Deal profile | Gadens advises Founders Factory on formation of joint venture with Rio Tinto

Gadens has advised Founders Factory Pty Ltd (Founders Factory) on the formation of a joint venture with Rio Tinto Pty Ltd (Rio Tinto) to establish a mining technology accelerator in Western Australia.

As part of the joint venture, Rio Tinto will invest A$14.4 million in global pre-seed and seed stage start-ups over the next three years. The focus will be on technologies in the fields of safe mine operations, decarbonisation, exploration processing and automation.

Each start-up will receive a cash investment and participate in a four-month accelerator program run by Founders Factory to support product development and commercialisation.

Gadens advised on all Australian aspects of the transaction, including the negotiation of all investment documents and the provision of taxation advice.

Founded in 2015, Founders Factory seeks to build and fund start-ups in partnership with visionary entrepreneurs and the world’s biggest companies. The global tech investor runs programs in a number of cities, including London, Milan, Berlin, Johannesburg and New York, and has backed more than 300 startups around the world.

Commenting on the transaction, Founders Factory’s General Counsel, Frank Webster, said: “The advice we received from Vaughan and the wider team at Gadens was excellent: highly commercial, timely and absolutely vital in helping us pull together this complex deal in a highly-efficient manner. I’m looking forward to continuing the relationship with the firm as we build an exciting portfolio in Australia.”

Also commenting on the transaction, lead partner Vaughan Petherbridge, said: “It has been a pleasure working with Founders Factory in relation to the establishment of its first accelerator program in Australia. This program will have a meaningful impact on innovation in the climate and mining sectors and will foster breakthrough technologies in globally significant areas including decarbonisation and exploration processing.”

Practice groups: Corporate, Tax and Employment

Value: $14.4m

Key team members: Lead partner Vaughan Petherbridge was supported by Peter Poulos (Partner), Deivina Peethamparam (Partner), Gary Lim (Special Counsel), Elizabeth Gregory (Associate), Nakita Rose (Associate) and Leo Rodrigo (Associate).