Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Moorebank Intermodal Company Limited on the financial close of the Moorebank Intermodal Terminal, a A$2 billion freight hub at Moorebank in south-western Sydney.

Once constructed, the freight hub will include:

* an import-export terminal and an interstate terminal;
* a rail connection to the Southern Sydney Freight Line; and
* up to 850,000sqm of warehousing.

The freight hub is critical for managing the increasing freight traffic through Port Botany and freight congestion on Sydney’s roads. Crucial to the project was cooperation between several different landholders, whose different parcels of land are required for construction and operation of the freight hub.

The Herbert Smith Freehills team was led by partner Peter Paradise and consultant Greg Hing, with support from partners Peter Briggs, Mark Clifton and Elizabeth Charlesworth on planning, financing and Personal Property Securities Act issues that arose during the project.

Peter Paradise said: "We congratulate Moorebank Intermodal Company Limited, its board and executive on reaching financial close on one of the most complex and forward thinking infrastructure projects in the country. We are proud to assist the Commonwealth government business enterprise in the procurement of this project which involved many first of its kind elements. This included Commonwealth and private sector owners of two adjoining parcels of land agreeing to the land being used for the purposes of the development."

King & Wood Mallesons and Norton Rose Fulbright acted for Qube, while Ashurst acted for the Commonwealth.

This deal is another example of Herbert Smith Freehills’ market-leading work in infrastructure projects. Other recent examples include:

* advising a consortium on their agreement for the A$16 billion sale and long-term lease of 50.4% of the Ausgrid electricity network in New South Wales;
* advising the successful Lonsdale Consortium on the acquisition of a 50-year lease of the Port of Melbourne from the Victorian Government;
* advising the NSW Government on its Social and Affordable Housing Fund (SAHF), a first of its kind for Australia;
* advising the Canberra Metro consortium on its successful bid for the Australian Capital Territory Capital Metro light rail project.