About Ewen Crouch AM
Ewen is one of Australia's leading M&A lawyers, having acted in recent years on some of the country's most significant transactions. He was named Australian Dealmaker of the Year at the 2006 ALB Australasian Law Awards, as the outstanding rainmaker in the Australian legal services industry. He has also been recognised as a leading practitioner by a number of international independent research organisations including as a 'Band 1' lawyer by Chambers Global, as a 'leading Individual' by Asia Pacific Legal 500 and as being among the worlds pre-eminent Corporate Governance and M&A lawyers respectively by International Who's Who Legal.
Key transactions on which Ewen has advised in recent years include:
- Foster's Group – response to SABMiller's takeover proposal.
- Leighton Holdings – $750 million capital raising and in response to ACS bid for its major shareholder Hochtief AG.
- St.George Bank – merger with Westpac Banking Corporation.
- MBF – demutualisation and merger into BUPA.
- Westpac – One ADI Project.
- Macquarie Airports – internalisation of management and acquisition from Macquarie Capital.
- Rio Tinto – response to BHP's US$192 billion takeover bid, the second-largest takeover bid of all time and the first ever takeover involving two Australian-UK dual-listed companies.
- Wesfarmers – $20 billion acquisition of Coles Group, the largest takeover in Australian corporate history.
- Capital raisings in 2008/09 by Rio Tinto, Wesfarmers, GPT and OneSteel.
- CEMEX – $2 billion sale of its Australian operations to Holcim, after having advised CEMEX on its US$14.25 billion bid for Rinker Group, which is the largest cash offer in Australian corporate history.
- QANTAS – responding to the bid made by a private equity consortium.
- OneSteel – acquisition of Smorgon Steel.
From 2009-2012 Ewen was Chairman of Partners at Allens. From 1999-2004 he was Executive Partner, International Offices responsible for the firm's China and South-East Asia practice and management of the firm's network of offices in Asia. Earlier in his career, he served as an Allens' board member (1992-1997 and 1999-2001) and Deputy Managing Partner (1993-1996).
He has represented a number of consortia bidding for rail, tunnel, road, ports and other infrastructure assets and in 2001-2002 advised the CrossCity Motorway consortium and its sponsors in its successful bid to design, finance, build and operate Sydney's Cross City tunnel.
Ewen is a member of the Commonwealth Remuneration Tribunal, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a member of the AICD's Law Committee and a member of the Corporations Committee of the Law Council of Australia. He was a member of the Takeovers Panel from 2010-2015. Ewen is admitted to practice law in New South Wales, Victoria, ACT and Western Australia.
Ewen is a non-executive director of Westpac Banking Corporation and BlueScope Steel Limited. He is Chairman of Mission Australia and a board member of Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Jawun.
Ewen was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2013 Australia Day Honours for significant service to the law as a contributor to legal professional organisations, and to the community through executive roles with Mission Australia.