Hall & Wilcox eyes expansion with boutique takeover
National law firm Hall & Wilcox has set its sights on further expansion as it announces a takeover of boutique Brisbane-based firm McMahon Clarke.
McMahon Clarke’s 30 staff, including seven partners, will bolster the larger firm’s 100-strong presence in Brisbane, with the aim of “positioning ourselves as a leading firm in the Brisbane and Queensland market”.
Managing partner Tony Macvean is stepping down after 16 years leading Hall & Wilcox. Pat Scala
Hall & Wilcox managing partner Tony Macvean said the McMahon Clarke deal would help the combined firm “[expand] our investment funds offering” and “become the undisputed market leader in investment funds nationally”.
Mr Macvean told The Australian Financial Review the deal followed years of the two firms “coming up against and competing with each other” in the highly regulated funds management field, acting for trustees and investment managers across a range of sectors.
“We had a dialogue over a long time, and they were keen to join us because they wanted to be at a bigger firm to be able to provide more expertise for their clients and greater opportunities for their people,” he said. “It’s really good to bring them in and create a pretty dominant position in investment funds.”
McMahon Clarke managing partner Sean McMahon said in a statement the merger allowed the smaller firm to “offer added depth and expertise … plus an expanded geographical footprint which will benefit our clients.
“Our combined team will offer some of the best talent in funds management, one of/the largest teams in the country and a powerful national force.”
Macvean calls it quits
Mr Macvean has already announced he will depart at the end of this financial year after 16 years in the top job. He will be replaced by Graydon Dowd, Hall & Wilcox’s commercial dispute resolution lead, from July 1 in the new role of chief executive partner.
Having taken the top job in 2007, Mr Macvean is among the local industry’s longest-serving leaders, pipped only by Mills Oakley’s John Nerurker and Juan Martinez of HWL Ebsworth, who clocked 25 years as chief executive this year.
“We’ve had fantastic growth and success in that time, and it feels like the right time for the firm and for me to step down,” Mr Macvean said.
Hall & Wilcox has grown more than tenfold in that time, from 100 staff to its current 127-partner operation, with more than 1000 employees.
Further expansion remains on the agenda, according to Mr Macvean: “I think there’s further hires that we’ll be doing and further people that we’ll be bringing on. I don’t think it stops here. We have an aspiration to grow and continue to improve.”
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