Clients and industries
Andrew has acted for:
- ASX-listed companies
- privately owned and family businesses
- founders and startups
- not-for-profit organisations
- statutory bodies
He works with clients across industries including:
- resources, energy and mining services
- health
- agribusiness
- technology
- education and research
- franchise networks
- business and professional services
- property and real estate
Corporate and commercial
Andrew advises on corporate and commercial matters across the lifecycle of a business, including:
He also advises on commercial leasing and property transactions, often as part of broader corporate and commercial arrangements.
Mergers and acquisitions
Andrew has advised on significant acquisitions, disposals and corporate transactions across a range of industries.
His transaction experience includes:
- acting for the target, the owner and operator of a manufactured home estate and RV resort in regional NSW, on its acquisition by an ASX-listed operator of residential land lease communities under a scheme of arrangement
- acting for the target, a Queensland-based maintenance, engineering and contract mining services provider with operations in Queensland and NSW, on its acquisition by an ASX-listed mining services contractor under a scheme of arrangement
- acting for the bidder, the majority shareholder of an ASX-listed gold explorer with tenements in north-west Queensland, on its on-market takeover bid for the remaining shares
- acting for the vendor, a Queensland-based mining services group, on the sale of its underground coal mining equipment business (utility vehicles for high-methane mines) to an ASX-listed property and mining services company
- acting for the private vendors on the sale of coal exploration tenements to an ASX-listed coal explorer
- acting for several vendors on the sale of their physiotherapy clinics to a new allied health group, formed by combining podiatry and physiotherapy networks, in connection with the group’s ASX listing
- advising on the sale of a specialist civil contracting, maintenance and manufacturing business to a major ASX-listed infrastructure services group
- acting for The University of Queensland on the acquisition of a student accommodation complex and its management rights business
Joint ventures, shareholders and business structures
Andrew advises founders, co-owners and investors on how they come together, share control and manage change, from set-up through to the entry or exit of shareholders.
His experience includes:
- shareholder and joint venture agreements for family businesses, co-founders and 50/50 joint ventures
- bringing in minority, employee and equity partner shareholders, including employee share option plans and selective share buy-backs
- group restructures, including new holding companies and transfers of businesses between trusts and companies
- partnership buy-ins, joint ventures and commercial agreements for a leading Queensland diagnostic imaging group
- capital raisings, consortium and shareholder agreements, and long-term port lease and operating agreements for a port-based grain export terminal group
- structuring and alliance agreements for Queensland’s peak business organisation
He advises on the agreements that determine how parties make decisions, allocate risk and manage their relationship over time.
Complex commercial agreements
Andrew negotiates and advises on high-value commercial and strategic agreements, often involving multiple stakeholders, government funding or research collaboration.
At The University of Queensland, his work included:
- a collaboration agreement with a hospital and health service to establish a first-of-its-kind biofabrication institute, focused on 3D-printed medical devices and human tissue
- an education and research alliance with a major private hospital and health group
- UQ’s official university partnership with a national Paralympic sporting body
- an affiliation agreement with a US health system for an international medical degree program
- a high-value philanthropic funding agreement establishing a university centre and scholarships
- Commonwealth and industry funding and grant agreements, and co-funded industry chair arrangements
In private practice, his experience includes:
- complex subcontracting arrangements for the delivery of Commonwealth-funded aged care and employment services
- collaborative research, supply, consignment and licence agreements for an ASX-listed animal nutrition and stockfeed group
- major procurement, design, supply and installation agreements for a coal handling and preparation plant upgrade
- standard terms of trade for suppliers and customers, including compliance with unfair contract terms laws
Intellectual property and technology
Andrew advises on how intellectual property is created, owned, protected and commercialised, as a stand-alone issue and within broader transactions and commercial relationships.
His experience includes:
- software development, prototype and SaaS agreements for app and platform businesses
- platform terms of use, privacy policies and cross-border data advice for an agtech business launching a livestock monitoring platform
- payment gateway, software licensing and joint venture agreements for a payments technology business
- IP ownership structures that separate valuable IP from trading entities for asset protection
- trade mark applications and IP clauses in commercial agreements
Professional background
Andrew spent around 15 years in private practice with Brisbane commercial law firms before moving in-house to The University of Queensland, where he spent more than five years, including as Senior Legal Counsel.
Having sat on both sides of the relationship between organisations and their external lawyers, Andrew brings that perspective to every matter, with a focus on clear, practical advice.
Andrew describes his approach as “grease, not grit”: smoothing the way for deals and relationships rather than creating unnecessary friction.
Qualifications and admission
- Bachelor of Laws, Queensland University of Technology
- Bachelor of Business (Accountancy), Queensland University of Technology
- Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, Queensland University of Technology
- Admitted to practise in Queensland in 2004
