K&L Gates Advises Australian Ground Engineering Firm, The RIX Group of Companies on Majority Sale to Italian Construction Firm Ghella

The RIX Group of Companies is an Australian ground engineering business, focusing on ground anchoring, slope stabilisation, shotcrete, piling, rope access, and ground improvement. Ghella specialises in the construction of large public infrastructure works and underground excavations through the use of tunnel boring machines.

The groundbreaking deal unites two infrastructure and engineering giants. While RIX and Ghella will maintain their independent operations, the companies will collaborate closely, leveraging their respective strengths to continue to deliver enhanced solutions and meet the needs of some of Australia’s largest and most critical infrastructure projects.  

The K&L Gates deal team, led by corporate partner Russell Lyons, special counsel Becki Tam, and lawyer Stephanie Hanna, provided counsel on the intricate pre-restructuring of The RIX Group of Companies, shareholding arrangements and critical go-forward joint venture arrangements in collaboration with the Australian Employment, Tax and Infrastructure teams and the firm's Milan office.

Lyons commented on the deal, stating: "We are delighted to have assisted The RIX Group of Companies in this significant transaction which further promotes innovation in the infrastructure industry in Australia. The transaction team worked seamlessly across our allied Australian practice groups and with our international colleagues in Milan."

K&L Gates’ Corporate practice is one of the most substantial in the legal industry, with more than 500 lawyers in offices on five continents providing clients with practical legal solutions in the structuring, financing, and completion of domestic, international, and cross-border transactions.