Freehills recently advised Cape Lambert Iron Ore Ltd on its $135 million acquisition of the assets of insolvent listed resources company CopperCo Limited.
After buying the secured debt owed by CopperCo in February 2009, Cape Lambert then successfully bid for and acquired CopperCo’s assets, including mining projects in Queensland and Greece and shares in various listed resources companies. At completion of the acquisition on 29 June 2009, a large part of the purchase price was the repayment of the secured debt owed to Cape Lambert.
Partner Simon Reed and senior associate Jeremy Wickens led the Freehills team working on the transaction, with input from the firm’s corporate, banking & finance, insolvency and tax practice groups.
Freehills lead partner Simon Reed said, ‘This was a complex, multi-faceted transaction that included asset purchases in multiple jurisdictions, and dealings with various stakeholders, including unsecured creditors, and various regulators, such as ASIC and the Takeovers Panel’.
Mr Reed continued, ‘We are very pleased to have worked with Cape Lambert to achieve such a successful outcome in the demanding timeframe required. The deal shows that there are still significant opportunities available to strong players in the current market.’
A number of other advisers were involved in the transaction, including Cochrane Lishman as legal advisers to the receivers and managers of CopperCo.
Freehills’ M&A team continues to be the market’s choice for large, innovative and complex deals, as recognised by its top ranking in the recently announced mid-year Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg M&A league tables.
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