Ashurst has advised KordaMentha (receivers and managers of the Gunns group of companies) on the sale of the Gunns Tasmanian Forestry Estate to New Forests.
The Gunns Tasmanian Forestry Estate is approximately 175,000 hectares of freehold land and road infrastructure, 100,000 hectares of premium hardwood and softwood plantations, with access to the Burnie and Tamar wood-chipping mill and port facilities, a large scale nursery at Somerset, timber fibre technology laboratory facilities at Ridgley and a fully operational forestry business.
The sale secured the employment of more than 30 Tasmanian employees and 150 harvesting and haulage contractors, and ensured the continued operation of the forestry business which currently exports approximately one million tonnes of woodchips annually. New Forests now manages over 500,000 hectares of forestland and timber plantations across Australia on behalf of institutional investors.
A number of complex issues were managed prior to the Tasmanian Forestry Estate sale including:
* responding to a proposal by WA Blue Gum/ Macquarie to restructure the managed investment schemes operated by Gunns on a significant portion of the freehold land;
* negotiating an agreed allocation methodology on sale proceeds with the Liquidators of Gunns Plantations Ltd for scheme assets;
* a substantial national and international EOI process;
* negotiation and documentation of the sale;
* supporting the liquidators' application for court approval of the extinguishment of scheme interests to enable the sale to proceed; and
* resolving issues of overlapping forestry rights in respect of included and excluded scheme assets.
Lead partner on the deal Tiffany Barton said: "Since the receivers' appointment to the Gunns group of companies in 2012, a number of complex issues had to be managed before the Tasmanian Forestry Estate sale could be achieved. Ashurst is delighted to have guided our client successfully through such a complex matter."
The Ashurst team that advised on the matter included senior associate Megan Trethowan and lawyer Lily Zhang (Corporate); partner Jason Cornwall-Jones, senior associate Dayna Morris (Property); partner Ross McClymont, senior associate Chris Fenwick and lawyer Natalie Talia (Restructuring); partner Con Tzerefos, senior associate Sarah Galloway (MIS); partner Geoff Mann, senior associate Nika Dharmadasa (Tax); partner Martin Coleman, senior associate Trent Chugg and lawyer Scarlett Wang (Banking); partner Steven Amendola, senior associate Abigail Cooper (Employment); and partner Jeff Lynn, senior associate Katherine Lake and lawyers Kirsty Souter and Jordan Wright (Environment).
