Login
CBA advised on $4.12bn divestment
Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Commonwealth Bank of Australia on the multibillion-dollar sale of its global asset management business to Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation, both of whom were advised by Baker McKenzie.
Emma Musgrave
Firms: Herbert Smith Freehills (Commonwealth Bank of Australia); Baker McKenzie (Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation)
Value: $4.13 billion
Area: M&A
Key players: The Herbert Smith Freehills team was led by Sydney partner Tony Damian who coordinated lawyers across Herbert Smith Freehills’ global offices including in London, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Paris, Madrid and Singapore.
Mr Damian was supported by members of the Sydney corporate team: senior associates Nicole Pedler, William Chew, Li-Lian Yeo, and solicitor Timothy Coorey; the Sydney funds team: partner Robert Bileckij with consultant Jim Graham and solicitor Curtis Vella; and the Sydney employment team: partner Michael Gonski, and senior associates Amanda Lyras and Rommo Pandit.
The team worked closely with Anna Lenahan, group general counsel and group executive, group corporate affairs and Mark Alexander, general manager, advisory & M&A legal with team members Kirsty Cox and William House, according to a statement from HSF.
Meanwhile, the Baker McKenzie team was led by M&A partners Ben McLaughlin and Tetsuo Tsujimoto and regulatory partners Toshio Shimada and Masato Honma.
Other team members advising MUTB included Byron Frost, Satoshi Abe, Lawrence Mendes, Rick Troiano, Antony Rumboll, Dan McGuiness, Bill Fuggle, and Melissa Carmody, a Bakers’ statement said.
Deal significance: CFSGAM operates across the European, US and Asia-Pacific regions. It is also known outside of Australia as First State Investments and has A$213 billion in assets under management, the HSF statement explained.
This latest deal involving CBA comes after the big four bank’s announcement in June, regarding its intention to demerge its wealth management and mortgage broking businesses.
“I am delighted to be leading the team at Herbert Smith Freehills on another important milestone for CBA as it focuses on its core banking businesses,” said HSF partner Tony Damian.
“This is a complex and important international deal. It’s a global team for a global deal. The bench strength of our network has allowed us to deliver a great result for CBA.”
Also commenting on the transaction, Baker McKenzie lead M&A partners’ Ben McLaughlin and Tetsuo Tsujimoto said: “We are delighted to assist Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group on this highly important transaction.
“It will provide MUTB with substantial enhancement of its global asset management services, in many key locations around the world. The transaction has illustrated the ability of Baker McKenzie to successfully execute a cross-border, multinational, market-leading M&A transaction in the financial services industry, in an expedited time frame.”
Emma Musgrave
Emma Musgrave (née Ryan) is the managing editor, professional services at Momentum Media.
Emma has worked for Momentum Media since 2015, including five years spent as the editor of the company's legal brand - Lawyers Weekly. Throughout her time at Momentum, she has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest stories in corporate Australia. In addition, she has produced exclusive multimedia and event content related to the company's respective brands and audiences.
Prior to joining Momentum Media, Emma worked in breakfast radio, delivering news to the Central West region of NSW, before taking on a radio journalist role at Southern Cross Austereo, based in Townsville, North Queensland.
She holds a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) degree from Charles Sturt University.
Email Emma on:
