James heads up the firm's comprehensive corporate practice. He advises on a full range of corporate matters, with a focus on capital markets and public and private M&A transactions.

He has acted on many major M&A and securities transactions in Australasia and also regularly acts as New Zealand counsel on trans-Tasman matters.

He has advised on initial public offerings on the New Zealand Stock Exchange, and acted for New Zealand-based companies in overseas public offerings and listings, including on the NASDAQ. He has also acted for underwriters of private and public securities offerings.

Chambers Global 2011 describes James as "highly regarded" and in the previous edition notes that he is "praised by his clients for his strategic, proactive advice and excellent negotiation skills". IFLR1000 2012 names James as a leading lawyer in M&A and capital markets, with the 2011 edition describing him as a "corporate heavyweight". He is a recommended M&A lawyer in PLC Which Lawyer? 2011 and was described as "one of the foremost private equity transaction specialists in the country" in Legal Media Group's Guide to the World's Leading Private Equity Lawyers.

Qualifications

LLB, M(Com) Law (First Class Honours), University of Auckland

Admitted

1990 New Zealand
1995 New York Bar

International Career

  • Epstein Becker & Green, LLP, New York
    1994-1995

Publications

Contact

Email: James Gibson

DDI: 64 9 916 8962

Mobile: 64 21 703 735

Download Vcard: Vcard for James Gibson

Areas of Expertise

Recent Work

Blackstone
Advised The Blackstone Group on the acquisition by its private equity funds of the Burger King business in New Zealand.

Charlie's takeover
Acting for Asahi in relation to its NZ$129 million takeover of Charlie's Group.

Ultra-Fast Broadband Initiative
Advising Crown Fibre Holdings Limited, a Government owned investment vehicle, on negotiations, governance and pre-structural separation aspects of its arrangements with Telecom Corporation of New Zealand (under which Crown Fibre Holdings will provide up to NZ$929 million to Chorus) for New Zealand's ultra-fast broadband initiative.

Pyne Gould recapitalisation
Advised Pyne Gould Corporation on its NZ$272.9 million recapitalisation to support it to become a publicly-listed banking and asset management company. Bell Gully advised on all aspects of the capital raising including corporate and securities issues, financing and tax.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances equity raising
Advising Fisher & Paykel Appliances Holdings Limited on its recapitalisation and, in particular, the introduction of Haier Group as a cornerstone 20% shareholder.

Frucor sale
Advised Groupe DANONE on the sale of its Frucor fruit juices, energy drinks, waters and soft drinks business for in excess of NZ$1.45bn.

Ironbridge takeover of CanWest Mediaworks
Advised Ironbridge Capital, a leading independent Australasian private equity group, on its takeover of all the shares and options in New Zealand media company CanWest MediaWorks. Ironbridge's offer to acquire all of the shares in MediaWorks followed a highly contested bidding process for CanWest's 70% stake.

T3 Sale
Acted as New Zealand counsel to the Commonwealth of Australia and to Telstra Corporation on the A$15.5 billion sale of the third tranche of the Australian Government’s stake in Telstra. This required obtaining original exemptions from the Securities Commission around offer documents. Also involved in complex and sophisticated due diligence involving all government departments and Telstra, and faced complex disclosure issues in a period when telecommunications regulations in Australasia are in a state of flux.

Woolworths Australia
Acted for Woolworths in the on-market acquisition of a 10% stake in discount retailer The Warehouse. This overnight share purchase involved a significant strategic stake in a New Zealand icon in general merchandise.