Brisbane legal eagle Brett Heading just oversaw the biggest deal of his career with Orocobre

A well-known local lawyer has worked on some big takeovers in his career but nothing as big as the recent deal to create a $6bn Brisbane-based lithium giant.

Brett Heading has just wrapped up work on the merger of Australian lithium players Orocobre and Galaxy Resources. Picture: Steve Pohlner

This is the big one.

Brett Heading has been involved in some pretty substantial deals over the years.

The Brisbane legal eagle worked on the team at Richard Cottee’s Queensland Gas when it was devoured by the BG Group for $5.7bn back in 2008.

But he’s just wrapped up work an even bigger merger, the marriage of Australian lithium players Orocobre and Galaxy Resources.

The tie-up has resulted in the world’s fifth-biggest lithium chemicals business with a market cap of nearly $6bn—and it’s headquartered right here in the Brisbane CBD, with offices in the Riparian Plaza tower. Who knew?

Brett Heading

The deal, announced in April but only finally consummated late last month, sees Orocobre control assets in Western Australia, Japan and Argentina. It also has projects on the go elsewhere in South America, as well as Canada.

Heading, who also runs the Clovely Estate winery in the South Burnett, has been acting for the resources outfit since joining Jones Day as partner in 2016.

By pure coincidence, he and Orbocobre’s deputy chairman Rob Hubbard, a former PwC bean counter, had worked together on the Queensland Gas buy out.

Orocobre, which plans to change its name to Allkem, suffered an $US89.5m net loss in the last financial year.

But its bottom line will no doubt be helped by surging prices for lithium, a key component of batteries used in electric vehicles.

Demand from China remains strong but interest has also spiked in Europe and North America, as economies recover from the pandemic and electric vehicle sales continue to lift.

The next-generation cars make up just 4 per cent of the global market now but forecasters at UBS expect that number to reach 20 per cent by 2025.

By 2030, it’s expected that about half of all auto sales will be electric.

GREAT MAN, MODEST GATHERING

It will be a very modest remembrance ceremony for someone widely revered as a towering figure in Queensland business and political circles.

The family of the late Jim Kennedy, who passed away last week at age 87, will gather on Friday morning in New Farm with just a few of his close friends for a private function.

Among those expected to attend are pharmacy group titan Terry White, financial advice guru Noel Whittaker and seasoned bizoid Ray Weekes.

The late Jim Kennedy

Kennedy’s amazing career saw him serve on countless company boards, including Qantas, Suncorp and the Commonwealth Bank, and make huge contributions across the accounting, finance and tourism sectors.

He also spent time on numerous government review panels which resulted in reforms, most notably to corrective services.

“He was one of our greatest business warriors,’’ said Weekes, who now serves as chairman of the CEO Institute. “He was a remarkable business thinker.’’

White told City Beat that he, Kennedy and the late Ian Brusasco were great mates who dubbed themselves “the three amigos’’ and regularly enjoyed lunch together.

“He was just an amazing person, a man of achievement who didn’t go after the limelight,’’ White said.

“He was one of those guys who could quickly sum up a problem and had the skill set to deal with politicians on both sides of the fence.’’