Deal: G+T has advised Stewart McCallum and Adam Nikitins of Ernst & Young in their capacity as voluntary administrators of certain entities within the Sargon Group (Sargon) in respect of the sale of their business and assets to the Cloverhill Group, which completed on 4 May 2020. 

Sargon owned and operated businesses in the financial planning, corporate trustee, responsible entity, superannuation and related financial services sectors.

Value: Undisclosed.

Area: Restructuring and insolvency. 

Key players: The matter was led by restructuring + insolvency partner Peter Bowden, with assistance from lawyers Anna Schwartz, Talia Lirosi, Becci Robinson and Sarah McArthur and graduate Madelaine De-ludicibus, who each played an instrumental role in completing the transaction. 

The restructuring + insolvency team was supported by key members of Gilbert + Tobin’s corporate, intellectual property and tax teams, including partners Craig Semple, Michael Williams, Lisa Lennon, Muhunthan Kanagaratnam and Hanh Chau and lawyers Anna Smyth, Joanna Tsaprounis, Alina Sedmak and Matthew Charman.

Deal significance: New York-based financiers Teddy Wasserman and Australian Matthew Kibble led the transaction through Cloverhill Group and Kibble Holdings respectively. They were joined as equity shareholders in PIP by Visa Credit Partners that also provided financing for the transaction.

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Mr Wasserman, Cloverhill’s managing partner, said: “We believe the proprietary next-generation trustee infrastructure that Sargon has developed to be world-class technology.” 

"As the new owner, PIP brings funding capacity, leadership capability and strengthened governance to unlock its enormous potential, as well as take advantage of what is a significant market opportunity, given the sector tailwinds and underinvestment in legacy systems.”

The sale was complex and challenging in many respects, particularly given the state of the market, the prevailing risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and the extremely limited market for this business and assets.

Among other things, the successful sale provides for continuing employment for all of the relevant entities’ employees (approximately 100 in total) and stability for the $15.5 billion worth of superannuation funds under management and in excess of 230,000 superannuation fund members. 

“I am delighted that we were able to achieve this sale for the administrators and the stakeholders of Sargon in extremely complex circumstances and an accelerated timeframe for completion,” partner Mr Bowden commented. 

“The outcome is a true testament to the strength of Gilbert + Tobin across multiple practice groups and how we work tirelessly to obtain exceptional results for our clients”.