Deal: Kajima Corporation has acquired a majority stake in Cockram Construction through its subsidiary Kajima Australia.

Value: Undisclosed

Area: Construction, property

Key players: M&A partner Matthew Hibbins (pictured) led the MinterEllison team advising Kajima Corporation. He was supported by special counsel Melanie Cobb, senior associate Daniel Oh, associate Nadine Hawa, and lawyers Daniel Walford and Sarah Kennedy in Australia.

MinterEllison’s international support on the deal was comprised of partner Barbara Mok and senior associate Michelle Chan in Hong Kong; partner Yi Yi Wu and associate Lotus Sun in mainland China; and partner Mark Forman and senior associate Paige Howard-Smith in New Zealand.

Deal significance: Japan-based international construction company Kajima Corporation has acquired a majority stake in Australia-based Cockram Construction for an undisclosed sum through its subsidiary Kajima Australia.

Kajima is one of Japan’s largest construction companies. It operates in 50 countries and has an annual revenue of AU$21 billion.

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Cockram Construction operates in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Hong Kong, mainland China, Malaysia, India and Thailand. The acquisition by Kajima will eventually see Cockram merge with Icon Construction Group, which Kajima invested in to enter the Australian market in 2015.

“The cross-border nature of Cockram’s operations added a level  of complexity to this transaction but MinterEllison teams across Australia, New Zealand and Asia worked seamlessly with law firms in China, India and several other Asian countries to achieve a successful outcome for our client Kajima,” said lead partner Matthew Hibbins. 

MinterEllison is also advising on the merger of Cockram and Icon, which it said will combine Icon’s residential and commercial construction experience with Cockram’s specialist social infrastructure business to provide a full-spectrum construction services offering in Australia.

The merged entity is expected to generate $2 billion in annual revenue.