Gavin is recognised as a specialist corporate adviser to leading New Zealand companies.

His expertise includes mergers and acquisitions, public issues of securities, share flotations and stock exchange listing, compliance with stock exchange listing rules, underwriting, joint venture agreements, shareholders agreements and company law.

He has worked on many of the major corporate transactions in New Zealand in recent years, involving clients such as Air New Zealand, Rank Group, Waste Management, Mainfreight and DB Breweries.

Chambers Global 2008 describes Gavin as "one of the Auckland office's leading figures" and recognises him as a "specialist corporate adviser to leading companies".

PLC Which Lawyer? 2008 and IFLR1000 2009 list Gavin as a leading M&A lawyer and IFLR1000 2007 as a leading corporate governance lawyer. The Who's Who Legal 2008 and the Legal Media Group's M&A Lawyers Expert Guide also recognise Gavin for his M&A work.

Qualifications

BA, LLB, University of Auckland

Admitted

1984 New Zealand

Publications

Contact

Email: Gavin Macdonald

DDI: 64 9 916 8938

Mobile: 64 21 660 169

Download Vcard:

Areas of Expertise

Recent Work

CPPIB takeover offer for Auckland International Airport
Bell Gully advised Canada Pension Plan Investment Board on its partial takeover offer for, and proposed amalgamation with, Auckland International Airport Limited.

Waste Management merger with Transpacific Industries
Advised Waste Management on its merger with Australia's Transpacific Industries, which saw Waste Management amalgamate into a New Zealand subsidiary of Transpacific.  Waste Management shareholders received an amalgamation payment, plus a dividend payment amounting in total to NZ$903 million. This ground-breaking transaction is the only cash amalgamation involving a public company that has ever occurred in New Zealand.

Rank Group takeover of Burns Philp
Advised Rank Group on the New Zealand law aspects of its A$1.3 billion takeover of the remaining 42% of food company Burns, Philp & Company Limited. After three extensions of the offer deadline, the successful takeover saw Rank Group privatise Burns Philp, which it had first invested in during 1997.

SEA Holdings takeover of Trans Tasman Properties Limited
Advised SEA Holdings on its successful takeover of the shares in Trans Tasman Properties Limited it did not already hold.

Burns Philp
Advised Burns Philp on the NZ$245 million sale of Bluebird Foods Limited in 2006-07 and A$890 million sale of Uncle Tobys in 2006.