MinterEllison has advised Visy Industries Australia Pty Ltd (Visy) on its acquisition of Owens-Illinois' Australian and New Zealand bottle manufacturing operations, with Charter Hall acquiring some of its properties on a sale-and-leaseback basis, in a deal worth $947 million.

Through the deal, Visy has acquired assets including five glass manufacturing plants in Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney and Auckland, which employ 1,200 people.

"We were delighted to assist Visy on one of the largest acquisitions in its history – one which fits well with its culture of sustainability and adds further diversification to its integrated business model. This represents some good news for the manufacturing sector in Australia, particularly in a difficult economic climate," said lead partner Ben Liu.

MinterEllison's role included advice regarding the target group's extensive property portfolio across Australia and New Zealand. In particular, the transaction was partly funded by the pre-sale divestment of substantial freehold property assets to a third party under a sale-leaseback arrangement.

"The COVID-19 pandemic presented us with a number of challenges. We faced a logistical working challenge, with the seller deal team located in the US and the Australian deal teams working remotely (including property and planning experts in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Auckland). It's great to see such a positive outcome despite an unusual working environment," Mr Liu said.

Mr Liu was supported by others in the MinterEllison team, including Luke Walker, Paul Kallenbach, Esmond Prowse, Danielle Larkin, Andrew Wright, Leigh Schulz, Julia Riley, Stefan Vujacic and Isobel Conroy-Ryan.