We know our teams are busy closing out the financial year, so here is a snapshot of our top deals across May and June to reflect on all your hard work! A milestone funds management transaction in the financial services sector is our top deal in this edition of The Dispatch. We also observe that the energy and resources, and tech sectors are currently hot spots for deal activity.
Kicking off this edition with a milestone funds management transaction in financial services. Nathan Hodge, Mark Vanderneut and Glenda Hanson led a team to advise leading ethical investment manager Australian Ethical to grow its funds under management (FUM) through its acquisition from Australian Unity of the Altius Asset Management business. When completed, the significant acquisition will see Australian Ethical grow its FUM by approximately 19% - from $10.3 billion to around $12.3 billion. Shout out to the wider team: Elizabeth Cavdarovski.
On a mission to fast-track NSW’s grid transformation, Claire Rogers led a team to advise the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) in its innovative debt finance package of $490 million to EnergyCo NSW. This financing will underpin expenditure related to transmission infrastructure required to unlock capacity in the Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone. The investment also draws from the federal government’s Rewiring The Nation (RTN) Fund and marks the single largest transaction in the CEFC’s history. Kudos to the wider team: Matthew Hundt and Dan Canta.
For more on what Australia’s biggest companies’ (and some of our major clients) are doing to meet climate goals, check out our recently-released report Breaking new ground: Climate Disclosure Trends of the ASX50 – which explains the big shifts in climate governance ahead of imminent mandatory climate reporting. Congratulations to Emma Newnham, Ha Dinh, Joe Muraca, Jack Hill and Eugenia Munoz for this valuable work.
Antonella Pacitti, Roger Davies and Amanda Isouard worked together to advise Australian Strategic Materials on its equity raising, which comprises an institutional placement and pro-rata non-renounceable entitlement offer. The proceeds will be used to help demonstrate required co-commitments to unlock government funding that will help it progress towards a final investment decision for its flagship Dubbo Project. Well done to the wider team: Jacob Carmody, Cairo Leicester, Tom Carmody, Maddison Hogan, Jihoo Lee, Greg Protektor, Ian Paterson, Kathryn Tomasic.
Looking to the tech space, Anthony Boogert led a team to act for Australian digital creative company Envato on its sale to US-based global creative platform Shutterstock for US$245 million working closely with Goodwin, Envato’s US and UK counsel. Against a challenging period in the technology sector, the landmark sale highlights ongoing M&A demand for unique high quality technology businesses. A big congratulations to the wider team: Kai-Chen Lamb, Johnson Pang, James Gould, Iris Lo, Hae Soo Park, Sophie Broadley.
Anthony also led a team to advise leading provider of digital identification verification Data Zoo on a major investment by Ellerston Capital. The transaction allows the founder owned and led business to focus on new growth areas and strengthen Data Zoo’s international presence. Huge shout out to the wider team: Lauren Meyers-Young.
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