Receivership

MinterEllison’s practice is largely based on advising secured creditors, security trustees and receivers tasked with realising assets for the benefit of their appointor.

We also advise multi-bank groups or syndicates and creditors with bilateral exposure under facilities and hedging contracts. This area of practice involves advising secured creditors on the adequacy of a security, how to secure redress on any deficiencies, and entitlements to trigger a default under facilities and enforcement options.

We act for receivers generally, in litigation advice and asset disposals, and for receivers where the validity of their appointment is challenged.

Our major clients include the leading Australian banks and finance companies, as well as leading firms of insolvency accountants.

Recent Work
Awards & Recognition
Environinvest MIS wind up

Acted for the secured creditor (CBA) and the receivers and managers (Korda Mentha) of the Environinvest Group, including as responsible entity for a number of managed investment schemes.

ANZ exposure to Gunns Group

Acted for ANZ advising on its bilateral exposure to the Gunns group. Following the appointment of administrators, we acted for McGrath Nicol as receivers and managers of two related property trusts. The trusts leased land to the Gunns Group, which had been used for MIS purposes.

$500m Raine Square development

Advising Commonwealth Bank on the A$500m Raine Square in Perth (in receivership), the proposed new headquarters for BankWest. Raine Square is a landmark Perth project comprising a major commercial building of 20 levels and will become the biggest shopping centre in the Perth central business district. The 1.2 hectare site consists of 44,000 square metres of office space over 20 levels and 13,000 square metres of retail space over three levels. We have advised on all aspects of the project since early 2009 after Commonwealth Bank of Australia acquired BankWest, including renegotiating various project documents, managing issues related to change of builder, managing disputes over the fit out arrangements, and advising CBA/BankWest on all strategic issues, and we continue to do so. We also advised Bankwest on the fit-out works undertaken to provide an exciting ABW environment for the Bank's 3000 staff, and the fit-out agreement. This A$500 million project is in the hands of receivers, appointed to the developer. Completion was to have been in April 2010.

Opes Prime collapse

Acted as the primary advisors for ANZ in the collapse of Opes Prime Stockbroking, with approximately 1,200 clients and debts to ANZ of over A$700 million, including acting on two class actions.

Great Southern receivership and liquidation

Acted for a syndicate of banks and the receivers and managers (McGrathNicol) of the Great Southern Group. We advised on all aspects of the receivership, including a restructuring of the MIS schemes, and a sale of approximately 269,000 hectares of land in the largest private forestry sale by area in Australia.