Emma is a partner in the Banking & Finance group. Emma specialises in leveraged and private equity finance transactions and has a wide range of experience acting for both banks and private equity houses in this area. In addition, Emma also acts in other banking and financing transactions, including project and infrastructure finance, property finance and acting for both financial institutions and corporate borrowers in syndicated, bilateral and club financing arrangements.

Emma joined the Sydney office of Freehills in 1997.

Leveraged and private equity finance experience for sponsors

Some of the more recent leveraged and private equity finance transactions Emma has worked on for sponsors and private equity houses include advising:   

• ABN AMRO Capital on the financing of its acquisition of Monash IVF
• Archer Capital on the financing of various of its acquisitions, including its acquisitions of Rebel Sport by scheme of arrangement, Paradise Foods and Onesource Australia and the establishment of various bridge funding facilities for Archer Capital’s Fund vehicles
• BBRC on the financing of its acquisition of the Adairs retail business
• CHAMP on the financing of its acquisition of Golding Contractors and LCR Lindores
• Crescent Capital on the financing of its acquisition of the Billy Hyde Group
• Gresham Private Equity on the financing of its acquisition of Witchery Fashions, and
• RMB Capital Partners on the financing of its acquisition of various businesses to form InteriorCo.

Leveraged and private equity finance experience for banks

Some of the major leveraged and private equity finance transactions Emma has worked on for banks include acting for:   

• Credit Suisse in relation to the Australian security aspects of the secondary private equity sale of the Boart Longyear business, bids for the proposed Qantas scheme of arrangement, the Myer retail business, Patricks Corporation and 3M Pharmaceuticals, and the refinance, recapitalisation and IPO of the Emeco Group
• Goldmans Sachs for its stapled finance package for the sale of the Yellow Pages business in New Zealand
• National Australia Bank for it funding of Gresham’s investment in various Tasmanian tourism assets
• National Australia Bank, Westpac Banking Corporation and UBS AG on the financing of the acquisition of Worldwide Restaurant Concepts Inc (KFC and Sizzler) by Pacific Equity Partners and ongoing work on the administration of this financing, and
• UBS AG for:
  • the financing of the acquisition of Air International Thermal Systems by JP Morgan Partners and ongoing administration of this financing, and
  • the financing of the acquisition of Waco by CCMP Asia.

Other major projects and clients

Emma has acted for both borrowers and lenders on numerous large and complex corporate finance transactions including acting for:   

• The Tata Power Company Limited on the financing of its US$1.1 billion acquisition of  a 30 per cent stake in two Indonesian coal companies, and in a related coal trading company, all promoted by PT Bumi Resources Tbk (Bumi), Indonesia
• James Fielding Funding Management on the $243.5 million financing of the acquisition from Seven Network Limited of its interests in Telstra Dome
• United Group Limited on an ongoing basis in relation its bilateral bank funding arrangements. This has included acting for United Group Limited in relation of the financing of various acquisition made by it, including it acquisitions of the KFPW property management services outsourcing business, ALSTOM’s transportation operations in Australia and New Zealand and Equis Corporation and Unicco in the United States, and
• WorleyParsons Limited on an ongoing basis in relation its bilateral and syndicated bank funding arrangements (including in relation to the bank debt funding aspects of its acquisition of the Parsons E&C Group in the United States and the Colt Companies in Canada).

Emma holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Sydney and is admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.