Ben Macdonald

Biography

Ben is a partner in our Corporate Advisory group.

He brings deep knowledge and experience to his corporate advisory practice, having advised on numerous strategic corporate transactions in Australia and around the world. 

Ben specialises in M&A, joint ventures, corporate restructures and corporate governance and has a particular interest in cross border M&A, energy and infrastructure and foreign investment.  

Ben’s clients include ASX listed companies, global companies, foreign government owned entities, private equity groups and start-ups  

He has spent time working at a pre-eminent law firm in London and for leading global investment banks. 

Ben has bachelor’s degrees in law (Honours) and Commerce (Honours in Economics) from the University of Melbourne. He is admitted to practice in Victoria and England and Wales and is a member of the Melbourne University Law School Advisory Council. 

Experience

Ben’s experience includes advising:

  • Orica on its acquisition of Terra Insights for an enterprise value of CAD$505m.

  • Neptune Energy shareholders on the sale of Neptune Energy to Eni and Vår Energi for US$4.9 billion.

  • DuluxGroup on its acquisition of Pental’s consumer products business and the Shepparton plant.

  • Orica on its acquisition of Axis Mining Technology for $260 million (+earn out) and its $650 million equity capital raising to fund the acquisition and to provide balance sheet capacity.

  • Tabcorp on its sale of its Max Performance Solutions and its sale of eBet.

  • Orica on the sale of its Minova business to Aurelius Group for $180 million.

  • Ansell on the US$600 million sale of its Sexual Wellness business to Humanwell Healthcare/Citic.

  • Orica on the sale of its chemicals business to funds advised by Blackstone for A$750 million.

  • BGH consortium on its $2.3 billion acquisition of Navitas by scheme of arrangement.

  • Cleanaway Waste Management on its $170 million acquisition of Global Renewable Holdings.

  • Neptune Energy on its US$3.9 billion acquisition of ENGIE’s E&P assets.

  • Ixom on its acquisitions of Australian Botanical Products and LogiChem.

Awards and Recognition

  • The Best Lawyers in Australia 2025

    Mergers & Acquisitions Law, Corporate Law, Financial Institutions, Commercial Law and Energy Law

  • The Legal 500 AsiaPacific 2019

    Corporate and M&A categories