Hall & Wilcox advises APN Property Group on restructure to form stapled group

Hall & Wilcox has advised APN Property Group (ASX: APD) on its successful restructure to form a stapled group. APN Property Group is a specialist real estate investment manager listed on the Australian Securities Exchange that actively manages commercial real estate funds on behalf of institutional and retail investors. The transaction involved the establishment of a new registered scheme and the stapling of ordinary shares in APN Property Group to the new scheme to form a stapled group.

The Hall & Wilcox team, led by lawyers Vanessa Murphy and James Fisher with partner James Morvell, advised APN Property Group on all aspects of the stapling transaction. The cross-practice team also comprised partners Eugene Chen and Mark Inston, senior associate Jeanette Lui and lawyer William Francis.

Advising on the transaction required extensive expertise and navigation of the complex regulatory matters applying to financial services licensees and listed stapled entities, and required close collaboration of the various lawyers involved on the deal.

James Morvell said the Hall & Wilcox team was delighted to have assisted APN Property Group in achieving this significant milestone. ‘Our firm has a long history of working with APN Property Group and we’re thrilled to have had the opportunity to assist with this important transaction, which positions APN to take advantage of opportunities for growth and enable investors to benefit from a superior operating structure.

‘Deloitte acted as tax advisers to the transaction and the Hall & Wilcox team enjoyed working closely with the Deloitte and APN teams from beginning to end,’ he added.

Hall & Wilcox has a strong equity capital markets practice, with extensive experience in capital raising and capital management transactions. The firm has acted in initial public offerings and Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) listings, secondary retail and institutional offerings, capital raising transactions by managed investment schemes, stapled security structures, on-market buy-backs and capital reductions.

Hall & Wilcox also assists ASX-listed clients with various ongoing compliance and corporate governance-related obligations and helps them prepare for annual general meetings and extraordinary general meetings.