Deal: Management buy-out of the Gordon Brothers' business, a leading provider of industrial refrigeration systems and formerly part of Hastie Group Ltd

Area: Banking and finance

Value: Undisclosed

Key players: Jol Rogers led the Middletons team, which included banking and finance partner Adam Howell and senior associates Zoe Baré (corporate) and Deepesh Daya (banking and finance)

Deal significance: Rogers noted that the transaction is indicative of the challenges faced by companies in the current economic climate. “The transaction is yet another example of an increasing number of distressed asset sales in the mid-market. Our team has recently been involved in a number of these types of deals. This is great for buyers, but shows that many companies are doing it tough at the moment.”

The board of directors of the Hastie Group of companies appointed voluntary administrators of all of the Australian entities of Hastie Group on 28 May 2012.

Gordon Brothers has been in business for 95 years and is based in Victoria with about 130 employees.

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In completing the transaction, Rogers said: “Feedback from the acquiring management team was overwhelmingly positive. The transaction timetable was tight, with about four business days to finalise transaction documents from start to finish.”

Rogers was confident the experienced management team will successfully move the company forward.