Gilbert + Tobin has advised the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation (ILSC) on its sale of the operational assets of Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia Pty Ltd, the operator of Ayers Rock Resort in Central Australia and Mossman Gorge Cultural Centre in Far North Queensland. The transaction represents a significant step in the ILSC’s strategy to secure long-term sustainability and deliver enduring Indigenous benefit from these iconic tourism destinations.
Ayers Rock Resort, located at Yulara near the Uluru–Kata Tjuṯa National Park and Mossman Gorge Cultural Centre, a gateway to the Daintree Rainforest, are both nationally significant tourism assets with deep cultural and environmental value. The sale follows a formal process commenced in 2024 and was completed through a share sale to Journey Beyond, a leading Australian tourism group backed by global investment firm Crestview Partners.
The ILSC is a corporate Commonwealth entity established under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act 2005 (ATSI Act). The ILSC’s long-term vision for meeting its ATSI Act mandate is for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to enjoy the rightful entitlements, opportunities and benefits that the return of country and its management brings.
G+T partner Adam D’Andreti said the firm is pleased to support the ILSC on a transaction of significant strategic and cultural importance.
We are proud to have helped the ILSC on its successful sale process and to have provided support from across the firm to develop a sale and divestment structure which balances complex commercial, statutory and cultural considerations. The proposed transaction structure reflects the ILSC’s commitment to transparency, accountability and the long-term interests of Traditional Owners and Indigenous communities.
The sale follows extensive consultation with First Nations Communities to maximise Indigenous benefit and is a significant milestone in series of steps toward returning the land at Yulara, Northern Territory, on which Ayers Rock Resort and Mossman Gorge Cultural Centre stand to respective Traditional Owners, delivering significant long-term economic benefit.
The underlying land and buildings will be transferred to Community corporations representing the Traditional Owners, the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara of Yulara and the Kuku Yalanji of Mossman Gorge. The divestment at Yulara will mark one of the most significant land returns in the ILSC’s history and is expected to complete by the end of 2026.
The multi-year process required the development of a bespoke transaction structure that allowed the ILSC to meet its statutory obligations by separating operational assets from land to enable future divestment of the land to Community. G+T supported the ILSC across a wide range of strategic and technical workstreams including the creation of novel long-term leasing and governance frameworks, the design and execution of a competitive sale process and the development of practical solutions to manage legacy environmental risk.
G+T partner Ilona Hunnisett said:
This is a transformative milestone for the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara of Yulara, the Kuku Yalanji of Mossman Gorge and the ILSC. It will deliver multi generational benefits to Traditional Owners through the return of Country, while equipping the ILSC with a proven divestment model to support further returns to Traditional Owners and Indigenous communities Australia wide. This outcome exemplifies G+T’s long term strategic execution and our capability to steer legally complex, highly structured M&A across the full transaction life cycle.
The G+T team was led by corporate advisory partners, Adam D’Andreti and Ilona Hunnisett, with support from across the firm including Amanda Hempel, Tim Dobson, Maria Eger, Catherine Wei, Ailsa Neale, Alex Berry, Antonia Garling, Andrew Ng, Zachery Gomes, Matthew Charman, Hanh Chau, Jason Yu, Ben Fuller, Sophia Cheng, Spiro Papadolias and Wenzo Mnguni.
