Overview
Freehills was the first major Australian law firm to establish a dedicated private equity practice and is the largest dedicated practice of its kind. Freehills is ranked as a leading private equity law firm in Australia by PLC Which Lawyer? 2011. According to Bloomberg’s Private Equity M&A League Table, Freehills achieved a number 1 ranking, having advised on the highest value of deals in 2010. Freehills is also the number 1 law firm in Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity according to Best Lawyers in Australia 2011.
Freehills’ Private Equity team is unique among Australian law firms in having a leading practice across all areas of the private equity industry including:
- fund formation
- leveraged buy-outs
- trade sale and initial public offering (IPO) exits
- leveraged acquisition finance, and
- expansion and venture capital.
Experience
Our clients, who include a range of international and domestic private equity houses active in all types and sizes of transactions, benefit from our expertise developed through our involvement in many of Australasia’s largest and most complex private equity transactions.
According to Bloomberg’s Private Equity M&A League Table, Freehills achieved a number 1 ranking, having advised on the highest value of deals in 2010. Members of our Private Equity team have extensive United States and United Kingdom private equity expertise. We continue to keep abreast of United States and United Kingdom private equity trends and adapt foreign developments where appropriate for the Australian market.
We have advised on:
- the establishment and investment in over 100 private equity funds totalling more than A$10 billion
- public to private buy-outs, such as the acquisition of Healthscope Limited by a consortium backed by TPG Capital and The Carlyle Group and TPG’s acquisition of Myer; and the Seven Network’s A$4 billion media joint venture with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co
- management and leveraged buy-outs, including Archer Capital’s acquisition of Brownes Dairy and Ausfuel
- PIPE (Private Investment in Public Equity) investments including Warburg Pincus’ cornerstone investment in Transpacific Industries and CHAMP’s investment in Austar
- trade sale exits, such as the sale of Olex to Nexans
- IPO exits, such as Myer and Pacific Brands.
