Profile
Grant specialises in corporate and commercial law and has over 20 years experience. He previously spent six years with the London office of US law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges, and has worked on secondment within the London-based investment arm of Nomura International, a Japanese investment bank.
Grant has broad experience in leveraged cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in both distressed and non distressed situations, public takeovers, schemes of arrangement, joint ventures and consortium arrangements, regulatory consent processes including applications to the Overseas Investment Office (OIO), corporate governance matters, management buyouts, corporate restructurings and capital raising (both equity and debt). Grant has a particular focus on private equity and venture capital, having acted for some well known VC, LBO, sovereign wealth, special situations and investment funds such as Adamantem Capital, Public Sector Pension Investment Board, Goldman Sachs Asian Special Situations, The Growth Fund, Blackstone, HRL Morrison & Co and Affinity Equity Partners, on their limited partnership formation, fund raising, portfolio company acquisitions, financings, ongoing investment and exits in the TMT, biotechnology, food and beverage, healthcare, dairy, agri-business, energy, real estate, retirement villages and aged care facilities, forestry, infrastructure, insurance, credit and financial services sectors.
Grant has a BCom (accounting and finance), LLB from the University of Auckland and has been admitted in England, Wales and New South Wales, Australia.
"Clients report that they have 'found him to be first class,' 'exceptional to work with', 'very efficient and really thorough' and praise him for his 'wide international experience' with one leading client singling him out as 'my first-choice lawyer on any M&A transaction'. He offers great accessibility, and is commended for his commerciality, patience, pragmatism and technical legal knowledge; he gets to the nub of the transaction and runs it with precision. He maintains a strong reputation for cross-border expertise, with especially notable experience of advising inbound investors on asset portfolio acquisitions. He is very much aware of what works and what does not work in New Zealand."
Chambers Global
- Recognised by IFLR1000 as a highly regarded lawyer for mergers and acquisitions (M&A)
- Recognised as an expert in private equity by Chambers Global, Asialaw and IFLR in the Guide to the World's Leading Private Equity Lawyers
- Recommended as a leading M&A/corporate lawyer by Chambers, Legal 500 and Best Lawyers
- Recommended in Legal 500 Private Practice Powerlist 2024 for M&A Asia Pacific
Experience
Sector / Expertise
- Agribusiness, horticulture and forestry
- Asia business
- Biotechnology and therapeutic products
- Capital markets
- Cooperatives
- Corporate and commercial
- Corporate governance
- Early stage and high growth companies
- Energy and renewables
- Food and beverage
- Franchising
- Health
- Infrastructure
- Joint ventures and limited partnerships
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Minerals and petroleum
- Overseas investment
- Private equity
- Structured finance
- Takeovers
- Technology, media and telecommunications
- Transport
- Venture capital
International
Work highlights
Advising Kinetic
on its acquisition of Go-Bus
Advising Adamantem Capital
on its acquisition of retirement village and aged care operator Heritage Lifecare
Advising ASX listed Caltex Australia
on its $340m acquisition of fuel operator Gull
Advising Goldman Sachs Asian Special Situations
on various transactions including its investment in Evolution Healthcare, the acquisition of Eden Business Park from Arena Property Fund and consortium acquisition of a NZ$1.3b commercial loan portfolio from Bank of Scotland International
Advising PSP Investments
on its acquisitions of interests in the Kaingaroa forest (New Zealand's largest forest) from Harvard University and partnership arrangements with Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation (named NZ M&A Deal of the Year in 2015 at the New Zealand Law Awards)
Advising the Mud House Wine Group
on the sale of its wine brands and other assets to Accolade Wines and the sale of 400 hectares of vineyards to CK Life Sciences
Alternate contacts
Simon Vodanovich
Senior Consultant, Auckland
Simon specialises in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), general corporate advice and the laws and rules regulating New Zealand’s…
- DDI +64 9 358 7032
- M +64 21 612 810
Benjamin Sutton
Special Counsel, Auckland
Benjamin specialises in corporate and commercial law. He advises clients on a range of matters, including mergers and acquisitions…
Amy Goatley
Senior Associate, Auckland
Amy specialises in corporate and commercial law with particular experience in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), joint ventures…