New Tax Partner at Trans-Tasman Law Firm, Minter Ellison Rudd Watts

Trans-Tasman law firm, Minter Ellison Rudd Watts, has announced the appointment of a new tax partner, John Peterson.

John is an experienced tax advisor in all aspects of taxation law – GST, financing, property, trust, commercial, M&A, tax audit work, dispute management and settlement and litigation. John specialises in international tax, structured finance and cross-border M&A. John has previously worked in London and New York.

Some of John’s major projects:

-Advising Deutsche Bank on the sale of its custody business, Advising Viacom and Vivendi in their sale of United Cinemas International to Terra Firma and Advising Edison and Bechtel on the sale of European infrastructure assets

-Advising Macquaire on establishing an infrastructure asset fund for retail investors WestLB AG as arranger in 2002 of GBP425 million of senior debt for the construction of Wembley stadium

-Advising Dresdner Anschutz Mezzinvest Sarl on mezzanine fund structure
Work history

Employment History:

Partner, Minter Ellison Rudd Watts, New Zealand (2007 – current)
Tax Solicitor, Shearman & Sterling, London (2002 – 2005)
Tax Attorney, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, New York (1999 – 2002)
Tax Solicitor, Chapman Tripp, New Zealand (1996-1998)

Based in the firm’s Wellington office, John’s appointment takes the number of partners in the firm’s national tax team to four. This full tax team comprises:

Tax Partners:

Joanne Dunne
David Patterson
John Peterson
Andrew Ryan

Special Counsel:

Judith Spells

Senior Tax Associates:

Vivian Cheng
Amanda Somers