Qualifications
BCA, LLB (Hons), Victoria University
Admitted
2006, New Zealand
Gerard leads Chapman Tripp’s finance team and is an expert in corporate and institutional finance.
Gerard advises financial institutions and borrowers on a wide range of transactional and corporate finance product offerings, with particular expertise in general and margin lending, as well as syndicated, leveraged, project and acquisition financing transactions. His experience also includes advising on securitisation and warehouse funding programmes, project finance, international trade facilities and instruments, and the development and documentation of transactional banking products.
Gerard is uniquely placed to understand your financing requirements having worked across the banking product spectrum both in private practice at Chapman Tripp and Linklaters and in-house at a major New Zealand bank.
He is recognised as a Leading Lawyer by Chambers Asia Pacific 2026, Notable Practitioner by IFLR1000 2025, and as a Next Generation Partner by Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2026.
Recent highlights
- Advised international and domestic lenders providing core funding to each of Fletcher Building, Infratil, Mainfreight, Auckland University, Morrison, Sky Network Television, Vulcan Steel, Freightways, SkyCity, Seeka Group, Zespri, Profile Group, Goodman Property Trust, The Warehouse, EnviroNZ, Steel & Tube and Restaurant Brands.
- Assisted InfraRed Capital Partners and Northleaf Capital on their acquisition of, and $1.3bn syndicated acquisition funding for, 80% of Vodafone NZ’s passive mobile tower business.
- Advised Ontario Teachers Pension Plan on its 16-bank syndicate funding (including primary syndication process) for the acquisition of Awanui (formerly Labtests) and certain other OTPP acquisition fundings.
- Assisted BNZ, ANZ and Société Générale as arrangers and joint lead managers on the $650m public term securitisation for UDC Finance in 2024 - the largest term securitisation transaction in New Zealand to date. We have advised the joint lead managers for UDC’s public terms deals every year since its inaugural issue in 2021.
- Advised arranger and primary syndicate lenders on pre committed acquisition backstop facilities and primary syndication take out mechanics for Infratil’s NZ$1.8bn acquisition of remaining Vodafone shares.
- Assisted four banks and the independent security trustee, New Zealand Guardian Trust, in providing c.NZ$600m in syndicated project financing to Te Runanga o Toa Rangatira for the purchase of over 40 school properties from the Crown as a party of their Treaty settlements.
Affiliations
- Asia Pacific Loan Markets Association - New Zealand Committee.
- Australian Securitisation Forum - New Zealand Market Subcommittee.
