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Nathanael specialises in domestic and cross-border public and private mergers and acquisitions, equity capital markets transactions, and strategic governance advice.
Nathanael is one of New Zealand’s leading public M&A lawyers. He co-leads the firm’s public M&A practice, and regularly advises bidders, targets, boards and independent directors on takeover offers and takeovers by scheme of arrangement.
Nathanael has been a member of the Takeovers Panel, the regulator of public M&A activity in New Zealand, since 2016. He was also a member of the regulatory working group of the Capital Markets 2029 Taskforce, an industry review of New Zealand's capital markets initiated by NZX and the Financial Markets Authority.
Recent recognition
- Highly Regarded, M&A and Private Equity, IFLR1000 2024
- Leading Partner, Corporate and M&A, Asia Pacific Legal 500 2024
- Ranked individual, Corporate/Commercial, Chambers Asia Pacific 2024 and Chambers Global 2024
- Recognised for Capital Markets, Corporate, and Mergers and Acquisitions in Best Lawyers 2025
- Finalist, New Zealand Deal Maker of the Year, 2022 and 2021 Australasian Law Awards
- Advised finalists for Deal of the Year awards at the 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2019 New Zealand Law Awards
Recent transaction experience
Public mergers and acquisitions: takeover offers
- Advised NZX-listed Vital on its successful defence of an unsolicited partial takeover offer proposal from Empire Technology
- Advised USX-listed Blue Sky Meats on its response to a full takeover offer from Southern Lamb Investments
- Advised Fronde Systems Group on its response to a full takeover offer from Liverpool Partners
- Advised Talley’s Group on its successful full takeover offer for Open Country Dairy, which valued that company at $533 million
- Advised ASX-listed Centuria Capital Group on its successful $172 million cash and scrip full takeover offer for NZX-listed Augusta Capital
- Advised NZX/ASX-listed Restaurant Brands on its response to an $882 million partial takeover offer from Finaccess
- Advised USX-listed King Country Energy on its response to a $126 million full takeover from King Country Energy Joint Venture
- Advised NZX-listed Hellaby Holdings on its response to a $336 million full takeover offer from ASX−listed Bapcor
Public mergers and acquisitions: schemes of arrangement
- Advising NZX-listed Manawa Energy on NZX/ASX-listed Contact Energy’s $1.86 billion takeover proposal by a scheme of arrangement
- Advised KRX-listed Lunit on its AU$296 million takeover of ASX-listed Volpara by scheme of arrangement
- Advised NZX-listed Rakon on its response to a proposed $400 million takeover by scheme of arrangement
- Advised NZX/ASX-listed Pushpay on the $1.63 billion takeover of the company by scheme of arrangement by a bid consortium comprising Sixth Street and BGH Capital
- Advised Powering Australia Renewables on its $3.05 billion consortium takeover of NZX/ASX-listed Tilt Renewables by scheme of arrangement
- Advised an international arbitrage fund in respect of its investment in NZX-listed Metlifecare in connection with the $1.3 billion takeover of that company by EQT by scheme of arrangement
- Advised NZX-listed Abano Healthcare on two announced takeovers by scheme of arrangement by a bid consortium comprising BGH Capital and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
- Advised Yang Kee on its $55.4 million takeover of NZX-listed Fliway by scheme of arrangement
Private mergers and acquisitions / private equity
- Advised Mercury Capital on the sale of Blue Star to Peninsula Packaging
- Advised Mercury Capital on the sale of Hexagon Holdings to Multi-Color Corporation
- Advised Open Country Dairy on the acquisition of Nature’s Flame
- Advised NZX on the acquisition of a 33% shareholding in GlobalDairyTrade and on its related strategic partnership with SGX to list dairy derivatives on SGX’s derivatives market
- Advised NZX/ASX-listed Pushpay on the US$87.5 million acquisition of Community Church Builder
- Advised Blue Ant Media on the sale of Top TV to Discovery
- Advised NZX/ASX-listed Pushpay on the US$150 million acquisition of Resi Media
- Advised NZX/ASX-listed Restaurant Brands on the acquisition of Pacific Island Restaurants for US$105 million
Equity capital markets
- Advised Augusta Capital as a placement participant and sub-underwriter of a $50 million placement and ANREO by NZX-listed Asset Plus
- Advised ASX-listed Centuria Capital Group as a placement participant and sub-underwriter of a $45 million placement and ANREO by NZX listed Augusta Capital
- Advised NZX/ASX-listed Pushpay on three separate $100 million, $98 million and $40 million underwritten block trades by founders and directors of the company
- Advised NZX-listed Pacific Edge on an institutional placement and subsequent share purchase plan
- Advised NZX/ASX-listed Pushpay on several capital raisings, including an A$54 million institutional placement in connection with obtaining an ASX foreign exempt listing
- Advised NZX-listed Restaurant Brands on a $94 million underwritten AREO
- Advised NZX-listed Abano Healthcare Group on a $35 million underwritten pro rata renounceable rights offer and shortfall bookbuild
- Advised NZX-listed Abano Healthcare Group on a $27 million underwritten placement and share purchase plan