Profile: Rodney T Halstead

Mergers and Acquisitions

Biography: Mergers and Acquisitions

Rod Halstead has a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of Sydney, 1964; and a Master of Laws from the University of London, 1967.

Rod is chair of Clayton Utz's national mergers and acquisitions group, and is consistently rated among the top Australian lawyers in this field.

He has more than 25 years experience advising major corporations in relation to the structuring and execution of contested and negotiated takeovers, acquisitions, mergers and divestments and the regulatory laws and guidelines that impact on those transactions.

Rod's career to date has seen him advise on a broad range of transactions for companies spanning a diverse range of industries including the health, manufacturing, energy, and resources and financial services sectors, among others.

Notable transactions from the past 12 months include advising Symbion Health on its potential acquisition by Healthscope and Primary Health Care; and advising Origin Energy on its potential acquisition by BG Group plc, valued at around A$13 billion.

Rod regularly ranks among the top few M&A lawyers in Australia. According to last year's edition of The International Who's Who of Merger & Acquisition Lawyers (2007): "an 'eminent' practitioner, Halstead polled more nominations than any other lawyer practising in Australia".

He works closely with senior management and boards of major companies, in particular those whose securities are listed on ASX. As such, he understands board processes and is a trusted adviser to many leading company boards of directors and senior management.

Clayton Utz, one of Australia's largest law firms, is recognised as a leading provider of legal services in the Asia-Pacific region.