Mary Roberts Email and Phone Number

I led Telstra's M&A and banking legal practices. My recent transaction experience includes leading the sale of a 49% interest in Telstra's mobile towers business (Amplitel), Telstra's divestment of Sensis, the sale of Telstra's Velocity FTTP networks to Uniti Group Ltd, the formation of Telstra's next iteration of Telstra Ventures (Telstra Ventures Fund 3) and a $1bn refinancing of Telstra's syndicated loan facilities.

I supported Telstra's M&A practice, as well as our then venture capital division, Telstra Ventures. In 2018, I won Australian In-House Counsel of the Year at the Australasian Law Awards.My transactional experience at Telstra covered:•the formation of a US$500M+ venture capital fund between Telstra and HarbourVest Partners;•the sell down of Telstra's stake in Foxtel and combination of Foxtel and Fox Sports;•Telstra's joint venture with Telkom Indonesia;•the acquisitions of iCareHealth, Emerging Systems, MSC Mobility, Fusion Payments, Company85 (UK), MTData and VMtech; •Telstra's investment in Silicon Quantum Computing, a collaboration with the Commonwealth of Australia, UNSW, the NSW Government and CBA to build a silicon quantum computer in Australia; and•minority investments by Telstra Ventures in GitLab, Anomali, Cumulus, Ripcord, Cape Productions, PhishMe, Skillz, Crowdstrike, enepath, HealthEngine, Panviva, Nginx, Singular, Boomtown, Headspin, AttackIQ, Near, C88 and Uhana.

I supported Sensis' Digital Partnerships and Innovation division where I provided legal support for digital product development across Sensis’ search engine marketing, websites and e-commerce and social media offerings, key digital partnerships (such as Google, Yahoo and Yelp), and licensing deals for Sensis' business and government information database. I also advised on content moderation and takedowns across the Sensis’ digital content distribution network. Drawing on my private practice experience, I advised on trade practices, general commercial, IP and privacy matters, as well as negotiating large procurement deals with domestic and overseas vendors.

I worked as a Senior Associate in the Mergers & Acquisitions group in the Melbourne office of Mallesons, specialising in competition law, the Australian Consumer Law, privacy law, and specific consumer laws in the telecommunications, food and energy sectors (e.g. the Food Standards Code and National Energy Consumer Framework). I acted for major Australian businesses including: Telstra, Sensis, Coles, Lion/National Foods, Snowy Hydro, Red Energy, REA, Holden, Cargill, the Australian Bankers’ Association and Origin.