Hall & Wilcox advised Lonely Planet founders, Tony and Maureen Wheeler, and interests associated with John Singleton and Mark Carnegie, on the sale of a 75% interest in Lonely Planet to BBC Worldwide.
The sale was finalised late Friday 28 September 2007 and announced on Monday 1 October. Lonely Planet was founded by the Wheelers in 1973 and has grown into an internationally recognised travel information company.
The Wheelers have retained a 25% stake in Lonely Planet and will continue to be involved in an advisory capacity however will not be involved in the day-to-day running of the business.
Hall & Wilcox provided commercial and tax advice to the Wheelers, with Managing Partner
Tony Macvean and client relationship partner
Andrew O’Bryan, leading the deal. Tony commented that:
“The transaction was relatively complex and had to be completed under considerable time pressure. Its successful delivery is a credit to the firm and, in particular, the joint efforts of our Commercial and Tax practices.”
Hall & Wilcox tax partner Andrew O’Bryan has been advising the Wheelers on their exit and business transition strategy over the past 12 months, highlighting the importance of succession planning:
“We have been advising Tony and Maureen Wheeler for many years and when they decided Lonely Planet needed to take a new direction we were able to analyse different scenarios and structures with them and ultimately advise on the best outcome for both Tony and Maureen and Lonely Planet.”
Tony Macvean and Andrew O’Bryan were supported by Deborah Chew. BBC Worldwide were represented by Blake Dawson Waldron (Bruce Macdonald and David McManus) in Sydney. Lonely Planet were represented by Deacons (Greg Hipwell) as well as their inhouse legal team (led by Chaman Sidhu) and Carnegie/Singleton advisors Clayton Noble and Louise Herron also assisted on the deal.
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