Transaction highlights

• Advised Wesfarmers on its takeover of SILK Laser.

• Advised Brunswick Corp on an acquisition of an Australian boating business.

• Advised a lender group led by Ares Management Corp on the funding of an acquisition by PAI Partners of the ECF Group.

• Advised OzMinerals on its takeover by BHP.

• Advised Virtus Health on its takeover by BGH Capital. 

• Advised KKR on its purchase of Laser Clinics.

• Advised Telstra on its 51.4% acquisition of FetchTV.

• Advised Vulcan Steel on tax advice on the gifting of shares in the company (Vulcan) from the founder to employees as part of its initial public offering.

• Advised American Industrial Partners on the sale of 100% of the issued share capital in CR UK Holding, Ltd., the holding company of Australian-based mining technology group, CR, to Epiroc.

• Advised Telstra on its US$1.85 billion acquisition of Digicel Pacific and the transaction’s financing and insurance from the Australian Government.  The transaction was recognised as an Impact Deal of the Year in the 2023 ITR Asia-Pacific Tax Awards. 

• Advised Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) and its managed funds and Aware Super on tax aspects of the consortium’s $3.5 billion acquisition of ASX-listed telecommunications company Vocus Group Limited by scheme of arrangement.

• Advised MIRA on the tax aspects of its financing of the $2.6 billion acquisition of BINGO Industries.

• Advised Quadrant Private Equity on the tax aspects of its $650 million acquisition of childcare operator Affinity Education from Anchorage Capital.

• Advised KKR on the tax aspects of the acquisition of a 55% interest in Colonial First State and establishment of a joint venture with Commonwealth Bank of Australia, with the transaction valuing CFS at $3.4 billion.

• Advised Anheuser-Busch InBev on the $16 billion sale of Carlton & United Breweries to Asahi Group – the largest M&A transaction in Australia in 2019.

• Advised Crescent Capital Partners on the initial IPO and listing of Australian Clinical Labs on the ASX. 

• Advised The Stars Group on its $6 billion acquisition by Flutter Entertainment to create the world's biggest online gaming group.

• Advised DuluxGroup on its agreed $3.8 billion takeover by Nippon Paint by scheme of arrangement - the largest trade/strategic takeover in Australian in 2019.

• Advised RuralCo on its $1.1 billion acquisition by Nutrien.

• Advised Ebay, via its subsidiary Gumtree, on the Australian tax aspects of its acquisition of Carsguide.

• Advised QuadPay on its sale to Australian-based ZipPay.

• Advised Risk Capital Advisors on its sale to Willis Towers Watson.

• Advised Web.com on its acquisition of ASX-listed Dreamscape Networks Limited.

• Advised Shaw & Partners and its major and founding shareholders on the strategic long-term partnership with Swiss private banking group, EFG International.

• Advised Investment Management Corporation of Ontario, on behalf of the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board of Ontario, on an investment in a globally diversified infrastructure fund managed by Colonial First State, including an application for a private ruling as to the operation of novel aspects of the withholding tax rules and briefing counsel on the same issues.

• Advised Jadestone Energy on its acquisition of the Montara oil project and US$120 million senior secured RBL debt facility.

• Advised Wesfarmers on the sale of its 13.23% Quadrant Energy stake (alongside co-sellers Brookfield, Macquarie Bank and AMB Holdings) as part of the acquisition of Quadrant Energy by Santos for US$2.15 billion.

• Advised Pacific Equity Partners and Carlyle on the acquisition of iNova Pharmaceutical’s consumer healthcare business, including advising the client on financing the acquisition, the mitigation of domestic and foreign tax risk and assisting with the resolution of a vital dispute with the Australian Taxation Office.

 

Tax controversies and notable disputes

• Advised Westpac Bank on the treatment of remediation payments made to superannuation fund members and their successors in the class action Ghee v BT Funds Management Ltd.  The advice was used to determine the amount of compensation and how the compensation ought to be paid to members of the class of plaintiffs.

• Expert tax advice on the implications for plaintiffs (our client) and the defendant Toyota of the treatment of compensation receipts by various classes of plaintiffs in Williams v Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Limited, accepted by the court.

• Appeared for the Flutter group, the defendant, in the matter of One Managed Investment Funds Ltd v ACN 149 603 494 Pty Ltd before the Supreme Court of NSW.  The case involved a complex GST-based dispute arising from the sale of a business in the online gaming industry.

• Represented members of a high net wealth family on a tax-related dispute involving a complex restructure of family and business arrangements.

• Represented an engineering company in a successful defense of a tax dispute with the Australian Taxation Office involving a restructure, the tax consolidation rules and the general anti-avoidance rules.

• Represented a large gold producer in a favourable settlement of a tax dispute with the Australian Taxation Office under the general anti-avoidance rules.

• Assisted the taxpayer in the dispute that ultimately became the seminal High Court case of Chief Commissioner of State Revenue v Dick Smith Electronic Holdings.

Unique tax advice

• Advised a major bank on the treatment of certain compensation payments in a highly regulated and specialised tax.  The advice was used to determine the amount of compensation and how the compensation ought to be paid to members of the class of plaintiffs.

• Advised on whether contractors are genuinely employees or independent contractors for a variety of clients across a number of industries.  Affected client industries include shipping, financial advisory and education.

• Advised a charitable organisation on the continuing application of income tax concessions as a result of commercial dealings with Government and private entities, including a swap of indefeasible rights to use capacity on a network and building and maintaining network infrastructure.

• Advised a major Australian listed company on several international tax issues affecting countries in Asia and the Pacific, the collapsing of various cross border arrangements and advising on the application of new foreign law.

• Provided advice on a highly technical deconsolidation issue in the retirement village and aged care industry, saving the client hundreds of millions of dollars in tax.

• Developed a restructure of a unique business owned and operated by a non-Government institution, balancing commercial considerations, statutory restraints as well as income tax and stamp duty costs.

• Advised the board of directors of a large Australian publicly listed company on the tax implications of complex insider trading restrictions and changes to the terms of employee share schemes.

• Advised BetEasy on the operation of, and inconsistencies between, point of consumption taxes across all states and territories.

• Advised Tellus on the formation of a complex enduring joint venture structure with the Western Australian Government to fund remedial works on a waste storage facility.

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