitions market was eventful in the March quarter, with Chinese and private equity investors to the fore, multiple WA businesses on the block, and a surprise advisory switch on a key takeover.

Changes at Clifford Chance

Local law firms make moves

SPECIAL REPORT: Perth companies Macmahon Holdings and ASG Group have illustrated how contested takeover deals can deliver unexpected outcomes.