HWL Ebsworth has advised a shareholder consortium on its successful off-market takeover bid for all of the shares in MC Mining Limited (ASX:MCM) not already held by the consortium. MCM is listed on the ASX and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and was listed on the AIM London exchange at the time of the deal. MCM is a coal exploration and development company operating in South Africa.

Deal complexity arose from the three exchanges in terms of the foreign requirements and how that dovetailed within an Australian corporate action. It was a bid not recommended by the independent board committee and conducted as a joint bid with a compulsory buy-out, which is an uncommon element in the Australian context. The consortium achieved a combined shareholding of 93%.

The HWL Ebsworth deal team was led by Thomas Kim (Partner – Corporate) and Kenneth Lee (Special Counsel – Corporate), with valuable assistance from Vien Tran (Senior Associate – Corporate), Jefferson Nguon (Associate – Corporate) and Jack England (Solicitor – Corporate).

Advice on court strategy was provided by Jonathan Kramersh (Partner – Litigation) and his team.

Morgans Limited acted as corporate advisor and broker for Australia.

Note to Editors:

HWL Ebsworth is the largest legal partnership in Australia according to the most recent partnership surveys published by the Australian Financial Review.

The firm comprises 1,670, staff including 275 Partners, 1,017 other legal staff and 378 support staff across offices in nine locations – Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Melbourne, Hobart, Norwest (North West Sydney), Perth and Sydney.

HWL Ebsworth is an independent, nationally integrated, full service commercial law firm, providing tailored and commercially oriented legal services.

HWL Ebsworth operates a different business model to the other leading national law practices, and this allows us to offer unrivalled value for money without compromising quality and service. Our low ratio of solicitors to partners ensures that our clients receive optimal access to partner resources for all matters.

For further information, please contact:

Russell Mailler, Chief Executive Partner (03) 8644 3569 or rmailler@hwle.com.au

Angelique Kear, Head of Marketing (02) 9334 8541 or akear@hwle.com.au