A trio of top commercial firms have advised on the deal that will build Australia’s largest correctional centre.
The New South Wales (NSW) Government's New Grafton Correctional Centre (NGCC), which recently reached a major milestone with financial close, involved King & Wood Mallesons (
KWM),
MinterEllison, and
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF).
KWM advised the NorthernPathways Consortium. MinterEllison acted for Corrective Services NSW and Infrastructure NSW. HSF acted for the financiers of NorthernPathways.
The consortium – which is comprised of John Laing, John Holland, and Serco, with Macquarie Capital as their financial advisor – will design, build, and operate NGCC in a public-private partnership (PPP) for the NSW Government. NGCC will be the largest facility of its type in Australia, with a capacity of 1,700 inmates. T is expected to open by June 2020.
NGCC will also be the first fully-outsourced, operator-led correctional centre in NSW. Because the project is a pioneering procurement, MinterEllison said they needed to develop a new contracted model for the government. KWM partner Chris Dynon said that the deal was the first PPP implemented under the new structure of the NSW Treasury and Infrastructure NSW.
The project is expected to inject $560m into the local economy over the next 20 years. It is also expected to create up to 1,000 construction and 600 operational jobs.
The KWM team was led by project finance partner Claire Rogers, projects partners Chris Dynon and Rebecca Finkelstein, and construction partner James Forrest. They were supported by senior associates Chris Allfrey, Gareth Howe, and Steve Swan, and solicitors Amy Maguire, Stuart Alexander, and Laura Bonnici.
NGCC is the fourth winning PPP in recent years on which Macquarie was financial advisor and KWM was legal advisor to the consortium or its financiers. KWM also recently acted in the High Capacity Metro Trains PPP in Victoria, the Puhoi to Warkworth Road Project in New Zealand, the New Schools PPP in Victoria, and the Western Australia Schools PPP.
MinterEllison fielded a team led by partner Stewart Nankervis, who was supported by partners Eve Eisman, Nicole Green, Elisabeth Ellis, Peter Block, and Owen Cooper.
The HSF team was led by partners Erin Wakelin and David Templeman, supported by senior associate Emma Zarb, and assisted by graduate John McQueen.
HSF advised on the ACT’s Capital Metro light rail project and the first stage of the $1.1bn Social and Affordable Housing Fund in NSW. The firm is currently acting for the Melbourne Metro Rail Authority on the Melbourne Metro Project PPP procurement, the largest PPP project in Australia.
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