The merger, which was announced 14 months ago, has made Arrotex Australia's largest generic pharmaceutical and private label OTC business with over 50% market share of the Australian generic pharmacy market. Arrotex products will account for almost 30% of all prescription volume dispensed in pharmacies across Australia.

MinterEllison’s role included advising on the simultaneous acquisition and merger of the Australian businesses and long-term shareholder arrangements between the owners as 50-50 equity partners. In addition, MinterEllison also advised on merger clearance, FIRB approvals, together with employment, long term supply and transitional service arrangements.

The transaction has taken almost two years to complete from initial discussions to close. In addition to the provision of legal advice, Arrotex also relied heavily on MinterEllison for project management and logistics assistance. Some of the challenges of the transaction involved dealing with numerous stakeholders across multiple jurisdictions, a complex financing structure, and achieving FIRB and ACCC clearance in a tight time frame.

The deal team was led by Jeremy Blackshaw (Partner), with support from Andrea Frank (Partner), Steven Wang (Senior Associate), Stephen Clarke (Senior Associate), Rhett McPhie (Associate), Mark Simkiss (Lawyer), Daniel Fahey (Lawyer), Alix Friedman (Lawyer), Lucy Wang (Lawyer), Will Richards (Lawyer), Marissa Piazza (Lawyer), Annabel Healy (Graduate) and Harry Smith (Graduate).

Geoff Carter (Partner), Miranda Noble (Partner) and Tom Faulls (Senior Associate) assisted with competition issues, Paul Kallenbach (Partner) and Nicole Reid (Senior Associate) on IT & Transitional Services, Tim Davey (Special Counsel) on employment issues, David Moore (Partner), Sarah Hampson (Senior Associate) and Sarah Lefevre (Lawyer) on FIRB, Geoff Earl (Partner) on finance, and Adrian Varrasso (Partner), Craig Silverwood (Partner), Robert Yunan (Special Counsel) and Daniel Kornberg (Associate) on tax.