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Freehills’ Corporate group is the largest and most diverse of our practice groups. The group undertakes a wide variety of general corporate advisory work and provides specialised advice in areas including intellectual property, funds management and superannuation. We also have industry specific practice areas such as energy and resources and healthcare. Solicitors in the Corporate group work with a large share of Freehills’ blue chip client base, addressing complex and important business issues.

Areas of practice

Mergers and acquisitions

Our large team assists some of Australia’s leading corporations on a wide range of strategic corporate initiatives. We advise clients on day-to-day contractual and commercial issues, including mergers and acquisitions, takeovers, disposals of businesses, demergers, joint ventures and alliances, share buy-backs and capital restructures.

Equity capital markets

Our team advises on all forms of equity-based fundraising, including initial public offers (IPOs) on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), rights issues and share placements. We play an innovative role in advising on ‘hybrid’ securities which combine equity and debt  fundraising. We also have a market leading practice in the area of privatisations and have acted on all of the major government asset sales in recent times.

Private equity

The Private Equity team helps clients raise funds and acquire equity in target companies. We also assist clients in selling their equity stakes, either through a negotiated sale or by floating their equity stake on the stock exchange. We are involved in all aspects of the private equity cycle, including the establishment of private equity funds, institutional investment in private equity funds, producing fund documentation and shareholders’ agreements, managing the divestment process (via trade sale, auction or initial public offering),  management buy-ins and buy-outs and providing advice to investment managers on a range of commercial and regulatory issues.

Energy and resources

Our Energy and Resources team has extensive industry and transaction experience across the power, oil and gas and mining sectors. We have acted on some of the most significant energy and resources deals in the Asia-Pacific region, including several key infrastructure developments in the sector. Working as part of the Energy & Resources group, you would gain exposure to a number of disciplines ranging from mining and petroleum law, environment, native title, carbon trading and property through to mergers and acquisitions, equity capital markets, project development and financing, corporate regulatory, foreign investment, dispute resolution and industrial and employee relations.

Telecommunications, media and technology

Our Telecommunications, Media and Technology (TMT) team advises most of Australia’s leading media and telecommunications companies on regulatory issues affecting their business. We are involved in key strategic and operational projects ranging from telecommunications network sharing agreements and large-scale network rollouts, through to content sharing joint ventures and major
acquisitions in the TMT sector. We also advise corporations in other sectors of the economy on their communications and technology requirements, including their outsourcing arrangements and their software and technology procurement needs.

Intellectual property

In addition to the Intellectual Property (IP) team in the Litigation group, whose focus is the enforcement of IP rights, the Corporate IP team specialise in the creation, commercialisation and protection of IP rights. Alongside our patent and trade mark firm, Freehills Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys, we provide a ‘one-stop-shop’ for advising clients on all aspects of IP. Our work involves patents, trade marks, designs, copyright and confidential information—where we might be involved in preparing trade mark licenses, sponsorship agreements, content agreements, as well as advising clients on the impact of laws covering trade practices and competition, franchising or licensing.

Funds management, superannuation and insurance

Our team assists clients to develop and release new financial products to an ever-growing investor base, while helping them to navigate through the network of regulatory issues that confront them.

Our services include: public offerings and mergers and acquisition work for managed funds; operating public offer, industry and  employer-sponsored superannuation funds, including advising superannuation fund trustees about their legal and regulatory obligations; and advising insurance companies about their regulatory obligations, establishing and managing corporate insurance policies, restructuring their businesses and mergers and acquisitions in the insurance industry.

Head office advisory

We are the only Australian firm to have a team of solicitors solely dedicated to advising publicly listed clients on all issues relating to corporate governance and board-level administration.

Our services include: advising company directors and boards on annual accounts and corporate disclosures; employee share and option plans; corporate governance; company constitutions; senior executive and directors’ remuneration issues; structural share and capital management issues, including buy-backs; and directors’ and executives’ indemnities and insurances.

Your role as a graduate

As a graduate your role may include: