Our Services
SWS Corporate Advisory team provides directors, business owners, CEO’s and senior management teams with practical independent assistance and advice on legal and commercial issues. We work with clients to improve strategic planning and shareholder value. Our corporate lawyers have a proven track record for delivering major capital works projects, corporate and business restructuring outcomes and M&A and capital raising transactions.
Our team
SWS Corporate Advisory division is a project driven team of highly trained and skilled lawyers with in-house corporate and management experience in listed public and private corporations, acting in executive roles. We undertake specific assignments designed to assist the needs of our clients.
Our corporate advisory division is unique and genuinely independent. Our advisors have long standing experience acting as directors, executives and lawyers. We know our markets. We invest in understanding our clients and their businesses. We aim to help business owners achieve their goals in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
Our approach
We recognise that every transaction is different. We work closely with our clients and their chosen team for each project. Our advisors communicate openly and regularly and have sound financial management skills which are integrated with all of the legal and corporate advisory services we provide. We frame all of our advice in a legal context to ensure Boards and Executives are able to integrate the legal risks and perspectives into the accounting and taxation advisory services, typically provided by a client’s in-house or incumbent accounting service providers, to achieve the desired outcome.
Genuine independence
SWS is one of the only corporate advisory teams in the Hunter Valley that is truly independent of any audit, accounting, taxation, debt, underwriting, broking or trading conflict. We do not seek indemnities from our clients designed to exclude liability for our advice and we don’t “up sell” services from within our organisation. Our objectivity and genuine independence allow us to introduce and connect other specialist brokers, funding options, taxation and accounting services for each opportunity at an appropriate time.
Our connections
SWS has strong relationships with both clients and advisors located domestically and overseas. We have been particularly successful in developing long-standing relationships with major offshore advisory businesses and legal firms in Europe and the US. These trusted relationships are with specific legal, advisory and corporate finance houses and like-minded professional organisations that are characterised by few Australia-based relationships and connections. They rely on SWS to provide governance, advice and local agent and board roles for their clients and contacts.
Our specialists
- Andrew Windybank was the General Counsel of the beer businesses operated by (then ASX-listed) Lion Nathan Limited, now Lion, one of Australasia’s largest beverage businesses. He is currently a member on advisory boards and a company director for a number of private corporations. In addition to specialising in corporate law for 25 years, Andrew has more than 10 years of practical management and governance experience gained through his board and advisory roles in the FMCG, manufacturing, Bio-tech and mining services markets.
- James Stevenson has practiced as a specialist M&A and Corporate lawyer for more than 30 years and provides corporate and commercial advice to listed and private companies and their boards. He currently acting as an independent non-executive director of EquiEnergyYouth - https://eeyouth.org.au/
- Richard Suters has more than 25 years’ experience as a commercial lawyer. He was inhouse counsel for Marubeni Corporation, in both Sydney and London from 1995 through 2004, and he was employed as the General Counsel for a private mining services company before founding SWS Lawyers with Andrew and James.
