Freehills acted for P&O Australia Ltd on the $211 million sale of P&O Australian Resorts Pty Ltd to General Property Trust and its associated company Voyages Hotel & Resorts Pty Ltd. The resorts included Silky Oaks Lodge, the Dunk, Bedarra, Brampton, Lizard, Heron and Wilson Island resorts in Queensland, the Cradle Mountain Lodge in Tasmania and Wrotham Park Station Resort in north-western Queensland. Freehills managed the due diligence process for the sale, drafted the sale documentation and negotiated the sale for P&O. Freehills’ team was led by Kerry Heilbronn, and included partner Philip Christensen and senior associate Deanna Constable.

Jones Day is representing R.H. Donnelley in its US$1.45 ($2) billion acquisition of SBC Communications Inc.’s directory publishing business in Illinois and north-west Indiana. R.H. Donnelley Corporation is a Yellow Pages publisher and “directional” media company. When the transaction is complete, RHD will control and publish 389 Yellow Pages directories serving more than 260,000 local and national advertisers. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2004 subject to regulatory approval and certain closing conditions.