Australian and New Zealand firms work together as a private equity firm drops $155m to buy the business
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Australian and New Zealand firms have worked together to bring about the sale of Australia’s largest glass provider.
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and MinterEllisonRuddWatts advised CRS Limited, which sold its Viridian Glass business to Crescent Capital Partners for $155m. The deal for Viridian, the only manufacturer of float glass in Australia and New Zealand, was announced late last month after a competitive sale process involving multiple bidders. HSF said that the deal, which is expected to close by the end of January, includes the sale of a Dandenong property used by the business.
The HSF team is headed by partner Peter Dunne and senior associate Francine Kinkade, working alongside senior associate Rebekah Lam. They are supported by solicitor Ben Waterfall. HSF said that its property, employment and superannuation specialists are advising on the deal.
The MinterEllisonRuddWatts team is led by partner Silvana Schenone.
“We are delighted to have worked alongside CSR on this complex transaction. The transaction presented a number of unique challenges and we valued being able to work these through with the experienced CSR team, led by head of legal Sean Ventris and CFO David Fallu. We are looking forward to working with the CSR to complete the transaction,” Dunne said.
“This deal was complex and created some unique challenges due to its trans-Tasman nature, including dealing with multiple parties and tight timeframes,” Schenone said.
“We were pleased to assist CSR, working alongside CSR’s head of legal, Sean Ventris, and the M&A team at Herbert Smith Freehills in Australia. This transaction highlights the continuous interest in trans-Tasman businesses across a number of industries,” she added.
The firms’ work has earned praise from CSR.
“This was a complex transaction, with a large number of work streams needing to be managed tightly. It was great working with Peter, Francine and Rebekah to get this across the line,” said Ventris.
“MinterEllisonRuddWatts provided us with timely, strategic advice and transactional expertise in this complex transaction. It was great to be working with Silvana and her team again to get this across the line. CSR has a long standing association with MinterEllisonRuddWatts,” he said.
HSF is also a long-time partner of CSR, having worked with the building materials giant on numerous deals including the sale of its sugar business, and the launch of its joint venture with Boral and the eventual buy-out the partner in the Australian east coast bricks business.
