Partnering with clients to provide on-demand contract lawyers, giving in-house legal teams the confidence to be agile.
MinterEllison is one of the few Australian law firms to have a dedicated national retirement village and aged care practice.
We have acted for the industry for more than 25 years, managing the acquisition and disposal of retirement villages and facilities in every State of Australia. During this time we have also provided a comprehensive range of legal services including structuring/start-ups, scheme document drafting, ongoing management of villages and regulatory compliance. Our experience comes from advising many of Australia's major retirement village and aged care developers and through having also acted for large Australian banks in relation to funding in this sector.
Our team understands the sector, its needs, relevant government policy and legislative requirements. We provide proactive and prompt assistance to industry participants on a variety of compliance issues including specialised consideration of the relevant legislation.
MinterEllison's REEP and Corporate M&A teams have been advising longstanding client Aveo Group Limited (Aveo) in relation to its recently announced acquisition of 100% of Freedom Aged Care Pty Ltd (Freedom) for $215.5 million comprising cash, scrip and assumption of debt. Freedom owns and operates more than 1000 units in 15 retirement communities across Australia, as well as a development pipeline of 533 units. The acquisition is a key component of Aveo's strategy to increase the levels of care and support services to its residents and designed to facilitate Aveo's target of growing its return on retirement assets. It is Aveo's first significant acquisition since adopting its pure retirement play strategy. The acquisition showcases MinterEllison's capacity to provide market-leading advice on a large-scale, complex transaction across jurisdictions and practice areas in the Heath, Aged Care and Retirement space.
Managed the national conveyancing of accommodation units in Lend Lease Primelife's retirement villages Australia-wide – approximately 50 villages across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, involving more than 600 conveyances per year.
Advised Next Capital on its acquisition of five aged care facilities in South Australia and a subsequent sale and lease back.
Acted for the ASX & NZX listed Infratil Australia Limited and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund on the $640m acquisition of 100% of Brisbane based RetireAustralia group, Australia's fourth largest retirement village operator. Our role was to provide legal and taxation services to the bidder, including assistance with Australian and New Zealand legal, regulatory, finance, tax and stamp duty advice. We also provided advice in relation to the assumption of the existing debt arrangements.