KWM ends 14-year tie-up next March

G+T ramps up disputes practice

M&A set to boom in 2026

KWM made headlines after it announced (following a Law.com leak) it was ending its 14-year union as the Aussie arm rebrands to Mallesons. CEO Renae Lattey says the partnership was “pulling in different directions”, and becoming the “only independent top-tier firm in Australia [was] the right strategy”. The firm breaks into King & Wood (China, HK, Japan, NY) and Mallesons (Australia, Singapore) next March: AFR, Law.com

Gilbert + Tobin has nabbed heavyweight litigator Holly Sara for its disputes team. She’s a go-to on multibillion-dollar class actions, regulatory probes and big-ticket commercial scraps across sectors from financial services to tech. The move follows Daniel Moloney’s arrival in Melbourne: Point Blank

If you're thinking about a move to London, don’t forget to consider the perks. RollOnFriday’s latest survey shows firms with the best and worst gyms — White & Case offers an “amazing” gym and daily yoga and Clifford Chance still boasting that famous office pool. Others are struggling, with leaks, wellbeing rooms quietly turned into desk space and classes taking place in the canteen: RollOnFriday

IP/Disputes: In Otsuka v Sun Pharma, the Full Federal Court has dramatically narrowed the patent term extension (PTE) regime, ruling that formulation patents are ineligible for extension because only active pharmaceutical ingredients qualify as a “pharmaceutical substance”. The Court overturned long-standing Patent Office practice and three earlier decisions (Cipla, Pharmacia, Spirit), rejecting the view that a formulation that was treated as a “mixture or compound” could meet the statutory test. The ruling wiped out Otsuka’s five-year extension and means many existing PTEs for formulation patents may now be invalid and open to challenge at any time via Register rectification: Clayton Utz

Consumer/Penalty: CBA has paid $792,000 in ACCC penalties — the largest CDR penalty to date — after allegedly failing to enable data-sharing for certain business customers, leaving customers unable to use CDR-enabled accounting and finance tools and relying on manual or less secure workarounds. The ACCC says CBA breached long-standing obligations to support non-individual data sharing. As part of an administrative resolution, CBA will enable remaining TEBN accounts by 19 December 2025 and run a remediation program from January 2026, offering goodwill and loss-based payments, as data-quality failures and missed CDR deadlines remain key enforcement priorities: ACCC

M&A: New analysis done by HSF Kramer on NBIOs across 2022-24 shows how private equity bidders fare in public-company takeovers. The guide covers leak risk, disclosure patterns, exclusivity norms, success rates, why PE bids fail, price-chipping data and how pre-bid stakes influence outcomes. It provides practical insights on diligence access, bidder reliability and how Boards typically respond to PE NBIOs: HSF Kramer

Communications Minister Anika Wells says the under-16 social media ban marks a “profound reform” that will “change a generation”, claiming TikTok has already wiped 200k accounts. But teens are simply jumping ship, pushing Lemon8, Yope and CoverStar to the top of the App Store. With 1.4m accounts set to vanish and age-checks far from perfect, the crackdown is here, but the workarounds are faster: AFR

Former defence minister Linda Reynolds says she’ll fight the Higgins-Lehrmann fallout “to the bitter end”, despite racking up millions in legal debt and taking out two mortgages. She argues multiple court rulings have cleared her of any cover-up and is now suing the Commonwealth over Higgins’ $2.4m settlement. Reynolds says the saga “destroyed” her career and health, but insists she’s not backing down: The Guardian

South32: is reportedly weighing a run at BHP’s West Musgrave nickel–copper project as bids loom for the miner’s non-core assets. Sandfire and Andrew Forrest’s Wyloo are also in the mix, eyeing scarce copper exposure: The Australian

SpaceX: is plotting a mega-IPO that could top US$30bn, targeting a US$1.5tn valuation. Fuelled by Starlink’s surge and a coming direct-to-mobile play, revenue is tipped to hit US$22bn–$24bn in 2026. Musk wants proceeds to bankroll space-based data centres and Starship: Bloomberg

BHP has struck a US$2bn ($3bn) deal with BlackRock’s GIP, selling a 49% stake in its WA power network while keeping operational control. The 25-year tariff deal frees up capital tied in low-return infrastructure as BHP eyes higher-growth projects: AFR

AEMO now expects coal to run in the National Electricity Market until 2049, pushing its exit back 11 years, as soaring transmission costs drive the grid’s price tag to $128bn. New poles-and-wires projects have blown out by up to 100%, forcing a rethink of build timelines: AFR

Goldman Sachs says 2026 could be the second-biggest M&A year ever, with the bank already advising on US$1tn+ of deals. As activity surges, CFO Denis Coleman says the war for talent is pushing pay higher, with top dealmakers commanding premium bonuses. Advisory fees are booming across the Street, feeding talk of a new “golden age” of dealmaking as banks gear up for a busy year: Business Insider

Labor will force super funds to pay a $47.3m special levy to help compensate victims of financial failures, plugging a hole in the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort. It’s the first time the $4.3tn sector has been tapped, defying heavy union pushback and raising the prospect that supers may be hit again: AFR

Qantas is gearing up for job losses as rising costs trigger a major staff restructure, with Cam Wallace saying the airline must stay lean to compete. But the ACCC paints a different picture, noting strong profits amid weak competition. In October, Jetstar hit 92.2%, Virgin 88.8% and Qantas 77.5% capacirt, with airfares climbing as a result: The Australian

Gina Rinehart’s bid to add a helipad to Hancock Prospecting’s new $270m Perth HQ has been knocked back by the city council, despite promises of just 12 flights a year. Councillors cited noise, amenity and planning issues, rejecting arguments that the pad could boost investment or even aid emergency services. Hancock says it’s “disappointed” and is weighing its options: AFR

Kasada has landed a $30m raise led by private-equity giant EQT, pushing the Sydney cyber start-up’s valuation past $300m. Founded by Sam Crowther at 19, Kasada’s tech blocks AI data-scraping bots, a threat exploding as companies try to stop OpenAI, Google and others from ripping content. Revenue is up 700% in three years: AFR

Brussels has opened a new investigation into Google, examining whether it’s using publishers’ content and YouTube videos to train AI models on unfair terms. Regulators will probe whether Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode rely on scraped content without proper compensation and whether creators can realistically refuse: Capital Brief