Asialaw Profiles
The Guide to the legal markets of the Asia-Pacific

“Gilbert + Tobin is very knowledgeable, very experienced and willing to come up with ideas that may be outside the box,” says a client. This constantly improving law firm has enjoyed another tremendous year.

The team is led by star partner John Schembri, who one client decribes as a “technically sound individual who has the ability to make the most complicated matters simple”.

Last year’s highlights included advising Pacific Equity Partners and related funds on their role as a shareholder and secured creditor of REDgroup Retail, the owner of Borders Books, Whitcoulls and Angus & Robertson in Australia and New Zealand.

Another notable transaction was advising Macarthur Water on the 10 year extension of the existing Water Filtration Agreement with Sydney Water Corporation and a US$92 million additional project finance facility.

“I find that Gilbert + Tobin is very crisp, organised and professional,” says one client. The firm once again enjoyed another busy year on some of the largest transactions in the Australian M&A market.

For example, on Blackstone’s US$9.4 billion acquisition of Centro Group’s US business, the firm advised on the Australian aspects of Blackstone entering into a binding stock purchase agreement with the Centro Group and its managed funds. This transaction represents one of the largest real estate and private equity transactions in recent times.

The firm also advised Carlyle on the corporate aspects relating to its acquisition of Healthscope. This included consortium and shareholder arrangements, equity structuring, pre bid stakes and scheme implementation.

The past year saw the Gilbert + Tobin team busy advising Cement Australia on ACCC proceedings involving alleged breaches of the Competition and Consumer Act. This included an alleged misuse of market power and arrangements to substantially lessen competition in relation to the fly ash industry in Queensland.

The team also acted for National Telecom Group in a significant damages case against a Fairfax Media Group company.

Gilbert + Tobin merged with Perth-based resources boutique Blakiston & Crabb in 2009. Boosted by the arrival of eight new partners, the firm acted for Bharat PetroResources on its interest in petroleum licences located onshore and offshore.

“There is no query that the firm cannot answer”, says one client. “It has depth of experience from partner level to mid-lawyer level and I would recommend it for energy and natural resources because it is technically very good.”

The team advised Sundance Resources on its Mbalam Project in the Republic of Cameroon and the Republic of Congo. This matter involved drafting mining conventions between Sundance subsidiaries and the two republics relating to the grant of rights to mine, develop and operate a railway and a port.

One client says Gilbert + Tobin’s “deep understanding of IP law, quality of service and advice, and commitment to relationships” is what sets it apart and why it is consistently ranked among the best IP firms in Australia.

The team acted for the major motion picture companies and Village Roadshow against Australian ISP, iiNet. This involved allegations that the ISP was liable for the infringement of copyright that was taking place on its network through the use of BitTorrent by users of iiNet’s internet access services.

Another highlight was acting for the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia on litigation concerning the setting of rates for the public use of certain sound recordings. This included proceedings concerning royalties’ payable by commercial television broadcasters in Australia.

“Gilbert + Tobin’s TMT team gets the job done with a minimum amount of fuss”, says one client. “The team is excellent, very pragmatic and has a good sense of humour.” It is also the main adviser to several leading telecommunication companies.

The firm advised ACP Magazines, a subsidiary of Nine Entertainment, on its US$610 million sell down of its 49.1% stake in carsales.com.

It also assisted Photon Group on its US$110 million equity raising and restructuring of debt facilities with ANZ Banking Group as part of the Group’s recapitalisation proposal in September 2010.