Experience

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  Cornwalls

  • Partner and Head of Tax Law (Melbourne)

    • Jul 2009 - Present

    Examples of recent experience include:• advising a large privately owned retailer on the structuring of its business for stamp duty purposes, which involved the re-financing of a debt facility in excess of $500 million• acting on a purchase for a private company owned and controlled by a consortium of private investors and several Executive Managers formerly employed by a struggling biscuit manufacturer. The business purchased is the fourth largest biscuit manufacturer in Australia, with 170 employees and product lines, including the iconic Anzac biscuit. The transaction involved a complicated sale structure and required us to obtain the agreement of the ATO that the sale was of a going concern, notwithstanding that an administrator had been appointed to the business and had suspended their operations. This agreement resulted in the transaction not being subject to GST, which meant considerable savings for our client• acting for a multinational corporation regarding the premiums charged by the WorkCover Authority. We successfully objected against a re-classification of the corporation’s WorkCover industry classification, resulting in the original industry classification applying. The outcome was a commensurate reduction in the corporation’s WorkCover premiums by approximately $400,000. We also worked with the client to ensure its conduct of operations was appropriately structured so the correct work industry classification applied in the future• advising a multi-national software company on the structuring of its business for international operations• advising on the tax implications for the reorganisation of the property portfolio of a national retail chain

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  Major private equity fund

  • Melbourne, Australia

  • Chief Operating Officer

    • 2000 - 2003
    • Melbourne, Australia

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  Arthur Andersen

  • Melbourne, Australia

  • Head of Forensic Accounting, Joint head of Private Clients

    • 1995 - 1999
    • Melbourne, Australia

    Tax Advisory