King & Wood Mallesons

KWM is proud to retain strong recognition in the M&A sector, topping Mergermarket, Refinitiv and Bloomberg’s M&A league tables for Q1 2025. A big congratulations to our M&A team and thanks to our clients for your support. You can see a summary of the results here: https://lnkd.in/eunzVvMZ

With Australia coming up to the federal election, we release our 2025 Guide to Doing Business in Australia (the Guide) – providing investors with the latest information on Australia’s business landscape. The Guide unpacks the latest key legal, social and tax considerations investors and business leaders should know about undertaking business operations in Australia. Download the Guide today. https://ow.ly/wnBe50VzHYc

It's been a significant year for modern slavery law reform. Globally, regulation has emerged and evolved inconsistently – signalling the need for businesses to monitor domestic and international developments, to assess where their modern slavery obligations diverge and align. In our review, we outline recent developments in Australia and overseas and what changes businesses should be prepared for as we look ahead. A must-read for businesses exposed to multiple reporting regimes, have key customers exposed to modern slavery reporting regimes, or which have complex and multi-jurisdictional operations and supply chains. https://ow.ly/Nps650VyHbH Jasmine Forde Sati Nagra Cilla Robinson Jennifer Bell

We are so proud of KWM’s debt capital markets practice who has been voted KangaNews Australian Law Firm of The Year once again! Being recognised as the only law firm to ever win this award (for 18 years straight) underscores the firms extensive expertise and commitment to the DCM market across Australia and New Zealand. We were delighted to assist clients on over 380 deals with an issuance over AUD164 billion. We are also delighted to have played a key role in the 3 Australian market innovation and achievement awards - ANZ Holdings New Zealand, Household Capital and Canadian issuers. Congratulations to everyone involved in these significant transactions! A huge thank you to the DCM community for this incredible recognition – we look forward to continuing to collaborate with you all!

The biggest upheaval to the global trade order since the Second World War is an inflection point for Australia on trade with China and Asia, writes KWM International Director and President of the Australia China Business Council David Olsson AM. He argues there is a smarter way Australia can balance security and trade.

At KWM we’re relentless when it comes to sharpening our legal excellence and breaking new ground for our clients. To us that is what mastery is all about. So we were pretty stoked to find out we’ve been shortlisted for multiple awards at this year's Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Awards Asia-Pacific, and are in the running to be named Most Innovative Law Firm in Asia-Pacific (Headquartered in Asia-Pacific). The categories we've been shortlisted for are: ▪️  Innovative Lawyers in Deal Making ▪️  Innovative Lawyers in Disputes and Crisis ▪️  Innovation in Knowledge and Data ▪️  Innovative Practitioner (congratulations to Partner Cheng Lim) We were also excited to see so many of our clients shortlisted in the in-house categories – congratulations to everyone who is nominated. We look forward to finding out who the winners are at the Awards Ceremony in May! FT Live RSGI 

The Hong Kong government is prioritising urban development – and with its wide use of public-private partnerships, this spells ‘investment opportunities’. The adventure-themed zone (we’re talking bungee jumping and rock-climbing) in Ocean Park is a recent example of the breadth of projects developed with a PPP in Hong Kong. In our Guide to PPPs in Hong Kong, our experts share the insights you need to understand the process, structures and way forward. Critically, they share what international investors need to consider. Read on for more – and look out for updated PPP guides across Asia to come! https://ow.ly/WL2k50VsOxe Sam Farrands Tian Xu Chris Cheng

For more than 10 years, KWM has been a supporter of CEW's annual dinners. We couldn't be prouder to be a platinum sponsor in CEW's 40th anniversary year. Well done CEW on an exceptional Sydney dinner last week, our clients and Partners enjoyed being in such an inspirational room. Here's to Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth's dinners!

LISTEN: The inaugural podcast for KWM’s new public M&A publication is here! Episode one of 'It's Public' the podcast goes ‘Digging for Deals’. Antonella Pacitti, Heath Lewis and Paul Schroder join Will Heath to discuss why 2025 is shaping promisingly for resources sector public M&A. Their conversation explains the long-arc energy transition and uncertainty themes driving consolidation, then looks deeper at how those themes are influencing the regulatory and dealmaking environment, geopolitical and trade uncertainty, and the financing and investment trends in resources dealmaking. Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/gNvrrjxm Listen on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gmYTz5e9

King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) advised the sole sponsor and underwriters on the global offering and listing of SOFT INTERNATIONAL GROUP LTD (SOFT INTL, HK Stock Code: 2569) on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (SEHK). Soft International is a renowned provider of personal care and hygienic disposable products (including babycare, feminine care and adult incontinence products) in the PRC, with a primary focus on developing, manufacturing, and specializing in babycare products for export to Russian retail customers. The team was led by Hong Kong office Partner Anthony Wan, with support from Albert Wong, Ryan Kwan and Keith Chan. https://ow.ly/5SUZ50Vpqib Congratulations to all parties involved! #HKIPO #ECM