HWL Ebsworth is pleased to be advising the South Australian government as the external legal adviser on the commercialisation of its transactional land services. HWL Ebsworth has worked under the leadership of the Crown Solicitor’s Office Chief Commercial Counsel, Chris Gray, since being appointed in August 2016.
On Thursday it was announced that Land Services SA, a consortium comprising Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, will be appointed as the State’s exclusive service provider for the next 40 years. Key public protections will continue to be guaranteed, including indefeasibility of title, the statutory assurance fund and the government continuing to set regulated fees and charges with no changes other than the standard annual increases.
South Australian Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis commented that “The sale will deliver the State an upfront return of $1.605 billion now plus a considerable ongoing royalties stream over the concession period. This is an absolutely outstanding result for the State.”
Please click here for the South Australian Government’s news release and further details.
The HWL Ebsworth team is being led by Jamie Restas, National Head of the Commercial Group. Chris Gray, Chief Commercial Counsel from the Crown Solicitor’s Office, is leading the CSO team.
They have worked closely with a broad team who have all invested a significant amount of time in the transaction. The team members included:
CSO Team: Hester Daalder (Executive Solicitor), Joseph Maniscalco (Senior Solicitor) and Kate Guy (Solicitor).
HWLE Team: Kate McKeough (Partner), Samantha Reidy (Special Counsel), Cam Steele (Senior Associate), Sam Christie (Associate), and Stephanie Kolaczkos (Graduate) from Commercial; Josh Messing (Partner), John Gray (Partner), Rebecca Lindhout (Senior Associate) and Ben Gulson (Solicitor) from IT; Luke Dale (Partner), Daniel Kiley (Senior Associate) and Mary Szumylo (Solicitor) from IP; Peter Campbell (Partner) and Rebecca Sandford (Senior Associate) from Competition; Damien Foulis (Partner) and Maressa Bruhn(Graduate) from Property; Peter Stanizewski (Partner) and Christopher Bates (SeniorAssociate) from Banking and Finance; and Clare Raimondo (Partner) and Melissa Harvey (Associate) from Industrial Relations.
Jamie Restas commented that “It has been great to partner with the South Australian Government on another pivotal and complex deal for the State which will deliver an excellent result for stakeholders.”
Note to Editors:
HWL Ebsworth is the largest legal partnership in Australia according to the most recent partnership surveys published by The Australian and the Australian Financial Review and is the only commercial law firm with an office in every Australian State and Territory.
The firm comprises 1,082 staff including: 213 Partners, 540 other legal staff and 329 support staff across offices in ten locations – Adelaide, Alice Springs, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, 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 more information, please contact:
Russell Mailler, National Marketing Manager (03) 8644 3569 or rmailler@hwle.com.au