David Johnston leads tax practice at DLA Piper. He has more than 20 years of experience in transactions and dispute service both in New Zealand and the UK. The team advises on a wide range of tax matters, ranging from inward and outward investment, private equity deals, structuring for corporate and real estate acquisitions and disposals and transfer pricing planning and documentation through to executive and employee compensation packages. 

One of the work highlights was an acquisition project handled by David Johnston. He headed the team and assisted BlackRock with its acquisition of 100% of the shares in solarZero. The work included the negotiation of tax clauses, cross-border tax structuring and tax structuring of the management incentive arrangements to retain key management personnel post-deal.