Current practice

Industry experience

Peter has experience across a range of industries, including financial services, property and general industrials. 

Recently Peter has acted on the buy-outs of Aperio, Billy Hyde, NextMedia, New Price Retail, Godfreys, Transonic and Taverner Hotels. Other transactions of note include:

• MFS—the $1.1 billion recapitalisation of the Stella Group and the disposal of 65 per cent of the Stella Group to CVC
• Perpetual—acquisitions of the Argosy wealth management business, the Wignalls lending business and the National Lending Solutions business
• Challenger—acquisition of MetLife Insurance’s $2 billion annuity, pension and superannuation liabilities by scheme of arrangement
• Ortho Group—roll up of orthopaedic medical practices in New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia
• James Fielding—$330 million acquisition of stapled securities in Stadium Property Trust and Stadium Operations Limited
• Dyno Nobel—the financing of Macquarie Bank’s acquisition of certain of the Dyno Nobel businesses
• Betfair UK—Australian joint venture with Publishing & Broadcasting Limited
• Hoyts—disposal of the Hoyts Group by Consolidated Press Holdings to Publishing & Broadcasting Limited, and West Australian Newspaper Holdings Limited
• Cordiant UK—disposal by Cordiant Communications Group plc of 70 per cent of its stake in the George Patterson Bates advertising group
• Tempo Services—public to private buy-out by Deutsche and ISS
• Just Jeans Group—public to private buy-out of the Just Jeans Group by Catalyst and subsequent acquisitions by Just Jeans of the Portmans Group and the Mooks and Stussy Australian businesses, the refinancing of the Just Jeans Group and the $430 million IPO of the Just Jeans Group, and
• IMO—Australian joint venture and network roll-out.

In addition, Peter has assisted a number of private equity houses with the development of their standard investment documents and has given a number of presentations to the financial services industry. 

Peter spent two years in London between 1998 and 2000. During his time in London, he advised a number of private equity houses in the United Kingdom and the United States, including Electra Fleming Partners Europe Limited, Cinven Limited, CVC Capital Partners Limited, 3i plc, Legal and General Ventures Limited, GE Capital Europe Limited and Madison Dearborne Partners. Transactions of note that he worked on include:

• William Hill—the £825 million management buy-out of William Hill plc by Cinven Limited and CVC Capital Partners Limited
• Safety-Kleen European Operations—the £126 million management buy-out by Electra Fleming, the first management buy-out to be financed primarily in euros
• Electra Fleming disposal process—advising Electra on the restructure and portfolio disposal program in respect of the SLD Group in response to the hostile takeover bid by 3i
• Shopsmart Limited, IPO/Placement—the proposed £500 million flotation on the London Stock Exchange and subsequent private equity capital raising
• Shopsmart, AOL Europe SA and ASDA Stores Limited joint venture
• BandX Limited—expansion financing by Madison Dearborne Partners of the telecom trading company BandX, and
• IPC Magazines—establishment of an e-commerce joint venture between IPC Magazines and ACP Publishing Pty Limited.

Professional background

Peter has bachelor degrees in Economics and Law (Honours) and a postgraduate diploma in Applied Finance and Investment.

Peter is admitted to practice in New South Wales and Victoria and in England and Wales.