Mark Smith LL.B. MBA (Hons)

Areas of Practice: Corporate and Commercial

Mark has more than 30 years of experience in corporate and commercial legal practice, both in Australia and in New Zealand. He brings a commercial approach to assisting his clients to resolve their business legal issues.

Mark is an experienced and qualified negotiator of agreements and settlements, adviser on legal and commercial matters and drafter of documents at all levels of business.

Mark has particular expertise and experience in acquisitions, disposals and mergers, the raising of equity capital and debt including for listed entities, in corporate recovery and reconstructions, business structuring and in general corporate and commercial law.

Mark's experience includes advising on compliance and governance, financial services, information technology law, intellectual property law and competition law. He also has long standing experience in banking law, franchising and licensing, national and international trading arrangements and property law.

Mark is a director of a number of public companies and of many proprietary companies.

Recent work includes:

• The demerger by an ASX listed company of a number of its Australian based business activities and assets into a new company. The new company was established by way of a return of capital to shareholders of the listed entity of shares in the capital of the newly formed subsidiary. This was followed by an underwritten cash issue of shares and options by the new entity in the form of an IPO. The new issue was underwritten. The issue was successful and the new shares and options were listed on the ASX.
• Acting for a foreign financier on its entry to the Australian market as a new finance company. The work involved the negotiation and documentation of all of the entity creation and relationship documents, the establishment of its lending documents and policies, compliance with all Federal and State regulatory requirements and dealing with the international tax considerations. A securitised structure was created and a large bank funding line put in place with an Australian bank. Trustee companies were appointed as trustee and security trustee. The work also involved the creation of a novel consumer credit insurance product.
• Acted on the privatisation and restructuring of the shareholdings of a substantial food industry group of companies.