Takeovers & schemes (mergers and acquisitions)
Our leading Takeovers & Schemes team acts for some of Australia’s leading corporations, advising clients on public company takeovers, schemes of arrangement, capital restructuring, private negotiated M&A as well as some equity capital markets work, private equity transactions and corporate governance work.
Equity capital markets
Our team advises on all forms of equity capital markets transactions including initial public offerings, admissions and listings on ASX, and secondary securities including rights issues, share purchase plans and dividend reinvestment plans. 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 a number 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 securities 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 & resources
Our Energy and Resources team has extensive industry and transaction experience across the power, oil & 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 team, 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
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. The combined Intellectual Property team at Freehills has a growing number of 14 partners and more than 60 other professionals, including a team of patent and trade mark attorneys.
The Corporate IP team specialise in the creation, commercialisation and protection of IP rights, we work closely with the IP team in the Litigation group, whose focus is the enforcement of IP rights.
Our work involves patents, trade marks, designs, copyright and confidential information—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
Our Head Office Advisory team is solely dedicated to advising publicly listed clients on all issues relating to corporate governance and board-level administration. Its client base comprises significant ASX-listed companies across all industries. It involves high level corporate governance advisory work of strategic significance at the Board level, playing an important leadership advisory role, and it is unique in its focused practice nature when compared to our major competitors.
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.
