Hillhouse acts in the sale of a specialist veterinary hospital

By Craig Hong, Director & Michael Morris, Senior Associate at Hillhouse Legal Partners
| 4 min. read
corporate & commercial

Key takeaways

  • The Hillhouse team helped to document and settle the deal for our clients as well as advise on all legal aspects of the transaction.
  • The team facilitated a pre-sale restructure of the business, a share sale agreement incorporating a complex earn-out mechanism and a shareholders’ agreement.
  • They also assisted with post-settlement employment agreements, the assignment of multiple property leases and the re-negotiation or novation of various third-party contracts.
  • The clients were thrilled with the outcome and the smooth running of the transaction which they credited to all stakeholders working together collaboratively to achieve the desired outcome.

Hillhouse Legal Partners regularly acts for clients in the sale of their businesses.

Recently, Hillhouse Director, Craig Hong and Senior Associate, Michael Morris worked with the team at HLB Mann Judd and HLB Chessboard to advise in the sale of a specialist veterinary hospital business to a large veterinary practice consolidator.

It was an honour to be involved in such a momentous transaction for the clients, which saw them realise the value of a business they started seventeen years ago and had grown consistently since then.  

We are seeing a few transactions of this kind at the moment. Clients are making decisions to exit and retire from businesses they have started and grown over many decades.

This particular deal settled in early 2021 and was negotiated by the clients’ longstanding accountant Charles Larosa, Partner at HLB Mann Judd and deal-maker Cheyne Buckley, Director of HLB Chessboard.

Charles and Cheyne said: “It was a pleasure to work with our clients in achieving their goals and assisting with the negotiations with the purchaser. This was a great outcome for all parties. Our expertise with structuring the deal for maximum tax effectiveness and our corporate advisory division with their ability to provide the expertise in the negotiation process helped achieve a great result for our clients.”

Our Hillhouse team, led by Craig and Michael, helped to document and settle the deal for our client as well as advising on all legal aspects of the transaction including:

  1. A pre-sale restructure of the business to facilitate the transaction;
  2. A share sale agreement incorporating a complex earn-out mechanism;
  3. A shareholders’ agreement to deal with a minority interest to be retained by the clients;
  4. Post settlement employment agreements for the clients;
  5. The assignment of multiple property leases and the re-negotiation or novation of various third party contracts.

Our clients were thrilled with the outcome and the smooth running of the transaction which they credit to all stakeholders working together collaboratively to achieve the desired outcome. 

“This significant life event for us was made possible by the superb professionalism of our legal and accounting team who worked seamlessly together.” they said.   

“We are very grateful to Hillhouse Legal Partners and HLB Mann Judd.”

The buyer’s experienced in-house legal and acquisitions teams handled all aspects for the buyer.

Please do not hesitate to email Craig Hong or Michael Morris or call on 07 3220 1144 if you would like to discuss your personal circumstances on this, or any other matter.

The information in this blog is intended only to provide a general overview and has not been prepared with a view to any particular situation or set of circumstances. It is not intended to be comprehensive nor does it constitute legal advice. While we attempt to ensure the information is current and accurate we do not guarantee its currency and accuracy. You should seek legal or other professional advice before acting or relying on any of the information in this blog as it may not be appropriate for your individual circumstances.