Qantas general counsel Brett Johnson will step down later this year and be replaced by a lawyer who has spent his career specialising in corporate mergers and acquisitions.
Andrew Finch will take over as general counsel effective November 1, the airline said in a statement today. Mr Finch is currently a partner at Sydney based commercial law firm Allens, where he specialises in takeovers, mergers, business acquisitions, private equity and corporate restructurings, according to a biography on the law firm’s website.
Mr Finch represented Qantas in a later abandoned 2008 proposal to merge with British Airways, as well as in its response to a $10 billion private equity takeover offer led by Macquarie Bank and TPG in 2006 and 2007.
Mr Johnson, the outgoing counsel, will assist with the transition and will remain with the airline as a consultant, Qantas said.
