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Herbert Smith Freehills has been named Financial Law Firm of the Year, for the second consecutive year, at the prestigious 16th annual FinanceAsia Achievement Awards for Australia and New Zealand.

FinanceAsia is a leading publisher of financial news for CEOs and CFOs, treasurers, investment and commercial bankers, institutional investors, asset managers and brokers in the Asia Pacific region. Its annual Achievement Awards recognise the country’s best banks and advisory firms.

Herbert Smith Freehills took home the prestigious accolade for its outstanding work on M&A, equity capital markets and finance transactions during the 2018 calendar year.

The firm acted on a host of significant transactions in 2018 including advising TPG Telecom on its A$15 billion merger with Vodafone; Amcor on its US$6.8 billion acquisition of US packaging company Bemis; Santos on its US$2.15 billion acquisition of Quadrant Energy; WorleyParsons on its A$2.9 billion entitlement offer; Woodside on its A$2.5 billion equity raising; and a syndicate of banks on the provision to Macquarie Group of £2 billion in loan facilities, including two green loan tranches.

Andrew Pike, Herbert Smith Freehills’ Regional Managing Partner for Australia, said: “It is a great privilege for the firm to once again be presented with this prestigious award, which recognises our market-leading position in Australia.

“Our recognition in this area not only exemplifies the in-depth skill and knowledge of our lawyers in Australian M&A, ECM and finance, it reflects our commitment to exceptional client service.

“I’d like to thank everyone at the firm for their hard work, and our clients who continue to give us the opportunity to advise on their most significant and strategic matters. We look forward to another busy year working alongside you.”

The 2018 FinanceAsia Awards were presented at a black tie event in Sydney on 7 February.  

Herbert Smith Freehills’ success at the event follows a string of recent award wins in the Asia Pacific region. The firm also recently won:

  • Law Firm of the Year (>500 employees), Australasian Law Awards 2018
  • Law Firm of the Year, Lawyers Weekly Australian Law Awards 2018
  • Innovation in Enabling Business Growth, FT Asia Pacific Innovative Lawyer Awards 2018
  • Energy, Mining and Utilities M&A Legal Advisor of the Year and the Consumer M&A Legal Advisor of the Year, Mergermarket Australia M&A Awards.