The firm confirmed its roles in an equity raising, a share resale and conversion and an acquisition in the media industry
Partners Rhys Casey and Joseph Muraca took the lead in helping retail brand owner Super Retail Group in a capital raising effort that consisted of an underwritten accelerated pro rata non-renounceable entitlement offer. Casey and Muraca were joined by special counsel Amanda Isouard, senior associate Matt McKeown and solicitors Gemma McMahon and Tom Gilbert.
The raising generated roughly $203m.
Casey said that the funds would be applied to the “continued execution of [Super Retail Group’s] strategy and the pursuit of strategic growth initiatives.”
“We are very pleased to assist our valued and long-standing client Super Retail Group on this important raising,” he said. “It has been a huge effort, with exceptional collaboration between Super Retail Group and KWM’s teams in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, all working remotely in the middle of a pandemic.”
$194m resale and conversion of shares
Casey also headed up a transaction involving the resale and conversion of $194m worth of convertible preference shares (CPS3) owned by finance, insurance and banking company Suncorp Group Limited. The firm said these shares had remained on issue with Suncorp “following the CPS3 reinvestment offer as part of Suncorp’s Capital Notes 3.”
“The transaction is one of only a handful of tier 1 regulatory capital managed resale and conversion transactions and the first to be completed without a concurrent replacement instrument offering,” KWM said.
The firm has been acting for Suncorp on its tier 1 regulatory capital raisings over the past eight years.
Casey worked with fellow partner Ian Paterson, as well as senior associates Andrew Fei and Matt McKeown and solicitor Jordan Osrin.
Media acquisition
KWM provided advice to Mercury Capital as it acquired the Australia and New Zealand business of Bauer Media Group, adding to its fund of three portfolio companies.
Through the acquisition, Mercury Capital gains ownership of major Australian magazine titles like Woman’s Day, Australian Women’s Weekly and Gourmet Traveller. It also absorbs Pacific Magazines, which Bauer Media Group had acquired in May.
“We are delighted to have advised Mercury on its significant investment into Australian print and digital media and look forward to seeing the business evolve under the management of the highly-respected Mercury team,” said KWM lead partner Jason Watts.
Watts’s team was composed of senior associate Shabarika Ajitkumar and solicitor Georgia Feltis from the M&A group, as well as senior associate Greg Protektor from the tax team.
New Zealand firm Simpson Grierson assisted Mercury Capital on the New Zealand aspects of the deal.
