Dave Poddar
QUAY LAW PARTNERS TEAM
Expertise
Dave specialises in competition law and has over 25 years’ experience in Antitrust law in Australia including managing significant M&A clearances as well as clearances for joint ventures and alliances. Dave has also acted in major antitrust and consumer protection litigation. He has worked on infrastructure access and regulatory matters, as well as advising on competition agency investigations and cartel matters.
Dave is a previous Chair of the Law Council of Australia, Competition & Consumer Committee and is a past Co-chair of the International Bar Association Antitrust Committee and remains on its Advisory Board.
Dave is ranked in:
- “Hall of Fame” for Asia Pacific – The Legal 500
- Chambers & Partners – Asia Pacific – Band 2 in Antitrust in Australia
- Who’s Who nominated Antitrust experts in Australia
- Best Lawyers In Australia
- Doyle’s Guide for Competition lawyers in Australia.
Dave was previously included in Global Competition Review’s Global 40 under 40.
Experience includes advising:
M & A
- Bunnings on various acquisitions in the hardware, home improvement and outdoor leisure sector including Adelaide Tools and Beaumont Tiles in 2021
- BGC in its acquisition of Midland Brick in 2021
- Acting for AMA Group in its purchase from SunCorp of Capital SMART Smash repair business and ACM Parts for A$440m in 2019
- Oracle Corporation A$1.6 billion acquisition of Aconex Limited in 2018
- Allied Mills on its A$455 million sale to Pacific Equity Partners by Graincorp and Cargill in 2017
- Cristal in obtaining an unconditional ACCC clearance in its US$1.673 billion titanium dioxide merger with Tronox.
- GE on its US$3.415 billion sale of Water to Suez in 2017
- GE on its US$32 billion creation of an oil and gas business with Baker Hughes in 2017
- GE on the Australian aspects of its US$17 billion acquisition of Alstom’s energy assets
- GE on the Australian antitrust aspects of its US$1 billion acquisition of Thermo Fisher’s cell culture business in Australia
- Shell on its A$343 million sale of its Australian aviation fuels unit to Viva Energy in December 2016
- Shell on the antitrust aspects of the A$2.9 billion sale of its downstream business in Australia
- ICAP plc in relation to Tullett Prebon’s A$1.5 billion acquisition of its global voice hybrid broking business in 2016
- Sumitomo on its acquisition of a A$1 billion / 51% interest with Glencore in the Clermont Coal Mine
- Mondelez on its A$460 million sale of its Vegemite and cheese business to Bega Cheese in 2017
- SABMiller on the A$12 billion Fosters takeover and acquisition of the remaining 50% of Pacific Beverages, including foreign investment approval
- BG on its acquisition of QGC and its proposed hostile takeover of Origin Energy
- various acquisitions of interests in the LNG sectors on the East and West coasts of Australia including pipeline infrastructure
- GrainCorp on the Goodman Fielder Fats and Oils and Gardner Smith acquisitions, as well as various other acquisitions in the agriculture sector
- Xstrata Coal on various takeovers in the resources sectors
- Lion Nathan on various brewery and winery acquisitions and on its divestment of its Pepsi-Cola Bottlers business
- US rail company Genesee & Wyoming on its acquisition of the Adelaide-Darwin rail line
- Temasek on its A$5.7 billion interest in AS Watson
- Apache on the sale of it’s A$2.75 billion interest in various oil and gas fields to Woodside.
Regulatory investigations
- antitrust and consumer protection litigation in the Federal Court and High Court of Australia
- regulatory investigations including relating to civil and criminal cartel investigations and misuse of market power
- acting for stakeholders in Senate and ACCC inquiries
Joint ventures, alliances and access matters
- Glencore on its application for the declaration of the channel at the Port of Newcastle
- Emirates on its partnership with Qantas and the associated authorisations and regulatory approvals processes on a global basis
- Port Waratah Coal Terminal on the authorisation of its long term infrastructure arrangements at the Port of Newcastle
- Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal on various port infrastructure authorisations
- Chi-X on competition and access issues associated with the establishment of its securities exchange in Australia.