The firm advised on a $145m cross-border acquisition and helped negotiate the Seventh Community Pharmacy Agreement
Maddocks has showcased its advisory skill in complex transactions across various sectors.
The firm advised Singaporean investment company Tong Eng Group on a $145m cross-border asset acquisition, and also helped negotiate the Seventh Community Pharmacy Agreement on behalf of the Commonwealth Department of Health.
Partner Nick Holuigue took the lead on the acquisition transaction as Maddocks assisted Tong Eng in securing an office building at 350 Queen St. in the Melbourne CBD. The firm advised on all aspects of the deal, such as due diligence (including extensive title and leasing reviews), Foreign Investment Review Board regimes and finance and construction issues.
Throughout a negotiation period that spanned a number of months, Maddocks’s multidisciplinary team also provided advice on the effect of state and federal government legislative regimes on tenancies and land tax. The team featured lawyers from the development, construction and projects and commercial groups; it was composed of partners Andrew Pitney, Arlene Colquhoun, Chong Ming Goh and Michael Taylor-Sands, special counsel Andrew Wright and senior associates Catherine Marino, Nadine Vielhuber, Emily Baker and Daniel Hui.
“This is a significant matter, and one that is a vote of confidence in the Melbourne commercial property market,” Holuigue said in a July media release. “We were pleased to once again bring to bear our experience advising overseas investors on strategic acquisitions in the Australian commercial property market.”
Seventh Community Pharmacy Agreement
Maddocks also took part in many of the Commonwealth Department of Health’s meetings with key stakeholders like the Pharmacy Guild of Australia to negotiate the Seventh Community Pharmacy Agreement (7CPA).
“This landmark agreement supports the implementation of a number of key Australian government commitments, including access to Commonwealth subsidised medicines, medicine safety, support for aged care, support for pharmacy in regional, rural and remote areas and reforms to improve access to medicines for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community under the government’s 'Closing the Gap' initiatives,” the firm said.
The 7CPA sets “the price that is paid to pharmacists for dispensing medicines under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme,” the firm said. The expected amount is “$16bn in Commonwealth spending over the five-year term of the agreement.”
Read more: Pharmaceutical Benefits: Ensuring Value for Plan Sponsors
Moreover, professional pharmacy programs receive $1.2bn, while product distribution arrangements for the Community Service Obligation and National Diabetes Services Scheme receive $1.15bn under the terms of the agreement.
Maddocks served as the department’s legal adviser through a negotiation period that lasted 12 months, with a team headed by partner Andrew Whiteside. He has had much experience with community pharmacy agreements, having worked on the Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement and pharmaceutical wholesaler arrangements for the Community Service Obligation.
Whiteside was supported by special counsel Paul Ellis and lawyer Xinyu Zhang.
The agreement was signed on 11 June by Health Minister Greg Hunt, and is an accomplishment for the firm’s healthcare and Commonwealth government teams.
“Maddocks’s work on the 7CPA is another significant achievement for our healthcare sector team, showcasing the depth of our expertise in the pharmacy and pharmaceutical sectors,” healthcare sector leader Lucille Scomazzon said.
Commonwealth government sector leader Simonetta Astolfi said that the signing of the agreement is “another example of the great work we are doing for Commonwealth government clients.”
