Reuben Woods

He/himPartner

Reuben was exceptional throughout the deal process and was invested not only in the success of our business but also in the relationships forged throughout across all parties.

— Chambers & Partners Asia-Pacific 2025

Emailreuben.woods@dlapiper.com

Call+64 9 300 3836

Auckland

About

Areas of FocusCorporate Mergers and Acquisitions Private Equity Strategic and Commercial Contracts Finance Intellectual Property Restructuring Consumer Goods Food and Retail Financial Services Insurance Life Sciences Media Sport and Entertainment Technology

EXPERIENCE

Advised Investment Services Group on the sale of 75% of its shares to Shaw and Partners, ultimately owned by EFG International (a global private banking group headquartered in Switzerland and listed on the SIX Swiss stock exchange). ISG has more than NZD7bn in assets under management. Paul Glass, executive chair of ISG commented "Reuben and Steph were fantastic to work with and added a lot of value to our transaction. We particularly appreciated their availability and commitment when the process became intense, timing became critical and the workload lifted significantly".
Advised Bank of Queensland on the sale of its c.NZD238m NZ portfolio to UDC Finance. Executive Business Manager at BOQ said "Reuben, Rachel and the DLA Piper team have added significant value with their pragmatic and commercial approach, their clear and timely communication and their deep subject matter expertise. The team have been a pleasure to deal with throughout the transaction".
Advised Five V Capital, Australian private equity firm, on its acquisition and ultimate sale of Totara Learning Solutions Limited to Tenzing, a European PE investor. Totara operates a world leading open enterprise Learning Management System (LMS). The transaction was named 2023 New Zealand Private Equity investment of the year up to NZD300m.
Advised Seequent and Accel-KKR on the sale of the Seequent group to Bentley Systems (Nasdaq: BSY) for ~NZD1.5bn. Managing Director at AKKR said in relation to this deal: “Reuben and the entire DLA Piper team have been invaluable partners throughout our investment in Seequent. DLA Piper’s global footprint, coupled with technically-excellent and commercially-astute advice, helped make this large, complex, multi-jurisdictional process go very smoothly. They have been great advisors and we look forward to working with them in the future." In April 2022, this transaction was awarded Buyouts Magazine International Deal of the Year. It was also named the M&A Deal of the Year at the 2022 New Zealand Law Awards.
Advised Accel-KKR’s emerging buyout fund on the acquisition of the Unimarket group, an NZ founded and headquartered eProcurement solution.
Advised Discovery Inc. on its acquistion of MediaWorks' TV business, comprising free-to-air channels, Three, Bravo, Three+1, Bravo+1, The Edge TV and The Breeze TV; streaming service ThreeNow; and multi-platform news and current affairs service Newshub. This deal was a finalist for M&A Deal of the Year in the 2021 NZ Lawyer Law Awards.
Advised Accel-KKR, a leading Silicon Valley technology focused private equity firm, on its acquisition of Seequent Limited from Pencarrow and founders / management. This transaction won the 2019 INFINZ M&A Transaction Deal of the Year, won the 2019 New Zealand Private Equity investment of the year up to NZD150m, and was also a finalist for Consumer, Media and Tech Deal of the Year at the 2019 New Zealand Law Awards.
Advised Discovery Communications on its acquisition of Top TV Limited, operating Choice TV and HGTV.
Advised the shareholders of Birthcare Holdings Limited on the sale to Acurity Health Group Limited (a Pacific Equity Partners portfolio group).
Advised Foodstuffs North Island Limited on its acquisition of the business and assets of Leigh Fisheries Limited and Lee Bait Limited. ‘Lee Fish’ is a brand synonymous with high-quality seafood and sustainable fishing practices. It is a kaitiaki in the industry with a strong environmental ethos and a world-class brand.
Advised Jetts Fitness New Zealand (one of NZ’s largest fitness groups) on its sale to Quadrant Private Equity.
Advised Vista Group International Limited on aspects of its initial public offering and listing on the NZX and ASX.
Advised Foodstuffs Co-operatives on the sale of Bell Tea & Coffee Company Limited to Pencarrow Private Equity.
Advised on the sale of BankLink (an early NZ founded Fintech company) to MYOB Finance NZ Limited, a Bain Capital entity, for NZD136m.

Languages

Awards

Ranked as a Leading Individual, Chambers & Partners Asia-Pacific 2021- 2025
Ranked as a Leading Partner, Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2021-2025
Named Dealmaker of the Year 2024, NZ Lawyer 2024

Education

Prior Experience

Reuben started with DLA Piper in 1996. He worked as a corporate solicitor at a leading law firm in the United Kingdom for four years, returning to DLA Piper in March 2005.

Memberships And Affiliations