On Friday 2 December the Centro Property Group announced that it has lodged court orders with ASIC to effect one of the final stages of the $7 billion restructure of the Centro Group – one of the largest and most complex restructures in recent Australian corporate history. The deal was unique because of the complexity of the structure, the size of the debts of the Group and the number of stakeholders involved.

 

Maddocks, in conjunction with Clayton Utz, acted for Centro Retail Group, one of the entities that is to merge to form the new Centro Retail Australia.

 

Ron Smooker, the Maddocks partner who led the combined Centro legal team, said that, “The transaction was challenging in terms of legal issues and size. Another issue that added to its complexity was the need to recognise and seek to align the various interested parties. At the height of the transaction a meeting could consist of over 50 people, including Centro entities, senior lenders and their respective advisers.”

 

David Rennick, Maddocks CEO said “We are immensely proud to have been involved in such a landmark transaction, which is a testament to the cutting edge legal skills of Maddocks lawyers. The firm has been involved in a number of large corporate deals this year and we look forward to continuing to deliver first-class services to our clients. This deal also demonstrates the power of a collaborative approach for the provision of legal services.”