Peter Muzariri

Partner · BCom / LLB (Honours)

Finance + InsolvencyWealth Management

Peter Muzariri

About Peter

Peter Muzariri is a Partner and Head of our Finance + Insolvency and Wealth Management practices. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Auckland and is admitted to practice in New Zealand, Victoria (Australia) and the High Court of Australia.

Peter takes a commercial, pragmatic approach to legal practice, with a diversified skillset spanning finance and insolvency, corporate and commercial law, property law and development, and wealth and investment management. He has experience both as a private practice lawyer and in-house counsel, having worked at a premium Australian law firm, and a high net worth family office.

A relentless advocate who pursues optimal outcomes for his clients, Peter is particularly experienced in the structuring and negotiation of financing packages, especially within the property development sector.

Areas of Expertise

Finance

Banking and finance transactions, particularly in the property development space, as well as negotiating mezzanine debt and preferred equity finance, by way of both bilateral and syndicated facilities.

Corporate + Commercial

  • Preparation and negotiation of a wide range of commercial agreements, including shareholder agreements, joint venture agreements, and group investment agreements.
  • Advising on commercial transactions, including sale and purchase of businesses.
  • Structuring of corporate groups, including group investment vehicles.

Regulatory Compliance

Commercial, corporate, and regulatory advice, including compliance with the Corporations Act, ASIC and AUSTRAC requirements, and the AFSL regime.

Insolvency & Restructuring

Advising on the PPSA, including in relation to vesting and enforceability of security interests.

Advising insolvency practitioners, including administrators and liquidators, as well as businesses, in relation to insolvent trading claims, inter-group arrangements, as well as directors’ duties and safe harbour. Preparing and negotiating restructuring documents including deeds of company arrangement.

Wealth Management

Estate and succession planning, self-managed superannuation funds, and investment and wealth management.

Australia-Africa Services

Peter advises on transactions between Australia and Africa. He has established relationships and partnerships with law firms and businesses in Africa to provide a seamless cross-border service for Australian-based investors, families and businesses looking to do business in Africa.

Peter’s work in the Australia-Africa space spans the following:

  • Cross-border estate and succession planning
  • Australian-based investors and businesses undertaking property, infrastructure and mining projects in Africa
  • Cross-border property and project finance
  • Establishment of cross-border corporate groups
  • SMSFs looking to invest into Africa

Common Matters Peter Can Help With

  • Facility (loan) agreements, security documents, and mortgages
  • Structuring and financing of business ventures, including collective investment groups (including through SMSFs)
  • Establishment of corporate groups, family trusts, and unit trusts
  • Property development projects
  • Self-managed superannuation fund advice

Notable Experience

  • Advising a healthcare group on its acquisitions and financing.
  • Establishment of personal and investment structures for a South Australia-based construction and development group.
  • Advising a joint venture partner in relation to its interest in a mining project in Zambia.
  • Advising a liquidator in relation to the treatment of funds realised in a liquidation, in light of sections 556 and 561 of the Corporations Act.
  • Advising SMSFs on the rules regulating investments into Africa.

Previous Experience

Most recently, Peter served as Legal Counsel for a high net worth family office. In this role, he acted for the business and its joint venture partners in relation to various matters, including:

  • Commercial property and leasing
  • Property development
  • Corporate structuring
  • Lending (including as a member of the credit committee)
  • General corporate and commercial transactions
  • AFSL, AUSTRAC, and general corporate compliance
  • Corporate governance and advice to directors
  • Financing facilities with a major Australian bank
  • Estate and succession planning
  • Wealth management and family governance
  • SMSF advice

Peter is bilingual in English and Shona (a native language of Zimbabwe) and is able to serve clients in both languages.

Outside of legal practice, Peter enjoys going to the gym, frequenting Melbourne cafes, and traveling back home to Africa.

Admissions

  • Practitioner of the High Court of Australia
  • Lawyer & Officer of the Supreme Court of Victoria
  • Barrister & Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand

Publications

Peter Muzariri & James Adams, “The Future of the Māori Authority Regime in New Zealand” (2020) 7 Te Tai Haruru: Journal of Māori and Indigenous Issues 116.

Media