Josh Kaplan LL.B., B.A.
Principal
Josh is a corporate lawyer who has worked for clients in a broad range of industries, including retail (e-commerce and bricks and mortar), pharmaceutical, health services, information technology, media, property and construction. Josh also works closely with some of Australia’s best-known influencer marketers and celebrities and is the trusted advisor to many of their associated businesses. Josh prides himself on having an in-depth knowledge of his clients’ commercial drivers and risk appetite, exploring their commercial opportunities and helping to navigate their challenges.
Experience
Background
His commercial and corporate practice includes:
- Negotiating m+a transactions, venture capital investments and exits
- Providing strategic advice to fast growing scale up companies including with respect to business structures and governing documentation, funding rounds and exit transactions
- Assisting established corporate clients with drafting, negotiating and settling complex commercial documents, including:
- business and share sales, acquisitions, investments and divestments (including due diligence and providing strategic advice on such sales)
- corporate structuring and shareholder/unit holder agreements
- compliance with applicable regulatory requirements, including under Australian Consumer Law and privacy legislation
- finance documentation, including complex financing arrangements and asset protection issues
Please see our Corporate page for more information on our founder focused venture capital practice.
Key Recent M+A Experience
Josh has had the pleasure to act for:
- the shareholders of Werner Film productions on its recent sale to the BBC
- The shareholders of Regional Touring and Zaccaria Touring on the recent merger and sale of their regional concert touring businesses to LiveNation
- Hudson Food Pacific on the sale of its cheeseworks business to Fonterra Group
- The shareholders of Kase Restoration on the sale of their building restoration business to Roc Partners
- The shareholders of First Response Restoration and Skyline Building Group on the sale of their building restoration business to Straight Bat Private Equity;
- assisting founders of some of Australia’s best known start ups with their capital raising activities, including in industries such as ticketing, fin tech and succession;
- the shareholders of Native Tongue Music Publishing on their sale to the global publishing powerhouse Concord Music Publishing;
- numerous transactions acting for one of Australia’s largest maintenance and essential safety measure services provider;
- the shareholders of the Australian Superfood Co on its sale to a small cap public company
Josh commenced his legal career as the sole in-house legal practitioner at a multinational record storage company, and was the first port of call for all internal legal issues, including review and negotiation of services and supply agreements, privacy issues and liability/indemnity provisions.
Josh has since developed a strong commercial and corporate practice, working with savvy founders on investment rounds and exit transactions as well as more mature medium sized companies of up to $500 million in revenue. Josh’s practice spans the life cycle of a company, from inception through to exit, and everything in between.
Qualifications
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Law
Memberships
Josh is one of the founding committee members of Young Carlton Professionals, a coterie group associated with the Carlton Football Club that was established in 2012.