About

JB Hi-Fi is one of Australia’s most successful companies in the retail sector. Specialising in the sale of video games, Blu-rays, DVDs, CDs, home appliances, electronics and hardware, the company amassed revenues of $4bn AUD in 2016. Douglas Smith heads the legal team which boasts a number of talented individuals. Smith, who joined JB Hi-Fi in 2012, has accrued over 20 years of legal experience within in-house and private practice institutions. He is supported by senior corporate lawyer Adrian Quah who is known for negotiating and delivering on joint venture and M&A deals. Those skills were required last year when JB Hi-Fi bought rival electronics and white goods retailer The Good Guys for $870m AUD. Smith and the team were involved in negotiating the deal as well as securing $500m AUD from new and existing debt facilities and $349m AUD from equity raising to fund the deal. Their involvement in obtaining regulatory approval for the deal was exemplary and the team is now helping the organisation absorb 101 Good Guys stores into JB Hi-Fi, who now have a footprint of 295 stores across Australia and New Zealand. At the time of the deal JB Hi-Fi’s chief executive, Richard Murray, said ‘the acquisition is a very attractive strategic opportunity for JB Hi-Fi since The Good Guys is a highly complementary business which is aligned with our management philosophy and significantly enhances our offering in the $4.6bn AUD home appliance market’.