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The New Lawyer
After the rush of capital raisings made last year as companies worked to shore up balance sheets and reduce debts, law firms say their clients are now looking to raise funds for specific purposes.
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AFTER the rush of capital raisings made last year as companies worked to shore up balance sheets and reduce debts, law firms say their clients are now looking to raise funds for specific purposes. Mallesons Stephen Jaques partner, Jason Watts, says companies are now looking for raise funds for specific deals, such as to pursue acquisitions. Case in point is the recent capital raising in which Mallesons acted for the underwriter Credit Suisse, on an $80 million institutional placement for Australian Infrastructure Fund (AIX) to help fund its acquisition of an additional 2.21 per cent stake in Australia Pacific Airports Corporation (APAC), valued at around $75 million. The acquisition will bring AIX’s total interest in APAC to 12.35 per cent. AIX also announced that it has launched a fully underwritten institutional placement to raise $80m to fund the $75.1m cash acquisition of the additional stake in APAC. The balance of the capital raising will be used for transaction costs and general purposes. Watts said the capital raising is a reflection of the current state of equity capital markets. Mallesons’ role involved advising the underwriter on all legal aspects of the placement. “The experience of our team allowed us to work within the usual tight timeframe for these deals,” Watts said. Watts was assisted by solicitors Shabarika Ajitkumar and Esther Touma on the transaction.
