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  • Craig Semple

    Partner
    Melbourne
    T: +61 3 9643 4262
    M: +61 400 446 028
 

 Professional Biography

 

  • Craig Semple is a partner in the Mergers and Acquisitions practice in the Melbourne office of Mallesons Stephen Jaques. He specialises in general corporate and commercial law with an emphasis on public companies, mergers and acquisitions, takeovers, securities offerings and restructurings.

    He regularly advises listed companies in relation to corporate governance and securities law issues, such as meetings, directors' liabilities, insider trading and ASX and Corporations Law compliance.

    Craig co-writes a fortnightly column on trends in M&A for the AFR on-line, and was a finalist for the Australian Dealmaker of the Year at the ALB Australasian Law Awards 2009. Craig was also recognised in Best Lawyers 2011 in the practice areas of Mergers & Acquisitions and Equity Capital Markets.
 

 Experience

 
  • 1990: Bachelor of Economics (Hons), Monash University
  • 1991 - 1993: Assistant Lecturer, Department of Economics, Monash University
  • 1993: Bachelor of Laws (Hons), Monash University
  • 1994: Articled Clerk, Mallesons Stephen Jaques
  • 1995 - 1998: Solicitor, Mallesons Stephen Jaques
  • 1999: Senior Associate, Mallesons Stephen Jaques
  • 2002 - present: Partner, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Melbourne

  • Between 2003 and 2005 he took a two year leave of absence from the partnership to become the General Counsel, Capital Markets and Corporate Advisory, for the National Australia Bank.

    Craig is also a member of the Corporations Committee of the Law Council of Australia, and has previously lectured in Securities Law for the Securities Institute of Australia.
 

 Recent Matters

 
  • Acted for National Australia Bank in respect of the sale of its interest in Fly Buys to Coles
  • Acted for Australia Post in respect of its acquisition of SecurePay
  • Acted for Mitchell Communications Limited in respect of its scheme of arrangement under which it was acquired by Aegis PLC
  • Acted for MediBank Private in respect of its acquisition in 2010 of the triage and health management business of McKesson
  • Acted for Transurban Group's $542 million capital raising in May 2010 to fund its acquisition of the Lane Cove Tunnel, and the associated Takeovers Panel proceedings relating to that raising
  • Acted for Transurban Group in its defence of approaches by its then largest shareholders, CPPIB and OTPPB (and later CP2)
  • Acted for National Australia Bank in respect of its $2.5 billion capital raising in July 2009
  • Acted for National Australia Bank in respect of its acquisition of the JBWere private wealth management business from Goldman Sachs JBWere
  • Acted for all the banks in respect of the establishment of the Australian Business Investment Partnership Limited
  • Acted for Adelaide Managed Funds Limited (as trustee for the Adelaide Managed Funds Asset Backed Yield Trust) in respect of the proposed acquisition of all the units in that trust by Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited way of a trust scheme
  • Acted for Vectis Group in respect of its proposed acquisition of Espreon Limited by way of scheme of arrangement and by takeover
  • Acted for Avexa Limited in respect of the proposed acquisition of it by Progen Pharmaceuticals Limited by way of scheme of arrangement
  • Acted for National Australia Bank in respect of its $3 billion capital raising in October 2008
  • Acting for the Macquarie-led consortium, Airline Partners Australia, on its takeover offer for Qantas Airways
  • Acted for GasNet in its defence of a takeover offer from BBI and its recommendation of a takeover offer from APT
  • Acting for National Australia Bank on the sale of its Custom Fleet vehicle leasing business to GE
  • Acted for ABN Private Capital on its sale of AUSDOC to Brambles
  • Acted for Melbourne IT on its acquisition, by scheme of arrangement, of WebCentral
  • Acted for National Australia Bank on the sale of Northern Bank and National Irish Bank to Danske Bank
  • Acted for National Australia Bank in respect of its Board dispute, proposed extraordinary general meeting and senior executive changes in 2004
  • Acted for National Australia Bank in respect of the investigation into, and actions taken in respect of, unauthorized foreign currency options trading
  • Acted for BHP Billiton in respect of the demerger and public listing of BHP Steel
  • Acted for Hancock Natural Resources Group in respect of its acquisition of Paperlinx forestry assets
  • Acted for Coles Myer in respect of the sale of its Myer Direct business, the sale of its Katies business and the acquisition by Officeworks of Viking Office Products from Office Depot Inc.
  • Acted for National Australia Bank in respect of its US$800m Hybrid Tier 1 securities offering to US institutional investors in March 2005, its £400m Hybrid Tier 1 securities offering to European institutional investors in September 2003 and its $2 billion issue of National Income Securities in 1999
  • Acted for Hanson in relation to its public takeover of Pioneer
  • Acted for National Mutual Holdings in respect of the initial public offering of its shares
  • Acted for Telstra in relation to the initial public offering by the Commonwealth of its shares in Telstra Corporation Limited
 

 Professional Memberships