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KWM advises Deloitte on 2 voluntary administrations and sales
King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has advised Deloitte on the voluntary administration and sale of Probuild’s Victorian business and Western Australian sister company WBHO Infrastructure (WHBOI).
Jess Feyder
Firm: KWM (Deloitte).
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Deal: Deloitte was advised in voluntary administration and sale of Probuild’s Victorian business to Roberts Co (Roberts), and WBHOI to SRG Global (SRG).
Value: N/A.
Area: Corporate.
Key players: The KWM team was led by partner Samantha Kinsey.
Deal significance: KWM restructuring team supported the first successful trade on of a commercial construction house through voluntary administration and sale as a going concern.
Along with this recent acquisition, Roberts now has over six of Probuild’s ongoing Victorian projects, which are worth more than $1.6 billion. Roberts has also taken on 152 Probuild staff as permanent employees.
The success of the trade on and sale was described in the creditors’ report released last week for Probuild entities: “Our strategy of continuing to trade the business, recommencing certain key projects, whilst also pursuing an accelerated sale of the business, ultimately facilitated the sale and resulted in a significant reduction in overall creditor claims of approximately $270m across employees, subcontractors, suppliers, Principals and bank guarantee/surety providers.
“These actions also saved 193 jobs and ensured ongoing construction of six key developments.
“Importantly for the Probuild Group’s stakeholders, this successful trade on and sale has avoided any significant industry contagion as was widely anticipated upon the commencement of the administration of the Probuild Group.”
Probuild’s creditors approved a deed of company, and the administration process has now concluded.
KWM also advised Deloitte on SRG’s purchase and recapitalisation of WBHOI via a deed of company arrangement. This acquisition resulted in SRG taking on 275 employees from WBHOI.
Supporting Ms Kinsey on KWA’s team were partners Amy Munro, Paul Schroder, Murray Kellock, Sam Dundas, Juliana Jorrisen, Travis Toemoe and Ian Solomon on the Probuild business. Partners Nathan Collins and Phil Willox advised on the sale of the WBHOI business to SRG.
Ms Kinsey commented: "The successful sale of these businesses as going concerns is a really significant achievement and sends an important message to the market.
“It relied upon the Deloitte and KWM teams’ ability to keep the construction projects running during the administration period.
“I am extremely proud of all of our people involved and delighted that the sales resulted in so many jobs saved and so many losses avoided.”
