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Doing business in Australia

Hall & Wilcox has extensive cross-border experience and is well positioned to assist international clients that want to do business in Australia, whether it be the acquisition of an Australian entity or the setting up of a subsidiary or branch office in Australia. In particular we are able to advise on:

  • establishing the most appropriate legal structures for businesses;
  • international tax issues and tax structuring advice;
  • corporate restructures, mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and divestments;
  • employment obligations and agreements;
  • obtaining appropriate visas, immigration compliance, permanent residency and citizenship issues;
  • protection and licensing of intellectual property;
  • commercial agreements including franchise, distribution, supply and service agreements; 
  • compliance obligations of companies under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth);
  • commercial and residential property transactions; and
  • whether any Australian regulatory compliance and approvals are required for a particular transaction, and if so, obtaining those approvals.

Examples of our experience includes:

  • acting for Mylan, Inc. on the Australian components of its USD$6.7 billion acquisition of Merck KGa A’s global generic pharmaceuticals business; 
  • advising a large Scottish food manufacturing company on its acquisition of a similar Australian business;
  • advising Personal Performance Consultants UK Ltd on its acquisition of OSA Group, one of the major Australian providers of Employee Assistance Services;
  • acting for Intershop Communications AG, a German based eCommerce dual listed software provider, in entering into a major IT contract with Telstra Corporation Limited;
  • acting for Charles River Laboratories, a US life sciences company, in establishing a new Australian subsidiary and various other transactions;
  • acting for Weyco Group, Inc., a US company listed on NASDAQ and the licensor of the ‘Florsheim’ brand of footwear, providing corporate and commercial, employment and banking and finance advice in the acquisition by Weyco of a majority interest in its Australian licensee, Florsheim Australia Pty Ltd;
  • acting for various international clients in setting up Australian subsidiaries or branch offices, including obtaining appropriate work visas for expatriate staff and setting up mechanisms to ensure ongoing compliance with immigration laws; and 
  • acting on behalf of a major international company concerning liability for payroll tax in respect of ‘on-hired’ workers in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal.