Never mind every day. They don't even come along every year. In fact, transactions of such magnitude have not been seen in the Australasian legal market for the three years that Australasian Legal Business magazine has been reviewing the leading deals of the preceding calendar year.

The A$26bn remark was made about the Westfield Group merger at the inaugural ALB Deals of the Year Awards Australasia, and was in response to what can only be described as a clean sweep of trophies by the tripartite deal.

 Representing approximately 25% of all deals completed by value in Australia during the last calendar year, the merger of Westfield Holdings Limited, Westfield Trust and Westfield America Trust picked up gongs for Commercial Property Deal of the Year, M&A Deal of the Year, Australian In-House Deal Team of the Year [the Westfield Group legal department], Australian Deal Team of the Year [Mallesons Stephen Jaques], and Australian Deal of the Year - arguably the most prestigious of the night.

And Mallesons' role as prime counsel coordinating the Westfield Group merger boosted the firm this year to collect an unassailable 12 trophies [see Table 1].

Commenting on the firm's Australian Deal Team of the Year win, Mallesons' lead partner on the Westfield transaction, Michael Herring, said: "Winning this award is particularly gratifying. It recognises the teamwork of several partners and lawyers and also the close spirit of cooperation between Mallesons and Westfield that delivered a highly complex deal within a very tight timeframe."

Former Mallesons partner and now Westfield Group general counsel, Simon Tuxen, was equally pleased with his team's win in the Australian In-house Deal Team of the Year. "It was a team effort and we're delighted to be recognised. A big "thank you' to ALB."

Held at the Atlantic Wharf South in Melbourne on 29 April in front of a packed crowd of over 250 lawyers, bankers and businessmen, the ALB Awards for legal excellence were spread across 24 categories. Recognition was given to the key transactions in Australasia that took place in 2004 and the firms that acted on those deals, with the guest list constituting a veritable who's who' of the legal industry from both Australia and New Zealand and elsewhere around the region.

While Mallesons profited handsomely from its role on the Westfield Group merger so too did nearest rival on the evening Minter Ellison, which advised the board of directors of the responsible entity of the Westfield America Trust - Westfield American Management Limited.

Together with its role on News Corp's reincorporation in the US - another big winner, collecting Media & Entertainment Deal of the Year as well as International Deal of the Year - the Westfield Group merger led Minters to a trophy tally of 11 awards. And these 11 deal category wins actually topped Mallesons' 10 (excluding its successes in the Deal Team and Dealmaker categories).

Apparently sitting just behind the front two was Allens Arthur Robinson, which ran all aspects of the complex US reincorporation for News Corp and which ended the evening clutching a very respectable nine trophies. Yet a closer look at Mallesons, Minters and Allens reveals that these three heavyweights of transactional law in Australasia recorded prominent role credits on eight transactions apiece [see Table 2].

While it is the job of the law firm spin-doctors to slice and dice such results with a fine-tooth comb, the overwhelming message to emerge from the ALB Awards is that the year 2004 was a very good one. This was summed up another way by Simpson Grierson's corporate advisory team head - and New Zealand Dealmaker of the Year - Peter Hinton: "It was one hell of a year!"

And when - in a single calendar year - you've managed to add to your resume 'hands-on' roles on such impressive deals as the Gullivers Travel IPO, Origin Energy's bid for Contact Energy, Pumpkin Patch's IPO, and Rubicon's takeover bid for Tenon, such exuberance is understandable.

Australia's own 'Dealmaker of the Year' Mallesons partner, David Friedlander, can be equally proud. In addition to his role as co-lead partner advising the joint lead managers on the Zinifex IPO / Pasminco Group restructure - which was voted Insolvency & Restructuring Deal of the Year - Friedlander's year included advising British Airways on the sale of its 18.25% stake in Qantas, and advising Insurance Australia Group on its highly complex Reset Exchangeable Securities (RES) offering.

 Seeing off competition from his colleague Michael Herring, Allens' Andrew Clarke, Blake's Marie McDonald and Freehills' Philippa Stone, Friedlander was humble in victory. "I am proud to have been nominated in the company of such well-respected lawyers and incredibly hard working practitioners," he said. "However, this is very much a team award."

And it was those firms that were able to assemble teams of lawyers with the necessary strength in depth, often at very short notice, that profited the most last year.

With the leading commercial law firms in both Australia and New Zealand benefiti ng from respectively buoyant economies, Minter Ellison's managing partner, Phil Clark, said the constant deal flow certainly kept his firm's lawyers sharply on their toes.

"Great deals start with great clients," said Clark. "We're proud to be judged by the quality of our clients and by their confidence in choosing us to handle their most important transactions, now recognised as the most significant deals of 2004 in our region. It's a recognition of our real passion for the transaction, our ability to work collaboratively and our genuine understanding of what really counts to the client."

Allens Arthur Robinson 's managing partner , Tom Poulton, was particularly proud of his fir m' s work i n 2004 for key client News Corporation. "We're pleased to have worked so closely with News Corp on its reincorporation. It was an involved matter and its positive conclusion is a significant success for both News Corp and ourselves."

Poulton added: "We're proud that News Corp put its trust in Allens for what was a sensitive and legally intricate matter. Receiving the International Deal of the Year Award underlines our expertise in matters that cross national boundaries."

And such matters are becoming more commonplace, as evidenced by wins for the BHP Billiton Iron Ore joint venture [Energy & Resources] and the Guangdong LNG Project [Project Finance]. These transactions and others provided a stark reminder of the growing cross-border element to work completed in this part of the world.

Four of the six transactions nominated for New Zealand Deal of the Year incorporated large cross-border elements. And it was one of these - Project Nugget (or Vector Limited's acquisition from The Australian Gas Light Company of a 66% stake in NGC Holdings) - that eventually triumphed over all contenders.

 Involving two applications for exemptions due to the difficult issues that arose under New Zealand's Takeovers Code, Project Nugget also incorporated a number of difficult tax issues for Australian company AGL to migrate with tax efficiency the proceeds of the sale - thereby creating some difficult structuring issues for the transaction.

Russell McVeagh advised from the very early stages, negotiating both corporate and financing aspects of the deal as well as on the subsequent full takeover offer for NGC. Partner Gerard Brown said of his firm's involvement: "This is a tremendous honour as it was a great deal. The client is delighted and the firm is delighted. It's been a fun night."

The Wellington office of Chapman Tripp acted for target NGC on Project Nugget, while the firm's Auckland office advised Vector in relation to Commerce Commission matters.

With Bell Gully picking up New Zealand Deal Team of the Year for its work on the June 2004 IPO of Feltex Carpets, each of New Zealand's big four firms walked away with a trophy [see Table 3].

The Kiwi Big Four

Melbourne was the location of choice for the inaugural ALB Deals of the Year Awards Australasia, so it was apt that the work of one of its own - specialist commercial law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler - was recognised as some of the very best of 2004.

In particular, ABL's roles on the Mitcham-Frankston Freeway project [Construction] and News Corp's US reincorporation [Media & Entertainment] were highlighted.

Mana g ing partner , Henry Lanzer, said : "While these Awards acknowledge our achievements over the past year, they also highlight the remarkable endeavours of the clients with whom we have been privileged to work. Their vision, entrepreneurship and drive preceded our involvement in these projects. We are grateful for the opportunities with which they have presented us."

 Lanzer added: "This result also reflects the fact that ABL is consistently involved in landmark legal matters and that the firm is very much at the top of the game. The vast majority of the other finalists are significantly larger than us, yet this has been no barrier to our firm attracting clients and work of the highest calibre."

The same could also be said of Atanaskovic & Hartnell and Speed and Stracey, which both recorded three wins for their roles the Westfield Gro up merger, as well as Henry Davis York. Five of HDY's eight nominations were in the securitisation category, with the firm winning for its role on the Adelaide Bank wrap deal [see Table 4].

The Mid Tier

The internationals