Capital Markets
Capital raising and public listings involve complex legal issues for companies and funds.
Our experienced, national capital markets team is comprised of experts who understand securities regulations, market dynamics and deal structuring. This enables us to support listed and unlisted companies and funds in their pursuit of raising and deploying capital, and then providing ongoing support in helping them develop and maintain best practice governance protocols and an effective compliance culture.
How we can help
Our extensive experience and knowledge of market practices, together with our established relationships, allow us to add significant value in managing equity capital markets (ECM) transactions.
Our equity capital markets lawyers have significant experience in capital raisings, listings and other capital market transactions, including in managing initial public offers (IPOs) and ASX listings and preparing and advising on offers and disclosure documentation.
Our broad capital markets experience, coupled with our ability to deliver creative, commercial solutions, means we are well placed to advise both listed and unlisted companies and funds on their capital markets transactions.
Our methodology
We take the time to listen to our clients and understand their goals. We navigate through the legal and regulatory considerations involved and create strategies to help our clients gain the funding they need.
Using our connections within industry, with regulators and across our internal network of subject-matter experts, we break down complex issues that our clients face when undertaking capital markets transactions and offer guidance on overcoming these issues.
IPOs and ASX listings
We act for companies and responsible entities on initial public offers and ASX listings. We work closely with our clients and their advisors in managing the IPO and listing process, tailoring our delivery to meet our clients’ business needs, resourcing and project timeframes.
Our team has a deep understanding of the requirements and approaches taken by investors and underwriters/lead managers, as well as expertise in the evolving regulatory landscape. This, along with our strong relationships with regulators, enables us to provide relevant and informed advice on the key issues that arise throughout any IPO or listing transaction.
Pre-IPO and secondary capital raisings
We frequently advise unlisted companies on pre-IPO raisings.
We also have extensive experience in:
- secondary offerings for retail and institutional clients
- capital raising transactions by REITs and other managed investment schemes
- recapitalisations
- stapled security structures
- on-market and off-market buy-backs
- capital reductions.
When raising capital, we prepare and advise clients on offer and disclosure documentation, including:
- prospectuses
- product disclosure statements
- information memoranda
- cleansing notices.
Capital markets advisory
In addition to supporting capital raising initiatives, we also provide regular assistance to listed clients across a range of industries in ongoing issues, such as:
- updating constituent documents and assisting with corporate restructures
- advising on the establishment and operation of executive incentive arrangements (such as STIPs and LTIPs)
- preparing, reviewing and updating board and committee charters and other compliance procedures
- advising on continuous disclosure obligations
- helping with AGMs and other unitholders’ and shareholders’ meetings (including preparing the notice of meetings and ancillary documents).
Our capital markets experience
- Advising One Managed Investment Funds and Gryphon Capital Investments on establishing and registering the Gryphon Capital Income Trust and its subsequent $175 million IPO and ASX listing. We subsequently advised on the Trust's secondary capital raisings via private placements, entitlement offers, and interest purchase plans to raise a further $495 million.
- Advising the APN Property Group (now part of the Dexus group) on its restructure to form a stapled group listed on the ASX, which included the listing of a new registered managed investment scheme and stapling of the units in that scheme with the existing listed shares.
- Advising Dexus Asset Management Limited on the $250 million IPO and ASX listing of Dexus Industria REIT.
- Advising One Managed Investment Funds and Gryphon Capital Investments on establishing and registering the Gryphon Capital Income Trust and its subsequent $175 million IPO and ASX listing. We subsequently advised on the Trust's secondary capital raisings via private placements, entitlement offers, and interest purchase plans to raise a further $495 million.
- Advised Maggie Beer Holdings on its $30 million capital raising involving a $10.9 million placement and a $19.1 million accelerated non-renounceable entitlement offer (fully underwritten by Bell Potter Securities Limited), to fund the cash component of its $40 million acquisitions of e-commerce company Hampers & Gifts Australia.
- Advised Arena REIT on its fully underwritten $75 million IPO and ASX listing and numerous capital transactions (including the internalisation of its funds management business to become a triple stapled internally managed A-REIT and the merger by stapling of Arena REIT and Sydney HealthCare Trust).
- Advised Powerwrap Limited, one of Australia’s leading wealth management and administrative platforms, on its $17.4 million IPO and ASX listing (fully underwritten by Bell Potter Securities Limited and Baillieu Limited). Subsequently advised on the successfully $70 million off market takeover bid by Praemium Limited.
- Advised Victory Offices Limited (ASX: VOL), a leader in Australia’s evolving flexible workspace industry, in respect of its $30.0m IPO (fully underwritten by Ord Minnett) and ASX listing and subsequent $15.3m pro-rata non-renounceable entitlement offer (fully underwritten by Ord Minnett).
- Advised DomaCom Limited (ASX:DCL), Australia’s first fractional investment platform, on its IPO and ASX listing.
