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Capital raisings show no signs of running out of gas
Deal name: Santos capital raisingValue: $3 billionKey Players: Freehills, Mallesons Stephen JaquesThe recent run of capital raisings shows no signs of abating, with Santos the latest company to…
Lawyers Weekly
Deal name: Santos capital raising
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Value: $3 billion
Key Players: Freehills, Mallesons Stephen Jaques
The recent run of capital raisings shows no signs of abating, with Santos the latest company to make a low doc offer, worth $3 billion.
Santos, Australia's third-largest oil and gas producer, is being advised by Freehills, led by partner Tony Sparks.
"What differentiates the Santos offer from other recent offers is that it is both a 'good news' and opportunistic capital raising. It was undertaken to fund current projects and future growth rather than for balance sheet repair," Sparks said.
"It was also completed with no market soundings, which is noteworthy given ASIC's current focus on the practice," he said.
Mallesons Stephen Jaques is advising the underwriters, Citigroup, Deutsche and JPMorgan, on the capital raising, with partner Dave Friedlander acting as lead partner.
Friedlander said the Santos capital raising stood out on its own merits, despite the significant volume of equity raisings already completed this year.
"Even Australia's extraordinary wall of equity raisings this year could not make you blasé about the achievement of Santos in successfully launching its $3 billion capital raising this week," he said. "The deal was well executed, well timed and highlighted the strength of its business and management team."
He said Freehills and Sidley Austin, for the company and Mallesons, and Sullivan & Cromwell, for the underwriters, had to get through a lot of work to bring this deal to market, but that it was made easier by the co-operation between the teams.
It's been a busy period for Friedlander, who is also lead partner advising on the PacBrands $256m capital raising, advising underwriters UBS. "Hopefully our mums will forgive us all for being a little distracted on Mothers Day," he said.
The Freehills team was led by partner Tony Sparks and supported by partner Quentin Digby and lawyers Tim Cruickshank, Faith Sing, Steve Drummond, Tim Slattery and Sally Choi
The Mallesons team was led Partner Dave Friedlander and Solicitors Ada Ko and Amanda Isouard.
