Current practice

• joint ventures and strategic alliances
• negotiated acquisitions
• service, facilities management and procurement arrangements
• broadcasting and media related agreements, including satellite and terrestrial delivery agreements, content production and supply agreements, printing and related service agreements
• telecommunications commercial arrangements, and
• advising on media and telecommunications regulatory issues.
  

Industry experience

• Vodafone on its 3G network rollout in Australia and New Zealand
• Tabcorp on the merger of certain Australian and New Zealand wagering pools
• Austar in relation to its pay television distribution arrangements with FOXTEL and joint venture (and subsequent joint venture unwind) with Optus
• Fairfax in relation to broadcasting regulatory strategies, electronic media content transactions and procurement matters
• Sky on various content rights agreements, pay television wagering arrangements, satellite delivery arrangements with Optus and on the establishment of an Australia wide terrestrial digital video network by Telstra
• Macquarie Bank, providing broadcasting, telecommunications and radiocommunications regulatory advice for the acquisition of NTL (now Broadcast Australia)
• Nextgen’s receivers in relation to the management and subsequent sale of Nextgen. This included negotiating operations and maintenance arrangements for the telecommunications network
• Caltex on its petrol alliance with Woolworths
• Commonwealth Bank on its Ezybanking alliance with Woolworths
• St George Bank on its Foodstuffs banking alliance in New Zealand
• Austar on the merger of Telstra New Zealand and Saturn Communications, creating a major telecommunications carrier and pay television operator in New Zealand
• PCCW on the establishment of the Reach international telecommunications infrastructure joint venture with Telstra
• TAB on various gaming, technology and telecommunications matters
• the Commonwealth Government and various telecommunications industry participants, including Vodafone, Telecom New Zealand, AAPT, Hutchison and Reach on telecommunications regulatory matters as well as negotiating interconnect and other forms of carriage and co location agreements, agency and customer supply agreements and radiocommunications licensing matters, and
• IT customers, including Pacific Power, Eraring Energy and the Commonwealth Bank in relation to the outsourcing of their IT and telecommunications services.
  

Professional background

Louise joined Freehills in 1994. She was seconded to Holme Roberts & Owen in London in 1999 where she worked on various joint ventures, acquisitions and capital raisings in the European telecommunications and pay television industries. 

She has a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney.