Sullivan & Cromwell

The firm: Sullivan & Cromwell provides the highest quality legal advice and representation to clients worldwide. The firm’s record of success and unparalleled client service has set it apart for more than 130 years and made the firm a model for the modern practice of law.

Today, S&C is a leader in each of its core practice areas and geographic markets. The firm advises a diverse range of clients on major domestic and cross-border M&A and corporate finance transactions, high-stakes litigation and corporate investigations, and complex regulatory, tax and estate planning matters. S&C is committed to clients and transactions in Asia Pacific, which have formed an important part of its practice since the 1920s. The firm is a recognised leader in the region’s capital markets, M&A, corporate finance, private equity, privatisation and project finance work. Its Asian clients are spread throughout the region and make up over 20% of S&C’s non-US clients.

S&C has established what it believes to be the pre-eminent US legal practice in Australia and New Zealand, and regularly advises clients on a wide variety of mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, privatisations and project financings. S&C’s Sydney office, opened in 2001, together with the firm’s Melbourne office, serves more than 80 clients in Australia and New Zealand, which include many of the region’s major corporations, commercial banks and governmental issuers.

Areas of practice
Capital markets: S&C is the leading law firm in US capital markets financings for Australian and New Zealand issuers, as the firm is for non-US issuers generally. S&C has particular expertise in structuring complex financings, such as hybrid securities and high-yield debt. The firm is also the leading US legal adviser on Australian and New Zealand privatisations by equity offering.

Mergers and acquisitions: S&C’s lawyers regularly advise Australian and New Zealand clients seeking to acquire or dispose of assets in Australia, the United States, Asia and elsewhere. The firm advises clients in a wide variety of industries, from financial institutions, to the mining and energy resources sectors, to the high-tech realm of advanced telecommunications and biotechnology. With an established network of offices in the region, S&C is well positioned to help clients capitalise on acquisition, joint venture and strategic partnership opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region.

Project finance: the foundation for the firm’s contemporary project finance practice was laid during the 1960s and 1970s with the extensive use of joint ventures and non-recourse debt in the development of Australia’s extraordinary mineral resources. As S&C’s clients in Australia and New Zealand look to Asia and other parts of the globe for project opportunities, they will benefit from the firm’s substantial projects and capital markets experience.