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Michael Ziegelaar is the head of the Melbourne Corporate Group and the co-head of the Australian Equity Capital Markets Group.

Michael has been a partner in the Corporate Group for nearly 20 years and has been involved in some of Australia’s major transactions.

He is focused on delivering strong commercial outcomes and has developed close relationships with many of the firm’s key clients.

Michael’s practice covers:

  • fundraisings
  • mergers and acquisitions
  • corporate restructures
  • funds management
  • general corporate law and ASX listing rule advice

​Acknowledgments and Accolades

Clients praise Michael Ziegelaar for his diligent approach, with one commenting: "He is fantastic at making sure client needs are put first and that matters are followed up; he is very thorough."  Chambers Asia Pacific

He has built a reputation for being “always available, flexible, focused on outcomes for the client and able to cut to the heart of any issue in any negotiation”, adding that he combines “strong emotional sense with exceptional technical knowledge” Chambers Global

He is ranked as a leading corporate, capital markets and M&A practitioner in numerous international and local directories, including Asia-Pacific Legal 500, Best Lawyers, Chambers Global Guide, IFLR 1000: Corporate M&A, PLC – Which Lawyer?. Michael has been nominated on numerous occasions for the Lawyer’s Weekly Dealmaker of the Year Award, most recently in 2018.

Background

Michael graduated from Monash University in 1990 with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Bachelor of Economics. He obtained a Master of Laws from Monash University in 1995.

Michael joined Herbert Smith Freehills in 1991 and was appointed a partner in 1999. Michael is a non-executive director of Seven West Media Limited and a Director of the Burnet Medical Research Institute.

Experience & expertise

Selected matters

  • Netwealth Group on its $840 million IPO (Australia’s second largest IPO in 2017 and awarded Best IPO in 2017 by FinanceAsia)
  • Pact Group on its $1.2 billion IPO
  • the Australian Government on Medibank Private’s A$5.9 billion IPO (Australia’s second largest IPO ever)
  • the Australian Government on Telstra 1, Telstra 2, and the multi-award winning Telstra 3 (among the biggest Australian public offerings to date, and among the largest worldwide, also involving public offerings in the US, Canada, Japan and New Zealand)
  • iProperty on its acquisition by REA Group by scheme of arrangement
  • a bidder in the sale process for the NSW Government’s $2.6 billion Land and Property Information privatisation
  • a bidder in the sale process for the SA Government’s $1.6 billion Land Titles and Valuations Office privatisation
  • Reliance on its $1.22 billion acquisition of John Guest Holdings and related $1.10 billion entitlement offer
  • Aconex on its acquisition by Oracle for $1.6 billion by way of scheme of arrangement