Paul Washington
|Special Counsel

Paul Washington practises in corporate and commercial law, specialising in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and private equity transactions, and ASX and Corporations Act advice. He has advised on some of the largest transactions in the Australian market.

Paul acts for both listed and unlisted Australian and international clients in a range of sectors, particularly financial services, mining and mining services, healthcare, agribusiness and listed trusts.

His leading clients include Apollo Global Management LP, Gloucester Coal, Lazard, Select Harvests, and Sigma Pharmaceuticals, as well as a number of financial services firms, stockbrokers and corporate advisers to whom he provides advice in all areas of corporate and securities law.

Prior to joining Minter Ellison, Paul worked with another Australian top tier firm where he advised on significant transactions for clients such as Zinifex, WMC Resources and Dyno Nobel.

Expertise

Professional Background

Publications & Media

Areas of expertise include:

Corporate HQ Advisory

Paul provides strategic and commercially focused advice to listed and unlisted Australian and international clients on all aspects of corporate and securities law. His expertise includes Corporations Act advice, corporate governance, ASX listing rules, and general commercial advice.
Equity Capital Markets

Paul is an experienced capital markets lawyer who has worked on a number of complex and high profile capital markets transactions for major Australian and international clients. He advises on all aspects of securities law including initial public offerings, rights issues and placements, underwriting, employee and executive share and option plans, buybacks and ASX and Corporations Act matters. Paul also advises financial services firms, corporate advisers and stockbrokers on compliance with ASX and Corporations Act requirements.
Recent transactions on which Paul has acted include advising US private equity investor, Apollo Global Management LP, in its investment in ASX-listed HFA Holdings through a subscription for convertible notes and options; Gloucester Coal's $230 million accelerated non-renounceable entitlement offer; Sigma Pharmaceuticals’ $297 million accelerated renounceable pro rata entitlement offer; as well as entitlement offers by Select Harvests and the Australian Education Trust.
Mergers and Acquisitions

Paul is an experienced mergers and acquisitions lawyer who has acted on a number of the most significant transactions in the Australian market. He acts for leading Australian and international clients across a range of sectors, particularly financial services, mining and mining services, healthcare, agribusiness and listed trusts. Paul advises on takeovers, schemes of arrangement, acquisitions and sales of businesses, corporate restructures and joint ventures.
Recent major transactions on which Paul has acted include Sigma Pharmaceuticals’ $900 million Pharmaceuticals Division sale to the Aspen Pharmacare Group; Gloucester Coal's acquisition of Donaldson Coal and the Monash Group, and associated capital raising; and Goldman Sachs JB Were’s sale of its private wealth management business to National Australia Bank. While with another top tier firm, Paul also advised on Zinifex’s divestment of its smelting assets, and on its merger with Oxiana to form OZ Minerals; and the takeover of WMC Resources, one of the largest cash takeovers in the Australian market.