John specialises in corporate, contract and securities law and mergers & acquisitions.
John advises clients on corporatisation and privatisation exercises, including M&A deals and initial public offerings. He has also been at the legal forefront of the development of the private equity investment industry in New Zealand, and acts for a number of domestic and offshore private equity investors.
John co-heads Chapman Tripp's China desk, which coordinates the firm’s efforts and advice related to investment and trade between China and New Zealand.
He is a board member of Skellerup.
John is consistently listed as a leading lawyer in corporate & commercial and mergers & acquisitions law by Chambers Global, Chambers Asia Pacific 2017, Asia Pacific Legal 500, and IFLR1000. He is also recognised in Legal Media Group's Guide to the World’s Leading Private Equity Lawyers and Guide to the World’s Leading M&A Lawyers.
John is noted as one of only two “Star” individuals in the New Zealand corporate/M&A space, as ranked by Chambers Global in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. He is named as a Star Individual in Chambers Asia Pacific in 2017. John was ranked "Lawyer of the year 2013" for Leveraged Buyouts and “Lawyer of the year 2014-15” for Private Equity in the Best Lawyers in New Zealand directory.
John was named NZ Deal Maker of the Year at the 2017 Australasian Law Awards.
Recent experience
John has advised:
- Direct Capital on the sale of its shareholding in Transaction Services Group, a NZ based global payment provider, to US based Calera Capital
- Direct Capital on its sale of its shareholding in New Zealand Pharmaceuticals to Archer Capital
- Academic Colleges Group, New Zealand’s largest private education provider, on its sale of funds associated with Pacific Equity Partners – the largest private equity deal in New Zealand in 2015
- Manuka Health and its shareholders on its sale to Pacific Equity Partners
- Evolution Healthcare on its acquisition of Acurity Health Group and sale of Boulcott Hospital
- Sumitomo on its acquisition of a substantial pine forest from Tasman Bay Forests Company for $370m
- Higgins Group Holdings on its sale to NZX and ASX listed Fletcher Building for $315m
- on Pencarrow’s acquisition of a 38% stake in Icebreaker
- GIC Real Estate, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, on its $1b joint venture with Scentre Group – Westfield mall owner and operator – to take a 49% stake in five New Zealand shopping centres
- Vista Group International’s $92.5m IPO and NZX and ASX listing
- a Japanese consortium (Oji Holdings Corp and Innovation Network Corporation of Japan) on its 100% acquisition of Carter Holt Harvey’s pulp, paper and packaging businesses for $1.037b, and
- an Australian waste management company Transpacific Industries on the $950m sale of its New Zealand business to a wholly owned subsidiary of the Beijing Capital Group.
