Overview
Business Advisory and Structuring
We partner with businesses at every stage of growth, from ambitious startups to established companies restructuring for capital raising, expansion or listing. We provide practical, commercial advice that aligns your legal structure with your strategic direction.
Whether you are launching a new venture, restructuring for scale, bringing in investors, or navigating founder dynamics, we help you make sound decisions and lay strong legal foundations.
What we do
Our services.
Structuring and incorporation
Choosing the right structure, incorporating companies, trusts and group entities, and aligning structure with tax and commercial objectives.
Founder and shareholder frameworks
Shareholders' agreements, vesting arrangements, equity incentive schemes, and managing founder dynamics.
Capital raising for private companies
Seed and pre-Series A raisings, convertible notes, SAFEs, and investor documentation.
Restructuring for growth or exit
Group restructures, pre-IPO structuring, capital table realignment, holding company establishment, and restructuring for external investment.
Employee equity schemes
Employee Share Schemes (ESS) and option plans, including ATO compliance and shareholder approvals.
IP and commercialisation
IP protection, assignment deeds, licensing arrangements and commercialisation structures.
Why Luma
Technical precision, commercial focus.
We do not just prepare documents. We provide ongoing legal insight, practical structuring solutions, and sound judgement, so you can make the right decisions at the right time. Our advice is designed to grow with your business.
Experience
Recent work includes advising early-stage and scaling businesses on entity selection, group restructures, founder vesting arrangements and capital structures for growth.
Advised on the legal aspects of preparing businesses for investment, sale or listing, including governance, contracts, intellectual property and stakeholder arrangements.
FAQs
Common questions.
This depends on your goals, risk profile and funding plans. Common structures include proprietary limited companies (Pty Ltd), trusts and partnerships.
Triggers include preparing for investment, scaling operations, separating assets, optimising tax outcomes, or addressing shareholder dynamics.
An IP holding company owns valuable intellectual property separately from trading operations. It can assist with risk management and tax efficiency.
Investors typically expect clear equity structures, strong governance, IP protections, and a well-defined legal framework for future funding rounds.
A joint venture (JV) is an arrangement where two or more parties collaborate on a project or business. It may be structured as a contractual JV or via a new legal entity. Clear agreements are essential.
Use shareholder agreements, vesting provisions, board protocols and clear role definitions to manage expectations and decision-making as the business evolves.
Key issues include compliance with fundraising laws, shareholder approvals, dilution impacts, governance structures, and investor rights.
Related insights
Our recent thinking on business advisory.
Business Advisory
Choosing Your Legal Structure in Australia: An Overview
A practical overview of Australian business legal structures, including sole traders, partnerships, companies and trusts.
May 2026 · 5 min read
Business Advisory
Founder Vesting: Why It's Good for You, Not Just Investors
Why founder vesting benefits founders, not just investors. Practical guidance on vesting schedules, triggers and documentation.
May 2026 · 5 min read
Business Advisory
When to Use an IP Holding Company and How to Structure It
When to use an IP holding company in Australia, how to structure it, and the tax, asset protection and commercial considerations.
May 2026 · 6 min read
Related expertise
Other areas we work in.
Capital markets
ASX Listings
We guide companies through ASX listings by IPO, reverse takeover or cross-listing, with lean execution that keeps your team focused on the business.
Capital markets
Capital Markets
Clear advice and seamless execution across placements, rights issues, convertible securities and hybrid instruments.
Transactions
M&A
End-to-end legal support for public and private M&A, from term sheet to completion.
Let's talk.
Whether you are navigating a major transaction or refining how your business operates, we provide legal advice that is timely, strategic and grounded in commercial reality.