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About Scott

Scott Phillips practices in corporate transactions law with a particular focus on listed company mergers, demergers and acquisitions, public and private capital raisings and shareholder activism.

Scott has been practicing in corporate transactions in Australia since 2006 following two years at one of New Zealand’s leading commercial law firms. During that time he worked on some of the Australian market’s largest and most interesting transactions, including multiple Australian ‘Deal of the Year’ winners. 

His clients span many industries with a concentration in the real estate and funds management space, including many private and ASX listed REITs.

Scott joined Arnold Bloch Leibler in 2017 and was appointed as a partner in 2019.

Recommended for Mergers and Acquisitions in Australia

The Best Lawyers™ in Australia 2016-2020 editions

Practice focus

Scott’s experience spans a wide range of commercial transactions including:

  • private company sales and acquisitions, listed company takeovers, and schemes of arrangement
  • initial public offerings and secondary equity and hybrid raisings, and
  • shareholder activism and all aspects of corporate governance.

Experience

Scott has acted in a range of corporate transactions and commercial matters, including some of Australia’s largest and most interesting corporate transactions:

Private M&A

  • Acquisition of the Australian Community Media and printing business from Nine Entertainment by a consortium controlled by Antony Catalano and Thorney Investment Group
  • The sale of Dial-A-Dump Industries (DADI) by its shareholders to ASX listed Bingo Industries for $577.5 million
  • Acquisition of a stake in North Queensland Airports (owner of Cairns and Mackay Airports) by Perron Group and The Infrastructure Fund from Auckland International Airports
  • carsales.com in relation to its agreement to purchase the remaining 50.1 per cent of SKEncar.com, South Korea’s number one online auto classifieds business, for a consideration of KRW205 billion (approximately A$244 million). The transaction takes carsales’ ownership and control to 100 per cent, following its prior acquisition of a 49.9 per cent interest in the on-line assets of SK Encar in 2014, and
  • RARE Infrastructure Limited in relation to the sale of a majority stake in the privately owned infrastructure fund manager to Legg Mason.

Public/Listed M&A

  • Cromwell Property Group: in relation to its planned demerger and IPO of an externally managed ASX listed office A-REIT
  • ARA Asset Management, a leading Asia Pacific real estate funds manager: on its unsolicited $511 million proportional off-market Chapter 6 takeover offer of ASX listed Cromwell Property Group, including associated Takeovers Panel proceedings
  • Charter Hall Long WALE REIT and Hostplus: in relation to their $1.68 billion cash and scrip buyout proposal of one of Australia’s biggest freehold pub property owners, ALE Property Group
  • QGold on its funding and compulsory acquisition of ASX listed Queensland gold explorer Strategic Minerals Corporation, including associated Takeovers Panel proceedings
  • Medical Properties Trust (MPT) on the acquisition of $1.25 billion of hospitals from Australian private hospital operator Healthscope contingent on and as a key pillar of Brookfield Capital Partners’ $4.5 billion scheme and takeover offer for ASX-listed Healthscope – winner of The Australasian Law Awards’ 2020 ‘M&A Deal of the Year’ and ‘Australian Deal of the Year’
  • Westfield Group in relation the demerger of Westfield Retail Trust and the subsequent re-merger and then demerger into Scentre Group and Westfield Corporation – the latter was the Australian Law Awards 2015 M&A ‘Deal of the Year’ and overall ‘Deal of the Year
  • Australian Industrial REIT in the takeover by 360 Capital’s listed industrial fund, and
  • Australand in relation to the takeover by Frasers Centrepoint.

IPOs/Equity capital markets

  • Redcape Hotel Group: in relation to:
    • its IPO and ASX listing, and
    • its delisting from the ASX
  • Charter Hall Long WALE REIT: in relation to its establishment, IPO and ASX listing
  • Australian Industrial REIT: in relation to its establishment, IPO and ASX listing and multiple secondary equity raisings
  • Medibank: in relation to its IPO and ASX listing – Australian Law Awards 2015 Equity Market ‘Deal of the Year’
  • Fonterra Shareholders Fund: in relation to the trans-Tasman IPO and dual NZX/ASX listing of the Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund – the Australian Law Awards 2013 Australasian Equity Market ‘Deal of the Year’
  • Altium: in relation to all of Altium’s corporate transactions and major board governance matters along their journey from ASX minnow (market cap circa A$10 million) to ASX darling (market cap over A$1.5 billion), including numerous acquisitions and equity raisings and the departure of their managing director, founder and major shareholder in 2012, and
  • Trans-Tasman: in relation to IPOs and dual NZX/ASX listings including the first IPO under the trans-Tasman mutual recognition regime and the New Zealand Government’s state owned asset sales via IPO of Mighty River Power and Genesis Energy.

Shareholder activism

  • ARA Asset Management: in relation to its campaign to appoint Dr Gary Weiss AM and Mr Joe Gersh AM to the board of Cromwell Property Group
  • Asia Pacific Data Centres (APDC) on the unitholder initiated proposal to wind-up APDC
  • Michael Kum, through his Singaporean investment vehicle, Halom Investments, in a public dispute with the board of marine service provider, MMA Offshore, and
  • Brickworks on its response to a shareholder campaign initiated by Perpetual and Carnegie & Co.

Awards & recognition

Scott is recognised as a leading lawyer by various international guides to lawyers and law firms, and industry awards including:

  • Best Lawyers® International: equity capital markets law and mergers & acquisitions law, and
  • Legal 500 Asia Pacific: corporate and M&A.

Recognition & publications

Take a look at Insights & News articles referencing Scott Phillips