Powered by
MOMENTUM
MEDIA
Aussie law firm Hall & Wilcox has advised Stone & Chalk on its merger with the Australian Cyber Security Growth Network, better known as AustCyber.
Firms: Hall & Wilcox (Stone & Chalk); undisclosed (AustCyber).
Value: Undisclosed.
Area: M&A.
Key players: The legal team advising Stone & Chalk was led by Hall & Wilcox partner Jacqui Barrett. Lawyers Paul Simos and Rebecca Kazzi acted on the corporate side and lawyer Veronica Lee acted on employment matters.
Deal significance: AustCyber is a Commonwealth-funded, not-for-profit organisation, while Stone & Chalk is a leading innovation hub organisation.
According to a statement from Hall & Wilcox, the deal between the pair will allow AustCyber to “leverage Stone & Chalk’s position in the startup community to scale Australia’s cyber capabilities into strategically significant emerging technology industries”.
“AustCyber is one of six Industry Growth Centres set up by the Commonwealth as part of the Industry Growth Centres Initiative in order to boost innovation and science in Australia. Startups and scale-ups will have greater access to domestic and international customers, talent, expertise and capital,” the firm noted.
Throughout the transaction, Hall & Wilcox advised on the drafting and negotiating of the integration deed, the corporate structure, including amendments to the AustCyber constituent documents, assisted with employment arrangements and undertook legal due diligence.
“We are delighted to have acted on a transaction that has such transformative potential for Stone & Chalk, AustCyber and Australia,” lead partner Ms Barrett said.
“The merger was unique in its structure and represented a fantastic opportunity for us to draft innovatively and find bespoke solutions to give effect to the intentions of the parties.”
