Welcome to the first edition of The Dispatch for 2025, which celebrates big deals our teams wrapped up as 2024 wound down.
Our headline deal of this edition is Northern Star Resources’ $A5b all-scrip acquisition of De Grey Mining Ltd – one of Australia’s largest public M&A deals for 2024. Antonella Pacitti and Roger Davies advised Northern Star Resources Ltd on its proposed A$5 billion all-scrip acquisition of De Grey Mining Ltd, by way of scheme of arrangement under the Corporations Act. On implementation of the scheme, De Grey’s flagship Hemi Gold Project will become part of the Northern Star portfolio. A big congratulations to the wider team: Jacob Carmody, Toby Newnes, Cairo Leicester, Tom Carmody, Gabrielle O’Hara, Isabella Watkins, Lorenzo Pacitti, Chris Barry, Chelsey Schroeter, Tom Robins, Sally Audeyev, Cohen Augustson, Dan Flanagan, Hue Pham, Greg Protektor and David Blight.
A transaction that illustrates the increasingly important role that private capital will play in funding the energy transition saw Peter Stirling lead a team to advise electric vehicle charging services provider and Aussie start up success story JET Charge in respect of its latest capital raise. The proceeds from the $72m capital raise will be used to jumpstart JET Charge’s ‘charging as a service’ offering and scale its EV charging infrastructure. We hope to see more of these transactions in the year ahead! Well done to the wider team: Genovieve Lajeunesse, Greg Protektor, Michael Evans, Katherine Chork and James Melville.
Energy transition continues to be an attractive area in deal making for our clients, driving several major deals:
Helping to deliver 6.4GW into Australia’s energy grid, Vishal Ahuja, Jessica Kruger, Tim Sumner and Stephen Jaggers teamed up to advise AEMO Services Limited on the first Australian Government Capacity Investment Scheme tender – the signature Australian Government policy for facilitating renewables to meet Australia’s emission targets. This first national tender process (which opened in May 2024) will see the delivery of 6.4GW of clean energy across 19 projects, a mix of solar and wind generation and hybrid projects with batteries. Great work to the wider team: Tracey Jordan, Bridget Phelan, David Ellis, Tiffany Yang, Capucine Hague, Jonathan Bland, Andrew Gibbons, Maya Ranck and Eleni Carrol.
Josh Thorneycroft and Chris Dynon worked together to advise Recurrent Energy (a subsidiary of Canadian Solar) in successfully reaching financial close on the project financing of the Carwarp Solar Farm and BESS, expected to commence commercial operation in 2026. The Carwarp Energy Park will play a fundamental role in meeting Victoria’s renewable energy targets, with 243,000 high-efficiency Canadian Solar modules producing 405 GWh annually — enough to power approximately 88,000 households. Congratulations to the wider team: Madeleine Pitman, Emma Reed, David Kennelly, Damiano Castelli and Matt Crompton.
Chris Dynon also led a team to advise the syndicate of financiers on the project financing of each of Stages 1 and 2 of Wambo Wind Farm in Queensland for Cubico Sustainable Investments. The syndicate of lenders comprised ANZ, Credit Agricole, ING, National Australia Bank and Westpac Banking Corporation. The Wind Farm, which is already under construction and has power purchase agreements with Stanwell Corporation, will add more than 500MW of clean energy to Queensland’s energy system once completed. Kudos to the wider team: Catherine Danne, Madeleine Coates, Aaron Brooks, Nicola Wang, Tanya Bromilow, Michael Gruber, Marcus Yim, Emma Murphy and Emily Powell.
Looking to infrastructure, Chris Mitchell and Larissa Buriak led a team to advise Transport for NSW on the commencement of Parramatta Light Rail passenger services. KWM has acted on strategy, procurement and delivery across all works packages for Stage 1, and the Stage 2 Enabling Works (for which contracts were awarded by Transport for NSW in September 2024, including procurement of the new bridge between Wentworth Point and Melrose Park). The $2.875 billion Parramatta Light Rail Stage 1 project promises to revolutionise transport connectivity for Western Sydney. Well done to everyone involved across the wider team: Travis Irons, Tristan Howes, Dan Canta, Michelle Astridge, Roisin Lake.
Jo Crew and Catherine Danne led a team to advise the Exemplar Health consortium (comprising Capella Capital, Lendlease, Honeywell, Compass Group and Invesis) on the New Melton Hospital PPP Project (NMH), which recently achieved financial close. When completed, the NMH will deliver a critical uplift in the capacity of public health services in Melton, where demand for services is expected to more than double over the next 20 years. Great work to everyone involved in the wider team: Joanna Taylor, Emma Reed, Daniel Ho, Jonathan Le, Louisa Thornton, Michael Gruber, Katie Nikolaou, Lucy Newlinds, James Langford and Emily Powell.
Carl Black led a team to advise Perth Airport on its agreement with Accor to bring the first hotel to the Perth Airport Central Precinct. Together with CBRE Hotels, KWM acted as joint exclusive advisors to successfully select Accor as the hotel operator and negotiate the Hotel Management Agreement under the Pullman brand. The 5-Star hotel is part of Perth Airport’s recently announced AU$5bn development programme which will also deliver a new world-class Qantas domestic and international terminal as well as ground transport infrastructure. Congratulations to the wider team: Matthew Wilson.
Two significant transactions in the construction materials sector saw Adrian Perkins lead a team to act on – Cement Australia consortium’s acquisition of BGC Cementitious and Heidelberg Materials acquisition of Elvin Group. The two deals highlight the strength of infrastructure and appetite for exposure to the industrials businesses positioned to meet the growing needs of housing, commercial and infrastructure construction demand. Great work to the wider team: Angus Morris, Jovana Zelenbaba, Jack O'Brien, Jake Miyairi, Naren Iyer, Sally Audeyev, Carl Black, Matthew Wilson, Tahnee Gibson, Steven Halls, Luke Woodward, Joe McQuillen, Charlotte Kininmonth, Paul Crawford, Benita Ainsworth, Lisa Huett.
Adrian Perkins also led a team to advise Singapore’s CapitaLand in its successful acquisition of Australian private credit provider Wingate. The deal boosts CapitaLand’s Australian presence and private credit exposure, recognising the ongoing opportunity for private lenders in funding the construction of housing and property projects in Australia, alongside bank lending. A big congratulations to the wider team: James Southee, Jake Miyairi, Jovana Zelenbaba, Brogan Garrod, Jack O’Brien, John Sullivan, Anthony Farag, Dale Rayner, Chelsea Payne, Ken Astridge, Carrie Chen, Scott Heezen and Victoria Lanyon.
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