Providing Legal Services for Investing in Australia
English translation of an article which appeared in Chinese on page 11.Chambers & Company is an Australian law firm, specialising in corporate law. It enjoys an excellent reputation in providing legal services to Chinese clients investing in major projects in Australia. Chambers & Company has achieved spectacular results in providing legal advice on major iron ore and other projects.
Chambers & Company commenced its China practice in 1984. It participated in the first major Chinese overseas investment project: the Channar project between Sinosteel and Hamersley Iron. The total investment in the Channar project amounted to USD420 million and the project has become a model for subsequent joint venture projects for Chinese investments in Australia. Thereafter, Chambers & Company participated in the first iron ore joint venture project between BHP Billiton and a Chinese party, the Wheelarra project. In this project, Chambers & Company represented four large Chinese steel mills. It was the largest iron ore project undertaken by Chinese investors in Australia. It was also a milestone project, involving the cooperation of four large Chinese steel mills, Wugang, Tanggang, Magang and Shagang.
Chambers & Company’s participation in this project involving BHP Billiton, won Chambers & Company the 2005 Australasian Energy & Resources Deal of the Year Award from the Australasian Legal Business Magazine. The total contract value of these two projects amounted to USD20 billion.
Chambers & Company has also participated in six other iron ore joint venture projects involving Chinese enterprises investing in Australia. Recently, Chambers & Company provided legal advice on the first Chinese uranium joint venture, between Sinosteel and PepinNini Minerals. The contracts for this project were signed in April 2007. Chambers & Company was also recently appointed to be the lawyers representing Yunnan Tin Company Group Limited, a major Chinese resources company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.
Over the past 23 years, Chambers & Company has advised a wide range of Australian, European and US companies on investments in China. Chambers & Company’s experience includes advising on legal issues in relation to major projects, being the chief legal consultant in negotiations, drafting project structure documents, major supply contracts and contracts relating to the engineering, construction and development of fundamental facilities and the financing agreements supporting the project, and obtaining approval from the Australian federal and state governments.
Major clients of Chambers & Company include Sinosteel Corporation, Capital Iron & Steel (Shougang), China Metallurgical Construction Company, China National Non-ferrous Corporation, China National Petroleum Corporation (PetroChina), CITIC Australia Pty Ltd, China International Travel Service, Everbright, Harbin Power Engineering Company, Ministry of Electronics Industry, Jiangsu Shagang Group Co Ltd, Ministry of Lands & Resources, Sinotrans, Tangshan Iron & Steel Co Ltd (Tanggang), Wuhan Iron & Steel Group Corporations (Wugang), Yunnan Tin Company Group Limited.
Chambers & Company is the Australian affiliate of Chadbourne & Parke LLP, an international law firm with its head office in New York and offices around the world. Chambers & Company has strong legal capabilities and is proud of its achievements.