Corporate

Ashurst and King & Wood Mallesons are working behind the scenes on the proposed union of long-time partners Brickworks and investment house Washington H. Soul Pattinson, a merger that shows capital markets are ready to back big deals, one lead lawyer says.

The lead applicant in a failed class action against ex-NAB super trustee NULIS Nominees has lost his bid to stay a costs order of some $12.5 million pending an appeal.

An email to lawyers at Clifford Chance relied on to show investor Fiona Lock’s understanding of a contested $150 million profit sharing deal with trading platform Pepperstone did not open the door to further correspondence.

A judge has upheld ASIC's privilege claim over a solicitor’s notes from an interview with a tech start-up boss involved in the ASX program to replace its CHESS system. 

Insurer Marsh has fired off a cross-claim against Swiss bank UBS in several cases brought over Greensill’s $1.7 billion collapse. 

The lead applicant in a failed class action against NULIS Nominees has argued that any costs orders should be stayed until after its appeal, while the ex-NAB super trustee claims it should have $8 million in costs paid now. 

Brisbane-based law firm Cooper Grace Ward has lured a corporate law expert from K&L Gates to join its partnership.

Squire Patton Boggs has recruited a private equity specialist from Allens for its Sydney corporate practice.

Dexus' denial of a breach of confidentiality in a battle with co-owners of airport operator APAC is unlikely to hold up, a judge has said, and what appears to have been done can't be undone. What the high-stakes row will come down to, he says, is materiality.