Skip to main content

When the board of AXA Asia Pacific Holdings (APH) rejected a deal in which AMP Capital would acquire the Australian assets of the wealth management company, it signalled the start of what is expected to be a prolonged negotiation, benefiting two top-tier firms.

Mallesons Stephen Jaques is acting for (APH) and Clayton Utz is acting for AMP on the takeover proposal. The lawyers working on the tie-up are also expected to be kept busy by the complexity of the deal. Under the rejected proposal, AMP would acquire AXA SA’s 54% shareholding in AXA AP with shareholder approval and acquisition of the minority shares via a scheme of arrangement. Once that went through, AMP would then sell AXA AP’s Asian businesses to AXA SA.

Clayton’s team is being led by M&A and corporate partners Rod Halstead and Jonathan Algar, and is also working with AXA SA which instigated the deal in order to gain full control of AXA AP’s Asian assets. The Mallesons team is headed by Stephen Minns who is co-head of the firm’s M&A practice.

The APH board rejected an offer that valued its business at A$12.2bn so any subsequent bid will have to be significantly higher than that.

Related Articles

Japanese firm TMI forms alliance with Australia’s JWS, eyes Sydney office

by Sarah Wong |

Japanese law firm TMI Associates has established a strategic alliance with Australia’s Johnson Winter Slattery (JWS) marking the first partnership of its kind between major law firms from these two nations.

Clifford Chance launches Shanghai FTZ joint operation with local firm

by Charlie Wu 吴卓言 |

Magic Circle firm Clifford Chance and Shanghai He Ping Law Firm have established a joint operation office in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ), following approval from the Shanghai Justice Bureau.

SUBMISSION OPEN: ALB Firms to Watch (Thailand) 2025

Submissions are now open for ALB’s Thailand Firms to Watch 2025. This list will highlight the most promising and innovative law firms in Indonesia that are making a mark in the legal industry. The list will be published in the December 2025 issue of ALB Asia.