Middle market enterprises (MME)

Middle market enterprises (MMEs) are broadly defined as businesses with an annual turnover of between $2 million and $250 million. They require a comprehensive range of legal support from specialists in mid-market enterprise law for growing businesses.

Importantly, MMEs need practical and commercial legal advice to continuously grow, scale operations and ensure success in the long term.

MMEs can face a variety of business and legal issues at different times during their growth journey. As a result, they need business support and to form working relationships with corporate and commercial lawyers they can depend on – lawyers who understand their pressures and challenges, and how to deliver practical and commercial outcomes.

A long history of advising on mid-market law and business issues

Cooper Grace Ward’s MME lawyers assists mid-market businesses across a number of sectors, including mining and resources, agribusiness, technology, transport and logistics, construction and property, aged care and retirement, education and training together with not-for-profit organisations.

Cooper Grace Ward has delivered corporate and commercial services to MME clients since we first began operations in 1980.

From the Cooper Grace Ward head office in Brisbane, our lawyers travel throughout regional Queensland and across Australia to meet with our MME clients. We do this to ensure they continue to receive high quality, personalised service.

Cooper Grace Ward assists many MMEs with putting in place corporate processes designed not to interfere with the agility that made the business so successful in the first place.

Given that mid-market businesses are usually large enough to operate across different states or even internationally, advice from our lawyers can help MMEs located in Brisbane and throughout Australia, ensure their corporate structures are suitable to their business needs and compliant with complex tax, CGT, GST, stamp duty, land tax, customs and different payroll taxes, superannuation and worker’s compensation regulations.

The major services we offer to MME clients include:

• corporate and commercial advice regarding business contracts such as terms of trade and supply agreements
• preparation of business contracts
• shareholder, partnership and joint venture agreements and subscription arrangements
• tax effective business and investment structures, including asset protection, entity establishment, stakeholder agreements between business owners, establishing trusts, and business succession and estate planning
• business sales, mergers and acquisitions and takeovers
• competition and consumer law issues
• workplace relations and safety advice e.g. employment contracts, restructures, contentious employment and industrial relations issues, workplace investigations, accidents, unfair dismissal, discrimination and sexual harassment, bullying and other employee misconduct, adverse action, underpayment of wages claims, managing ill and injured employees, and compliance with safety laws
• foreign investment and international transactions
• capital raising, private equity and business succession in family businesses
• franchising
• property advice, including property purchases, leasing and sales, property syndicates and trusts, commercial and residential property development projects, entity structuring and tax considerations, planning approvals, appeals, native title and environmental law matters
• intellectual property advice and protection strategies
• compliance including competition and consumer and workplace health and safety compliance
• strategic and compliance advice on complex tax, CGT, duty, GST and superannuation issues
• litigation and dispute resolution, including debt recovery, restructuring and contract disputes
• advice on personal property securities regime and register (‘PPSR’)
• not-for-profit corporate and compliance issues.

To contact a lawyer specialising in MMEs, email one of our key contacts directly or call Cooper Grace Ward on (07) 3231 2444.