LAW firm Middletons has advised Australian private equity fund Harbert as it acquires 45 per cent of the newly merged Techdrill Civil and Mining Services.

Middletons lead partner on the transaction, John Mann said the client's acquisition gives it company access to capital to continue to grow in the mining and infrastructure markets.

"The transaction involved a full due diligence investigation and the preparation, negotiation and execution of a full set of transaction documents," said Mann.

TCMS intends to use Harbert’s experience and financial capacity to bolster its operational capabilities and management team, to help fund the group’s aspirations for medium term expansion.

TCMS was formed in December 2011 from the merger of Techdrill Services (Techdrill) and Rock Drilling Australia (RDA). Techdrill is an established drilling contractor and provides mobile Greenfield and Brownfield drilling services to a large number of resource exploration companies in eastern Australia. RDA is a well known Brisbane based drilling services contractor which provides trenchless drilling services and horizontal directional drilling to infrastructure companies in the electricity, water, sewerage and telecommunications sectors.

Managing Director of Harbert, Jeremy Steele said of Middletons work on the deal: "This is the third transaction in our first fund we have worked on with [Mann] and his team. Middletons’ experience and both depth and breadth of the team makes them an ideal partner for Harbert — we want to work with lawyers who understand the commercial rationale behind our investments."

Middletons M&A team has been busy this year, the firm said.

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"This flurry of activity, especially among mid cap mining and infrastructure companies, is a product of our booming resources sector. The forecasted capital expenditure in the mining industry and large pipeline of infrastructure projects is fuelling M&A activity and makes for a perfect environment for private equity deals," said Mann.

Harbert is focused on investment in Australian companies within the mid market, targeting companies with a total enterprise value in the A$10 million to A$100 million range. Middletons has previously worked with Harbert in its strategic investment in Emeis Holdings, the owner of the Aesop cosmetics business and the Sumo Visual Group.