Agribusiness, Rural Industriesand Water Expertise

1Agribusiness, Rural Industries and Water Expertise

Agribusiness, Rural Industries and Water Expertise

2 Agribusiness, Rural Industries and Water Expertise

TABLE OF CONTENTSUnderstanding 4

Unparalleled Agribusiness and Rural Industries and Water Expertise 6

Our Experience 8

Our Clients 10


UNDERSTANDINGAt Holding Redlich we understand the legal, commercial and technical issues affecting Agribusiness and Rural Industries and especially those whose operations are affected by water legislation and policy.Our dedicated Agribusiness and Rural Industries Team is led by Brian Healey, Carolyn Chudleigh and Steve Aitchison.Brian Healey is a partner in the firm’s Agribusiness and Rural Industries Group and regularly acts for primary producers in the cotton industry in relation to water and other property issues.Carolyn Chudleigh is a specialist property lawyer with expertise in rural property transactions.Steve Aitchison has acted on significant acquisitions for the Agribusiness Fund, Sustainable Agriculture Fund.Our Team has worked on a number of high profile Agribusiness transactions providing expert services in all areas of law affecting Agribusiness and Rural Industries and, in particular, in relation to businesses where water is a major asset of the business and where operators need to keep informed and advised about the ever-changing and complex area of water legislation.

Brian Healey, PartnerT: (07) 3135 0682E: [email protected]

Carolyn Chudleigh, PartnerT: (02) 8083 0440E: [email protected]

Steve Aitchison, PartnerT: (03) 9321 0810E: [email protected]

“Unparalleled Agribusiness and Rural Industries and Water Expertise”

“Unparalleled Agribusiness and Rural Industries and Water Expertise”


OUR AGRIBUSINESS AND RURAL INDUSTRIES AND WATER EXPERIENCEMany of our lawyers have been involved in some of Australia’s largest and most complex rural transactions in cotton, feed lotting and pastoral industries. Our team’s diverse skills have seen our agribusiness lawyers successfully complete these transactions.We act for clients who are industry leaders in a range of industry sectors including sugar, cotton, beef, grain and forestry, amongst others. We have a wealth of experience in servicing the diverse legal needs of our clients in agribusiness and rural transactions.We undertake the complete range of services required in the sale and purchase of rural properties, including negotiating and settling contracts, preparing documentation, due diligence, transferring and sub-dividing water allocations and licences and providing detailed advice on the water law regime throughout Australia and providing stamp duty and GST advice.Some of the most recent projects which our lawyers have been involved in are listed on the following page.

Hancock FARM Company Advising Hancock FARM Company, a subsidiary of the US based Hancock Agricultural Investment Group, which owns and operates a number of agricultural investments in Australia, including Macadamia Farms and Vineyards. Instructions include property and commercial advice for investment acquisitions, compliance and regulatory require-ments, occupational health and safety, employment law and com-mercial dispute resolution. We also advise Hancock FARM Company extensively in relation to water legislation including the purchase and sale of water rights and security in relation to water rights.

Queensland Cotton Advising Queensland Cotton in relation to its various investments and operations in Australia, including acquisition of various agribusinesses and other businesses, intellectual property advice and dispute resolu-tion.

Sustainable Agricultural Fund Advising the Fund in relation to a $150 million wholesale fund pur-chasing and disposing of rural properties in Australia, with significant farms in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania and negotiating to purchase others. Our advice to Sustainable Agricultural Fund covers all aspects of its operations, including capital raising and water rights.


We act for many of Australia’s largest corporate agribusinesses and family based primary producers in the beef, grain, cotton, forestry and other agricultural industries. Agribusiness and Rural Industries is a key industry focus for Holding Redlich reflecting some of our long-term clients in those Industries.Below is a sample of our agribusiness clients nationally:• AWB Limited;• Hancock FARM Company;• Queensland Cotton;• Sustainable Agriculture Fund;• SunWater;• AJ Lucas Group Limited.

OUR CLIENTS


PartnerProperty, Projects & [email protected]+61 (0)7 3135 0682

Brian is a Partner in the Property & Projects and Agribusiness & Rural Industries Groups. He specialises in Agribusiness and Rural Property and in Commercial Property and Real Estate transactions.Brian’s commercial property practice regularly involves him in the negotiation of sales and purchases, the conduct of and management of legal due diligence and settlement of commercial, retail and industrial properties. Brian’s experience and systems developed over years of practice in this area allows him to value add to client’s property transactions to maximise their property investment from the outset.In Agribusiness and Rural Industries, Brian has acted for some of Australia’s largest corporate agribusinesses and family based primary producers in the beef, grain, cotton, forestry and other agricultural industries. Specialist legal knowledge in areas as diverse as rural property, water rights, stamp duty and vegetation management coupled with a deep understanding and appreciation of agribusiness and rural industries has involved Brian in some of Australia’s largest and most complex rural transactions in the cotton, feed lotting and pastoral industries.Uniquely qualified to practice in Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory, Brian has acted in many notable property transactions in those areas.

Recent experience – QueenslandBrian has acted in significant Agribusiness & Rural transactions in Queensland which include:• attending to land tenure advice and property matters

in respect of the reorganisation of the largest irrigation enterprise inAustralia;

• acting in what was then the largest rural land sale in Australia with respect to property matter and tenure advice;

• acting in the acquisition of a major cotton property at a transaction value of $27 million;

• acting in the reorganisation of a major corporate feed lotting enterprise at a transaction value of $50 million; and

• acting in the acquisition and disposal of grazing and farming properties throughout Queensland.

Recent experience – New South WalesBrian has acted in significant Agribusiness & Rural transactions in New South Wales which include:• acting in the sale of a forestry plantation and plantation

interests at a transaction value of $15 million for an international client whose shareholders were Japanese trading companies;

• drafting tender documentation and managing the tender of a cotton property at a transaction value in excess of $50 million; and acting in the acquisition of cotton properties located in Moree for an acquisition price of $35 million.

QualificationsBachelor of Arts – Griffith University Bachelor of Laws – Queensland University of Technology Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice – Queensland University of Technology

BRIAN HEALEY


Melbourne350 William Street, Melbourne VIC 3000T: + 61 (0)3 9321 9999 F: +61 (03) 9321 9900

SydneyLevel 65, MLC Centre, 19 Martin Place, Sydney NSW 2000T: +61 (0)2 8083 0388 F: +61 (0)2 8083 0399

BrisbaneLevel 1, 300 Queen Street, Brisbane QLD 4000T: +61 (0)7 3135 0500 F: +61 (0)7 3135 0599

15Agribusiness, Rural Industries and Water Expertise

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Agribusiness, Rural Industriesand Water Expertise