Alexandra Whitby

Alexandra's experience includes advising:

Commercial disputes

• Anchorage Capital, Midtown Acquisitions, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Deutsche Bank in proceedings commenced against certain former directors and officers of the Arrium Group alleging negligence and misleading or deceptive conduct in breach of the Australian Consumer Law.
• RiverCity Motorways in relation to representative proceedings commenced by a class of retail investors following the financial collapse of the RiverCity Motorways entities that owned and operated the Clem7 toll road in Brisbane, Australia as a result of grossly overstated traffic forecasts prepared by AECOM Australia.
• GrainCorp, in relation to representative proceedings brought by the liquidators of MF Global Australia Limited (MFGA).  GrainCorp participated in the proceedings as representative defendant for all MFGA clients with a futures account claiming an entitlement to amounts held by MFGA in certain client segregated accounts.
• Nine Network in successfully defending at first instance and on appeal proceedings brought by its broadcast affiliate partner, WIN, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief preventing Nine Network from internet live streaming its programming Australia-wide.
• BrisConnections in relation to proceedings commenced in the Federal Court of Australia against Arup, the traffic forecasters of the Airport Link toll road in Brisbane owned and operated by the BrisConnections entities, in relation to claims for misleading and deceptive conduct seeking damages in excess of $2 billion.
• Lowe’s (US) in numerous proceedings against Woolworths in relation to the exit and unwinding of their joint venture hardware businesses, Masters and Home, Timber & Hardware.

Transactions

Alexandra regularly advises clients globally on both bidder and target side of the transaction in respect of members scheme of arrangement and takeover restructures.  Some recent examples include:

• Afterpay Limited in relation to its acquisition by Block, Inc for AU$39 billion (US$29 billion), Australia’s largest ever corporate transaction.
• OZ Minerals Limited, on its $10 billion acquisition by BHP Lonsdale Investments Pty Ltd (a member of the BHP Group) by way of scheme of arrangement.
• Ardent Leisure Group, in relation to the unwinding of its stapled security structure and its reorganisation by way of dual members scheme of arrangement and trust scheme of arrangement. 
• Private equity in relation to a proposed acquisition of Nitro Software Limited by way of scheme of arrangement and dual track takeover offer. 
• Nearmap Limited, Elmo Software Limited, DuluxGroup Limited, Intega Group Limited, Virtus Group Limited, Kykr Limited, SAI Global and others.

Alexandra has also been involved in advising a wide variety of stakeholders on a significant number of the creditors schemes of arrangement brought in Australia including:

• the lenders to Slater & Gordon on the successful restructure of its $1 billion debt by way of two separate but inter-conditional creditor schemes.
• Nine Entertainment Group in respect of its A$3.4 billion debt-for-equity restructuring by way of a creditors’ scheme of arrangement, which was awarded the Insolvency and Restructuring Deal of the Year, 2013 ALB Australasian Law Awards.
• BIS Industries and KKR on the restructure of BIS Industries’ $1.17 billion debt facilities.
• the term loan lenders, in relation to Atlas Iron Limited’s $125 million debt for equity swap and restructuring of its existing debt facilities.
• the secured noteholders (led by First Pacific Advisors) of Boart Longyear, in relation to the proposed debt for equity swap