Welcome to the first Dispatch for 2022. While at this point in the year there aren’t (yet) many transactions to announce, everyone is naturally eager to understand how the markets are shaping up.
Kicking off 2022, Joseph Muraca, Nicola Charlston and Richard Hanson helped Vontier Corporation, as a major investor in Australian company Tritium Holdings (Tritium), with a $1.8 billion cross-border merger between Tritium and a US special purpose acquisition company, a deal which lists Tritium on the NASDAQ and helps funds its growth as a market leader in the electric vehicle charging space – a deal leaving no doubt decarbonisation and ESG-related acquisitions will continue to trend.
Similarly in DCM. Providing support on a recent Sustainability Linked Syndicated Financial Agreement (SLSFA), Yuen-Yee Cho assisted Aged care provider, Estia Health, with the $330 million refinancing of a sustainability linked loan, aligned to Estia’s sustainability strategy.
It’s another great start for a team which recently topped the [2021] the Syndicated Loans and Debts Capital Markets league tables. KWM came out number 1 for Syndicated Loans (Debtwire and Bloomberg) in Australia Borrowers’ Legal Counsel in both number of deals and volume. The KWM DCM team also took number one position for Bloomberg and Refinitiv Capital Markets’ Australia International Bonds Issuer Legal Advisor, as well as coming top 3 in Asia by deal value.
Two founding blockchain and cryptocurrency deals worth noting, Urszula McCormack, Hannah Glass and Violet Wong have advised Culture Vault on their creation of an NFT trading platform with a difference - a place for trading quality art and benefiting artists, with Kirsten Bowe and Luke Hawthorne leading the IP structuring and artist agreements for audio / visual works. And, Tim Sherman and Judith Taylor have assisted Exto Partners in establishing a new fund to make investments in cryptocurrencies and blockchain.
Beyond the deals, M&A clients recently received M&A in the City 2022. Presented in KWM’s striking new visual identity, it offers a concise outlook on five key areas of market focus - Data & Technology, ESG and the energy transition, Health, the role of Superfunds & Private Capital, and as it is a Federal election year, Government will of course play an important role.
In the ECM and IPO fields, the collapse of the ACCC’s cartel conduct case against several banks has been big news. KWM’s David Friedlander, Will Heath and Nigel Hunt shared an insightful perspective on how consultation from the ACCC could have avoided pain on all sides, (and been more effective). Read it in the AFR.
In WA, Nigel Hunt spoke with Business News about a buoyant early outlook for 2022, seeing a strong market in the west for ESG-driven M&A in both fossil fuel and emerging energy markets and commodities. Read in Business News. (PAYWALL)
