In September, several Australian law firms were the recipients of the 2009 China Law and Practice Awards’ China M&A Deal of the Year for their work on Sinosteel’s successful takeover of Midwest.

Law firms represented in the M&A Deal of the Year were Mallesons Stephen Jaques, representing Export Import Bank of China (Eximbank), Deacons, representing Sinosteel, and Minter Ellison and Hardy Bowen for their representation for Midwest. China Law and Practice described the deal as “extraordinarily complicated and very messy” given it was the first hostile takeover of an overseas entity by a Chinese state-owned enterprise, involved a number of regulatory restrictions, including several FIRB applications, and a counter offer from Murchison Metals, but was still completed in a relatively short time-frame.
Mallesons Stephen Jaques was also the recent winner of CFO Corporate Legal Services Firm of the Year for the third consecutive year. CFO Magazine praised Mallesons for its “proactive engagement with clients and deep understanding of clients' businesses.”