Clayton Utz recognised at 2011 CFO DealBook Awards

Clayton Utz's reputation for legal excellence and commitment to corporate social responsibility has been recognised at the 2011 CFO DealBook Awards, with the Firm awarded a Highly Commended in the Corporate Law Firm of the Year category.

Clayton Utz was one of five finalists for the Corporate Law Firm of the Year award, announced at the 2011 CFO DealBook Awards luncheon held in Sydney last Friday. The award is judged against a number of criteria including: initiatives that have improved the quality and delivery of service to clients, commitment to CSR, initiatives that have helped the corporate community, innovative HR programs to aid with staff retention and work-life balance and, significant client outcomes and wins.

Clayton Utz Chief Executive Partner Darryl McDonough said it was pleasing to see the Firm recognised for the transactions and client and staff initiatives it had undertaken in FY2011. "We are fortunate to have a fantastic base of clients who regularly instruct us on many of the market's most complex corporate transactions. Last financial year was no exception, as our No. 1 ranking in the Thomson Reuters Full Year 2010 M&A League Tables^[1] reflects. That a number of the transactions on which we advised were also acknowledged with awards this year must be gratifying for our clients, and I congratulate the deal teams who advised on the winning deals," he said.

Among the many high-profile deals on which Clayton Utz advised during FY2011 were: AMP Limited's $14.6 billion acquisition of AXA Asia Pacific Holding's Australian and New Zealand businesses; Agrium's A$ 1billion+ acquisition of AWB; Barrick Gold Corporation's A$7.1 billion bid to acquire ASX and TSX listed Equinox Minerals Limited; QR National's A$6.7 billion Initial Public Offering, and; Origin Energy's innovative A$2.3 billion entitlement offer and €500 million hybrid issue, as part of its $3.25 billion acquisition of the NSW energy retail assets of Country Energy and Integral Energy and the gentrader rights in respect of the Eraring power station.

Three of these deals were acknowledged at this year's CFO DealBook Awards:

• IPO of the Year: QR National's A$6.7 billion IPO (Lead partners: Stuart Byrne, Tim Reid);
• Secondary Market Equity Raising of the Year: Origin Energy's A$2.3 billion entitlement offer (Lead partner: Stuart Byrne); and
• M&A of the Year: AMP's acquisition of AXA Asia Pacific's Australian and New Zealand businesses (Lead partners: Rod Halstead and Jonathan Algar).

The CFO DealBook Awards recognise the best in Australian finance over a 12-month period, including CFOs, people and teams, finance houses, deals, and professional services firms, across 23 award categories.

^[1] Clayton Utz was awarded a No. 1 ranking (by value) in announced deals with any Australian or New Zealand involvement in the Thomson Reuters Full Year 2010 M&A Legal Advisor League Tables; more recently Clayton Utz was awarded a No. 1 ranking by value in announced deals with any Australian or New Zealand involvement in the Bloomberg Q2 2011 M&A Legal Advisor League Tables, and No. 1 ranking (by value) in completed deals with any Australian or New Zealand involvement in the Thomson Reuters Q1 2011 M&A Legal Advisor League Tables.^{Back to article}