Spotlight on Kylie Lane – powering through M&A!
27 August 2025
Ahead of the Deal - Australian M&A Briefing
This week we're chatting with Kylie Lane, Corporate Partner, Ashurst Board Member and long-suffering Bombers fan.
Kylie is one of Australia's foremost M&A lawyers operating in the energy and resources sector. She has led a number of transformational deals in the space including Alcoa's acquisition of Alumina and Rio Tinto's lithium joint ventures in Chile.
Kylie and team have recently been advising EnergyAustralia on its JV with an Électricité de France (EDF) subsidiary to deliver the Lake Lyell Pumped Hydro Energy Storage project in NSW, a project she's been close to for many years.
Q: Kylie, what makes Lake Lyell such a special project – and what are some of the key learnings for readers?
Kylie:
Pumped hydro projects are critical to the energy transition – they provide long duration storage (8 hours compared to 2-4 hours for batteries) and have a long lifespan. They do however have require significant capital investment and regulatory approvals.
The project complexity, high capital intensity and the long life span means that pumped hydro projects are often developed in joint ventures, which provide an ability to share risk and bring together complementary expertise of partners. EnergyAustralia considered that this was the best path for the Lake Lyell project, with EDF acquiring a 75% equity stake. EnergyAustralia remains focussing on the community, neighbour and stakeholder engagement and EDF brings its international technical experience.
Q: We know you are passionate about energy and have a long history of deal-doing in the sector. Can you share with us any key trends you are seeing and any observations that might be particularly relevant to companies sizing up Australian renewable assets?
Kylie:
Energy is complex and generation businesses need the right mix of assets – both geographically and by asset type. Australia's large energy consumers are looking for cost-effective solutions that provide them with certainty to maintain existing operations and to invest.
Achieving scale is increasingly important. Obtaining environmental approvals in a timely manner is challenging, regulatory compliance costs continue to increase and securing access to, and reasonable pricing in, a stretched supply chain has become more difficult as the energy transition picks up pace globally. The volatility in gas and electricity prices in Australia over recent years has led large energy consumers to engage more directly with developers and generators but to offer the firm products required, these businesses need scale and the right asset mix. The need for scale has driven strong competition for good quality energy assets. While price is always relevant, bidders can often differentiate themselves in competitive processes where the seller is remaining as a partner or has economic exposure to achievement of development milestones by articulating the expertise and track record they bring which directly addresses some of the challenges I've identified.
Critical assets in the energy sector remain a key areas of focus of the Australian Government – they are regulated by the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act and foreign buyers are often closely scrutinised by FIRB. Early work with advisers to understand the level of likely sensitivity of the assets in question can be helpful in determining whether and what targets to pursue, as well as timeframes for approval and the risk of costly conditions being imposed.
Q: Pivoting to your role as an Ashurst Board Member, we'd love to hear any recent learnings or memorable insights you've gained in terms of leadership and governance?
Kylie:
Our environment is changing: geopolitics, trade flows, the emergence of AI. The manner of response is as important as what we do in response. Good leadership to me is about how our people feel – ideally we get the "what" right but if the "how" is done well, we'll have a firm and team able to adjust and continue to thrive.
In a practical sense, I've learned that when there is greater uncertainty, leaders need to lean in more and balance the external uncertainty as best they can.
