Gilbert + Tobin acted for the NSW Government as legal advisor in relation to the $2.6bn concession of Land and Property Information NSW (LPI).

The transaction involved granting a 35 year concession to operate LPI’s titling and registry functions to the winning consortium which was led by leading Australian infrastructure fund manager Hastings Fund Management and First State Super. The proceeds of the transaction will allow the Government to fund the upgrade of major NSW infrastructure.

The concession is the first of its kind in Australia and its implementation involved advising on significant legislative reform and the preparation and negotiation of extremely complex concession documentation. The legal aspects of the transaction successfully brought together a unique regulatory and contract model to ensure the integrity of this vital function as well as addressing critical technology and competition issues.

Corporate Advisory partner and Chairman of the Gilbert + Tobin Board, Bill Spain, who led the Gilbert + Tobin team, said:

“The long term concession of LPI is a first-of-its-kind and involved a high level of innovation and collaboration across the G+T team. We are pleased to have worked with the NSW Treasury on delivering such a successful outcome for NSW.”

Competition, Consumer + Market Regulation partner Peter Waters said the concession demonstrates the firm’s ability to seamlessly manage commercial drivers and bespoke aspects of transactions.

“LPI plays an important role in the NSW economy and we are pleased to have helped deliver a robust regulatory and contractual model that also allowed the successful bidder to pay an outstanding price for the concession.”

The transaction drew upon the expertise of a number of Gilbert + Tobin's practice groups. It was led by partners Bill Spain (Corporate Advisory), Peter Waters (Competition, Consumer + Market Regulation), Tim Gole (TMT), Tim Gordon (Corporate Advisory), Simon Lynch (Banking + Infrastructure), Gail Christopher (Banking + Infrastructure) and Dianne Banks (Litigation). They were supported by lawyers James Pomeroy (Litigation), John Rhodes (TMT), Adrien Grady (TMT), Shelley Burger (Corporate Advisory), Philipp Gunther (Corporate Advisory), Elizabeth Spain (TMT), Stephanie Essey (TMT), Sophie Chesterton (Competition, Consumer + Market Regulation), Tom Platt (Competition and Regulatory), Alice Pailthorpe (Corporate Advisory), Mitch Bennet (Corporate Advisory) and Jenny Leung (Corporate Advisory).