King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has advised Deloitte’s Turnaround & Restructuring team, the voluntary administrators of Clough Group, on the successful restructure and sale of the Australian Clough business to global construction player Webuild.
The sale secures the future of nationally significant projects such as Snowy Hydro 2.0 and Inland Rail - the 1,700 kilometre freight rail line set to connect Melbourne and Brisbane. The sale also secures ongoing employment for more than 1,000 Clough Group employees in Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Commenting on the sale, Restructuring & Insolvency Partner Samantha Kinsey said:
“We’re incredibly proud to have supported Deloitte and Clough on this signifcant engagement. This engagement has collectively saved over 1000 jobs, secured a future for various projects that are critical to the energy security of this country and provided an iconic Western Australian business with the opportunity to enjoy a prosperous future.”
KWM’s Restructuring & Insolvency (R & I) practice is known for their close collaboration with other leading KWM practice groups and as such delpoyed a multidisciplinary team including experts from mergers & aquistions, contruction, employment, property and tax across several different offices.
The KWM team was led by partners Samantha Kinsey, Juliana Jorissen, Mark Vandernuet, Sam Dundas, Travis Toemoe, Darren McClafferty, Judith Taylor, Ruth Rosedale, Phil Willox, Sean Field, Scott Bouvier and Simone Menz and supported by a large team of senior associates and solicitors, including Tom Harrison, Mike Salvaris, Tom Monotti, Sarah Lethlean, Zoe Kaesehagan, Campbell Burns-McRuvie, Matt Caldow, Patrick Mackenzie, Georgia Cowley, Felicity Minchin, Jack Anderson, Andrew McLeod, Caitlin Babington and Darcy Harwood.
The restructure and sale was governed by a sale and implementation deed executed by certain Clough Group entities and Webuild. The sale and implementation deed provided for the sale to proceed by deed of company arrangement and some discrete asset sales if approved by creditors, or alternatively by asset sale and purchase deed.
On 15 February 2023, the deed of company arrangement was overwhelmingly approved by creditors and the sale has now completed.
Further commenting on the deal, R & I Partner Samantha Kinsey said:
“This restructure and sale has been made possible with the support of Clough management, sureties, project principals, joint venture partners and other key stakeholders. We thank all of these stakeholders and their advisers for their collaboration and support”.
KWM continues to work on some of the market’s most complex restructuring matters. Last year, the team advised the banking syndicate who were owed more than $650 million by the Basslink Group and advised Deloitte as administrators of the Probuild Group – one of the largest commercial construction businesses in Australia.
