Neil Carabine is a Partner in our Melbourne office where he specialises in mergers and acquisitions, communications, infrastructure and regulated access regimes.
Neil has been named as one of only two Australians amongst the world's top telecommunications lawyers by Euromoney's Legal Media Group's edition of The Best of the Best. He has been identified by Chambers Global Guide and The Legal 500 as a first-rank leading individual in telecommunications. Neil is described by Chambers as "a terrific transactional lawyer", a "first class telecoms lawyer" and a "leading transactional lawyer in the telecoms field".
He co-led the $15.5 billion T3 - the final stage of Telstra's privatisation - and the $11 billion deal with NBN Co for the staged shut down of Telstra's access networks and the migration of customers to the National Broadband Network (2011). In 2014, he led the sale of Telstra's HFC network to NBN Co as part of the NBN restructuring.
In 2014, he advised Medibank on its $5.7 billion privatisation.
In 2015, he advised Asciano on the contested takeover offers by Brookfield and Qube.
Neil advised TRUenergy (now Energy Australia) on its purchase of the retail business of Energy Australia from the NSW Government as part of a transaction worth over $2 billion and the subsequent purchase of the Mt Piper and Wallerawang Power Stations.
In Hong Kong, Neil advised on the purchase of a commercial building in Beijing from a BVI ownership structure for over US$300 million; a trans-pacific subsea cable on equity and debt investors, capacity sales arrangements and landing station regulations; and the restructure of significant PRC listed company ownership portfolio (HK$16 billion).
Experience
- 1984: Bachelor of Commerce, University of Melbourne
- 1985: Bachelor of Laws (Hons), University of Melbourne
- 1986 - 1991: Solicitor, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Melbourne
- 1991 - 1993: Solicitor, Slaughter and May, London
- 1993 - 1994: Senior Associate, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Melbourne
- 1995 - 2012: Partner, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Melbourne
- 1998 - 2001: Co-editor, Communications Law and Policy in Australia, Butterworths
- 2001 - 2005: Telstra relationship partner
- 2003 - 2008: Board member, Mallesons Stephen Jaques
- 2012 - 2015: Partner, King & Wood Mallesons, Melbourne
- 2012 - 2015: KWM Remuneration Committee
- 2014 - 2016: Director, Snowdome Foundation
- 2015 - Present: KWM, Hong Kong
- 2017: Admitted to practice in Hong Kong
